Comments on: Belt not included

By: Lynn

Lynn — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 17:00:18 +0000

– “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?

By: fillyjonk

fillyjonk — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:33:20 +0000

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.

By: McGehee

McGehee — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 13:25:13 +0000

80 pairs of Levi’s might run you somewhere around six grand

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.

By: fillyjonk

fillyjonk — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:15:32 +0000

“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.

By: Jim - PRS

Jim - PRS — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 09:29:19 +0000

$10,000 jeans = a classic example of a “Veblen Good.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veblen_good

By: Kay Dennison

Kay Dennison — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:09:25 +0000

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.

By: Charles Pergiel

Charles Pergiel — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:55:09 +0000

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.

By: Lisa Paul

Lisa Paul — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 02:33:56 +0000

At that price, they better not make your butt look big.

By: genes

genes — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:22:45 +0000

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.

By: sya

sya — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:21:07 +0000

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.