I Can’t Afford to be a Peasant

Paula has stooped to a whole new level of style using props to distract from her outfits of purpose.

This old bait and switch, collusion, trickery—whatever you call this form of deception—has been going on forever in fashion long before Paula started slinging tennis rackets over her shoulder.

It got me to thinking. I want to know just how $2K become a mid-level price point for luxury goods? And $1K a bargain? As the child of a Coach, I am severely aware of how preposterous this last sentence is.

I was having breakfast with a very affluent women in fashion who is no dummy, has been in the game for decades, and consults for a very Major brand. We were swooning over the latest “have-it” craze for the Vita Kin peasant dresses seen above.  This Ukrainian-based, hand-embroidered and completely lovely “peasant” dress sports a very unpleasant $2K price-tag, more befitting a princess than pauper. Yet she wants this dress. I want this dress. But we don’t want to pay that crazy amount, and besides, it just doesn’t feel right.

In most cases, consumers are buying a brands’ advertising, image, their carbon footprint, and the idea that the more something costs, the more exclusive a club you belong to. But just how exclusive is this club if thousands upon thousands of the same item are produced. This doesn’t sound too exclusive to me. In fact, it’s just the opposite.

Maybe $2K says, I’m just like you. In that case, no thanks.

I’d rather be me, and find something more “exclusive” from a thrift or consignment store, that no one else has, for a fraction of that price. Paula suggested I try Cost Plus World Market! But the agony of wanting one of those dresses. Help! It’s perfect for when I cook up a batch of Vereniki.