Now's the time! (Or, maybe, not.)

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: I bought it on a whim, just an impulse buy. A gorgeous, long red scarf, the lightest of challis wool, kind of leopard-y with gray leopard trim. And it was on sale. I snapped it right up.

Okay, so that's not surprising, actually. But what is surprising. I took it home, and I wore it the next day! I snipped the tags right off, put on the scarf, and wore it to work. Very happy. Very proud of myself.

Now if you're thinking--uh, Hank? So what? Here's the deal. I never wear or use things right after I get them. If it's clothes, I hang them in the front of my closet, and kind of, look at them for a few...days. Or longer. And then, when something makes me decide the time is absolutely right, I wear it.

Problem is, once you wait, "the perfect time" gets more difficult to assess.

Jonathan and I went to Italy--I think ten years ago. We bought wine, of course, and had it shipped home. Brunello di Montalcino 1997 and 1998. Fabulous. We had to wait several years, of course, but then...it was ready. Still, it was never quite the right time to drink it. One New Year's Eve we had a bottle, I think.

But this year-- I said--hey. This is ridiculous. We're drinkin' the wine. We had it for Thanksgiving. Delicious, yes. But so silly to wait. I mean--what if it had gone bad?

The champagne people gave me for the books? Sits there, waiting. My mother gave me some gorgeous, sensational red suede gloves a few years ago--incredibly thin suede, very elegant, with a tiny suede rose on each wrist. Too beautiful! I thought. I can't wear them.

But now I've remembered reading about a 9/11 victim... when they came to her apartment, afterwards, they discovered beautiful lingerie, all lacy and luscious, all carefully wrapped in a ribbon in her drawer. She was, apparently, waiting for the perfect time.

And now, I'm thinking about wearing the gloves.

Are you a saver? A Waiter? Or do you jump right in?

HALLIE EPHRON: There's nothing in my closet or drawers right now that I haven't worn, because the minute I buy something I use it. My mother-in-law was a waiter. A lovely woman, after she died we found, still wrapped in tissue paper, scarves and linens we'd given her years ago. Which I immediately adopted and USED.

It's the use-it-once things that break my heart. Like the sexy sandals that nearly killed my feet. The Eileen Fisher sweater that has just enough wool in it to really really itch. Can't bear to get rid of 'em; can't stand to wear 'em.

Though I think we might still have a bottle of Brunello in the basement... running down to check.

HANK: Let us know, Hallie, we could come over...

RHYS BOWEN: Oh Hank, this struck a painful chord with me. I'm a terrible saver, in fact I was about to blog on this very subject. I was raised with the concept of "saving for best"--the dress one only wore to church, the party shoes. I have a bag of cashmere sweaters that I wear only on special occasions. How silly is that. My daughter wears cashmere all the time because she likes the feel of it. So I'm trying to change.

I'm wearing my Christmassy clothes for the month of December, not just saving them for luncheons, because they put me in the festive spirit. But I have to confess that I have several pairs of shoes in my closet that were bought because they look gorgeous, but kill me after a few minutes and I can't get rid of them. So the Jungle Reds new motto should be "carpe diem"!

HANK: Or, Caveat Shoe-tor. Maybe not...why do we always believe that SOMEDAY they'll be okay? (Or maybe..we should all trade shoes?)

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I'm all for "carpe diem!" I'm trying really hard to think of something I've "saved for best" or for a "special occasion..." I would drink out of crystal every day except I keep breaking the glasses.

I have, however, fallen victim, like Hallie, to the impulse buy that was a mistake but that I just can't bear to let go. There's the gorgeous pair of shoes in my closet from White House Black Market. Black and white crocodile-y leather, open-toed pumps with a little platform and six-inch heels. To die for! And I CAN'T wear them. They might as well be instruments of medieval torture. But they are so beautiful I can't bear to give them away. Maybe I'm waiting for my feet (and my spine) to be magically transformed, so that one day I'll slip them on and they won't hurt.

Back to fiction . . .

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I have a pair like that. Leopard print stiletto heels. I am SO not a leopard-print stiletto heels kind of woman, but these are the kind of shoes you put on and suddenly you look like Sophia Loren. I wore them once, to a Bouchercon party my publisher threw. I was so crippled I could barely walk the next day. But have I given them away? No, I have not. As soon as I forget how much they hurt, I plan to wear them again.

As for the rest of it - I'm a user, not a saver. The family silver, the Spode setting for 14 that was Ross's grandparents' - I invent reasons to get it out. Ultimately, it's the same reason I'm hanging on to those damn heels: I enjoy having beautiful things around me.

ROSEMARY HARRIS: You know, I didn't see Hank's name at the top of this post and as soon as I read red, leopard-y scarf, I thought - "oh, it's Hank!"

Just so I'm clear, we're not talking about the slightly too young, too short, too tight items. The first thing that leaps to mind is a perfectly gorgeous, snowy white Anne Fontaine blouse which has rosettes instead of buttons. What was I thinking? I'll never wear it - because I'm not neat enough. It would break my heart to see the inevitable olive oil stain.

I'm proud to say I have gotten over my "saving it for something special" feeling about the two Chanel bags which have now broken into the rotation and make me feel special every time I wear them.

I have a harder time with stuff - linens, china and silver. I have to remind myself to use the nice ones. It was hard the first time someone broke one of my Waterford glasses or the wet dog climbed onto the Frette coverlet. But hey, it's only stuff.

JAN BROGAN: If we are talking about the slightly too young, too short, too tight items Ro mentioned, I have a short leopard dress I bought in Aix-en-Provence that I will NEVER, EVER WEAR unless perhaps, I decide to go as a hooker some Halloween. And at the time, I was shopping with my daughter who usually wards off such purchases and steers me to something classic that I don't really like when I buy it, but start loving six months after. I think we were both unduly influenced by all the French women on the streets who look sexy no matter what time of day it is and no matter how old they are.

Hank, I don't think I "save" new items of clothing, but I don't wear the good ones enough. Lately, I've tried to get over that because Ro, you might as well spill oil on that snowy white Anne Fontaine blouse because if you wait to long to wear it, it's going to be terribly out-of-style.

HANK: Yes, I so agree. Some things are the most perfect the moment you buy them...and somehow the magic fades as they hang there, unworn.

LUCY BURDETTE: I'm more of a saver. But I busted the tag off a sweater this week after reading what the rest of you had to say. I also have trouble with excellent greeting cards. If I pick out something particularly beautiful and special, I have to make myself send it. Otherwise, what is the point, right?

But my grandmother Lucille's green glass goblets? I can't make myself use them. I'd feel too bad if one got broken...and have no idea what they are so couldn't begin to replace them.

HANK: Lucy, you mean--you buy the perfect card, and then the occasion for sending it is never the right one? I've done that, too! So silly. And as for the goblets--what would your grandmother want you to do? (Especially now that you're her namesake?) I'll use my Gramma's crystal and silver compote dishes if you use the glass goblets.

How about you, dear reds? Are you users? Or waiters?