What You Get For The Money

I tried on a $235 outfit today. Contrary to what the price tag would have you believe, it wasn't a fancy dress or power suit. It was a pair of jeans and a grey T-shirt. That's it. I own several variations of this same outfit, and I'm fairly positive their total worth is less than $235.

I have never understood the designer jeans trend myself. Jeans are jeans. And by that very definition I do not think they should come with a price tag three digits long. These jeans were $185. They were Joe's jeans. I have heard of this brand. I think it's been mentioned in People and Glamour magazines several times as a favorite brand of the stars. I hadn't ever tried on a pair of these so-called designer jeans, and since I was already heading into the dressing room when I spotted them, I figured why not. Whenever I try on jeans I always grab a shirt just to give my picks a complete look. I grabbed a grey T-shirt. But not just any grey T-shirt - a $50 grey T-shirt. And no, it was not covered in a light dusting of 14k white gold.

The outfit was incredibly underwhelming. The jeans were big in the waist, which made me happy, but they didn't fit right. It was the length, however, that I could not get over. In my bare feet the jeans were a good four inches too long. And I think most "designer" jeans are this way - all made with incredibly long inseams. I do own a few pairs of four-inch heels, and I do like the look of jeans with heels. It's a look I sported often on the weekends in my young, single gal in the city days. However, I can't wear jeans at work, and I don't often prance around in heels while running weekend errands to my grocery store or local CVS. It's not really a practical outfit. If I wanted to wear these jeans often, I'd have to hem them. As if spending $185 on jeans isn't enough. There's no way I would pay that much and then spend additional money just so I could wear my purchase more than the one time a year I wear jeans and heels.

And the shirt? Don't even get me start on the shirt. It was a simple T-shirt. In grey. With a small pocket. And a v-neck. AND it was tissue paper thin. As in I am sure actual tissue paper would have provided more coverage. It was so thin that I could see my bra. Not the outline of my bra, my actual bra. I couldn't have walked out of the dressing room without feeling like I was taking my first steps towards living a nudist life.

I looked at myself in this $200+ outfit, and I laughed. These clothes looked awful, and I certainly didn't feel like I should when wearing an outfit with that price tag. As I walked out of the store, I hung up the jeans and put back the T-shirt. Then I walked to Banana Republic and purchased a skirt (on sale) that cost less than the grey T-shirt and made me feel like a million bucks.