Extreme Shopping

Arlene Blackman Yolles ♦ April 30, 2017 ♦ 2 Comments

Full disclosure: I live in a community that can be described as upscale, wealthy and privileged.  I, myself, do not fit into any of those categories, having spent most of my life as a public school teacher with down-to-earth values, and so I am often a bit shocked by what I see.  The town itself is beautiful – lots of pretty people, gorgeous houses and quite a few celebrities who make their home here, possibly the most famous is the late Paul Newman.  In fact, his daughter, Melissa, sings at a local jazz club in a restaurant within blocks of my house which is in a “working class” neighborhood of the town.

Since my value system is somewhat different from the denizens of my lovely town, I often “window shop” in the stores but rarely purchase anything, preferring to go to local malls where prices are more in keeping with my standards.  That said, I want to share my recent experience.

While walking and looking in windows, I noticed a lovely white summery eyelet blouse.  Having a weakness for that style, I walked in to check the price.  When I saw what they were asking for it, I asked the salesperson, “What is the fabric?” expecting her to give me some exotic form of material, perhaps Egyptian cotton of 800 threads? Finely spun gold?  I came away shocked and asked my husband to guess.  “$125,” said he, knowing we were in a fancy shop. “$345!,” I replied.

Is that craziness or what?  Convinced it was a fluke, I went to a few other stores to price some items I thought were cute.  A grey t-shirt, a gold sleeveless sweater, and a shapeless item the purpose of which eluded me.  The prices were respectively $85, $265 and $248.  The sum total of those 4 unremarkable pieces of clothing were equivalent to what my first car cost me.  Now, I know you’re thinking “well, you’re just so old!” but come on, a t-shirt (cotton) that costs $85??

So that’s my observation for today.  Do women really buy these items?  What kind of income must you have to easily afford such?  Am I missing something here?