Belt not included
What’s most amazing about those $5,000 jeans? Before they were marked down, they were $10,000 jeans:
Honestly, I find the idea that there are $10K jeans out there, no matter how sparkly and fabulous, a wee bit insulting. (And I think we all know that expensive clothing as a general concept does not trouble me overmuch.) There’s really no point in me being cheesed about it, I reckon, because it’s not my money being spent and if someone wants to drop that much cash on pants who am I to judge? But it just seems like there’s this whole tier of people in the fashion world who have absolutely no idea about what’s going on in the rest of the world. Remember when a $500 shoe was absolutely out of this world expensive? I am routinely seeing shoes for twice that nowadays. Who is buying this stuff? All the news reports in the business are about how the stores are having to lower their inventories and put things on sale earlier, and yet what’s coming into the stores continues to get more & more expensive.
A Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupé, I note, starts at $448,000, or about 80 pairs of these jeans at this clearance price, assuming there actually are 80 pairs of these jeans. By comparison, 80 pairs of Levi’s might run you somewhere around six grand, which won’t buy you a Hyundai.
sya »
22 October 2009 · 7:21 pm
Sometimes I think that it’s not really about the product costing so much but for the fact that there are people who are willing to part with extravagant sums of money. For us proles, it’s always about how much value we can get out of an item. If someone’s paying ten grand for a pair of jeans, I think there’s a totally different mindset going on. They’re not doing it for the value of the jeans but to show that they’re wealthy enough to part with a crazy amount of money. And hey, if there are those types of people around, I don’t blame the sellers from taking advantage of that.
genes »
22 October 2009 · 7:22 pm
I remember Victoria’ Secret 5 million dollar bra and never did figure out why anyone would buy it or on what occasions they might wear it.
Lisa Paul »
22 October 2009 · 9:33 pm
At that price, they better not make your butt look big.
Charles Pergiel »
22 October 2009 · 9:55 pm
I think Sya’s right on the mark. I suspect that stores that sell these overpriced items somehow manage to keep the proles out, and the paparazzi, well, they’re optional.
Kay Dennison »
23 October 2009 · 1:09 am
I guess I inherited a huge practical streak and that someone would spend that much money on jeans is anathema to me and grates on me. My friends joke that I could become a millionaire and I’d still wait until a dress I liked at Dillard’s was marked down 75%! And they’re prolly right.
Jim - PRS »
23 October 2009 · 4:29 am
$10,000 jeans = a classic example of a “Veblen Good.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good
fillyjonk »
23 October 2009 · 7:15 am
“Sometimes I think that it’s not really about the product costing so much but for the fact that there are people who are willing to part with extravagant sums of money”
THIS. I look at pricey things in terms of “how does that compare to my monthly take-home pay?” In some cases, that may not be entirely wise (keep putting off getting needed replacement windows because OW! EXPENSIVE!) but it does keep me from the more serious forms of extravagance.
I dunno. For me, jeans are something I wear when I garden or do fieldwork. Meaning they’re likely to get dirty or ripped and will wear out faster than dress slacks will. So a $25 pair of Lees from the farm supply store does exactly what I need.
McGehee »
23 October 2009 · 8:25 am
The last pair of blue jeans I bought cost about $16 plus shipping. They’re not Levi’s, but they’ll do. I cannot imagine paying $75 for a pair of pants meant to be washed at home.
Then again, with what’s happening to the dollar (and, therefore, fuel prices) these days, it might not be long before washing my $16 jeans at home costs $75.
fillyjonk »
23 October 2009 · 8:33 am
Well, we could always start going for literal stone-washed denim. I think I saw an area out at the lake the other day that had some big rocks it would be good to slap wet clothes against to try to get most of the water out of them.
Of course, I doubt “Fresh Algae Scent!” will ever be better than Tide.
Lynn »
23 October 2009 · 12:00 pm
– “Who is buying this stuff? —
The daughters of all those overpaid CEOs. Why do you think they keep telling us they really need that much money?