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How many times has this happened to you: You’re out for a boozy brunch with friends, laughing and perhaps losing count of how times that waiter has topped off your Bellini. After the meal, you stumble into the street and into the closest store, post-brunch buzz still going strong. “Let’s just pop into this one place!” someone pleads. And before you know it, you’re the proud owner of season 3 of Charmed on DVD. Or a set of salad plates with pictures of animals dressed as humans. Or a really, really expensive bag.
In Hilary Duff’s case, it’s the latter that calls to her after a couple of cocktails. “I did that just the other day, on Sunday,” she tells me over (what else?) a couple of glasses of pinot grigio at the launch of Callie Collection Wines. “I bought a new Céline bag! I hadn’t done that in such a long time — but, well, I’d had a mimosa. And guess what? It felt so good. I felt alive! But then I sent pictures to all my friends, and they were like, ‘Girl, what did you do?!’”
Most days, though, Duff’s shopping habits lean more practical. “I am a huge online shopper — I just feel like it fits well with my life,” she says. “I mean, I have a 5-year-old! I can’t be dragging him around to a bunch of different places. But if I’m really looking for something specific, there’s nothing like going [into a store] and touching and feeling and perusing what they have.”
In case her penchant for plush sweaters and scarves didn’t tip you off, Duff is also big into knits — both buying and making them. “My girlfriend who does my hair on Younger knit me the most amazing mustard-colored chunky beanie — it has such great memories attached [to it], and I just love it. She’s actually the one who taught me how to knit, and now that’s a huge part of my life.”
@cynthiavanis shattering my knitting dreams. #startingover #isuckatknitting had to find an onset hobby @youngertv @… pic.twitter.com/4aQbxeqVqf
— Hilary Duff (@HilaryDuff) November 3, 2015
To that end, the actress knows that often, the best things in life can’t be bought in any old store. “I have a little dragonfly pin that my grandmother gave me that I actually wore on my wedding dress when I got married,” she explains. “It’s one of my most prized possessions.”