Sick of having pricey taste... - YouLookFab Forum

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Sick of having pricey taste...

catgirl

Veteran

So tonight I got an Urban Outfitters catalog in the mail. Never get that. Looking through it, the one things that jumped out at me was a navy and emerald striped skirt. And the price? $300. Urban Outfitters, people. Then browsing Anthro, this Leifsdottir jacket for a mere $348..

http://www.anthropologie.com/a.....778328.jsp

I almost wish these stores would just price themselves out of my range consistently, so I could ignore them. I hate finding that something I love only to realize it's the most expensive item in the catalog.

GRRRR.

Shopping

28 replies

Latest reply was from Fruitful

rae

(website)

Veteran

"I almost wish these stores would just price themselves out of my range consistently..."

Or they could just price consistently period. Being drawn to the most expensive thing in the place was great for thrifting - not so much for retail. o_0

Aunty

Veteran

Yep, I have champagne taste on ginger beer wages. Life can be VERY unfair

ManidipaM

Veteran

THIS ---> "Yep, I have champagne taste on ginger beer wages."

Anonymous

Join the club! I have a champagne taste on government worker wages, that is even sadder. That is why I stalk things until I can get a sale, often times! I also have a very generous family although I never ask for anything.
Heck, I even went to Banana to earmark my purchases, since I have two coupons for 40% off one item today. My items are on hold, in anticipation to the shopping frenzy that will ensue.
I did not know Leifsdottir was a brand of clothing as well. I bought a pair of flats from this brand from Rue la la a while back and I thought it was some obscure shoe brand from Europe. Ha, interesting.

Mrs Moo

I know how you feel! I've been trying a new experiment lately, both in store and online. I make myself vocalise whether I really like something or not *before* I look at the price tag. Sounds weird but sometimes we are drawn to things we know are expensive and put off things we know are cheap when how it really looks depends on how it's styled. I have a family member with very expensive taste who can also make the cheapest item look fab!

celia

Veteran

Us royalty like the good stuff in life
I am also happier knowing that Burberry has beautiful trench coats way over my price tag. the almost in my budget items are the ones that bug me.

Anonymous

I have that problem, too. I can't help it. The stuff that catches my eye happens to be pricey.

Anonymous

Ooch, I can't even look at this stuff. It does not compute!

anne

Veteran

I can relate. I only get one catalogue - for Ezibuy which does Australian mail order. They have several brands (in varying price ranges) and my eye is always drawn to items in brands that are beyond my means!

Isabel

Veteran

OMG...I don't read fashion magazines anymore ( except for People StyleWatch ). But I bought a couple this week and whenever I looked at a page of a bunch of sweaters, let's say, my favorite was always the most expensive one ! I have also been looking for a gray satchel to buy at the end of SYC, and every.single.one that I live the best is exorbitant. Have our brains been taken over by the "spendy virus" that has rerouted our practical neuronal pathways ?? What is happening ?

Claudia

Veteran

Here's the thing, no matter what your price range comfort zone is (unless you are the uber rich), there will always be a higher tier of goods just out on the edge of that zone, making you feel the itch of wanting and not being able to have.

If you can easily afford Coach, you desire Chanel, and so it goes...

ironkurtin

Veteran

I actually LOVE that I am drawn to nicer items. Of course, nicer doesn't always mean more expensive! But a refined eye usually means an eye for quality in cut, fabric, style, blah blah. I'm not going argue when a price point becomes absurd, because everyone has a different limit, but I think it was Simon Doonan who said that coveting was a lost art. It's not so bad to have your eye on the stars.

Anonymous

HaHa, I do that ALL the time. It freaks my husband out, we were shopping for a dinner jacket for him and I just scanned the jackets hanging from the wall and bee-lined it straight to the most spendy one of all.

I agree with rae, it's a great gift to have when thrifting

Claudia

Veteran

I agree that it is only bad if it makes you feel overly jealous or depressed with your current station. I like looking at and handling luxurious things, even if I'll not be owning them myself.

bj1111

Veteran

what ik said...also, it speaks to the relative differences in discernible quality or design across the price points. i thunk that what one pays for as one goes up the scale.

modgrl

(website)

Veteran

Do you think the price, mark up and profit margin of the priciest item might have anything to do with why they feature it in the catalog?

Amy

(website)

Veteran

Me too, Claudia!

rachylou

Veteran

I like to think of it as being tired of things being overpriced. There was a time when you could get a pair of Ferragamo's for a reasonable price. Was discussing this with my hair stylist.

Diana

Veteran

I have this person more in person than online... mostly because I can often tell by looking at/touching an item in person whether it is well made and made of high quality materials. Like, I'll look at the F21 website and like a lot of the things I see there, but then I go in the store and see/feel them and hate everything.

Una, I love that Leifsdottir jacket! It went in my online shopping cart for price stalking.

ironkurtin

Veteran

The Leifsdottir jacket is making that Smythe jacket look like a bargain.

catgirl

Veteran

Phew, I am not alone! It's not that I automatically want what I can't afford. It's that if I scan a page of, say, coats, I'm always immediately attracted to the priciest one WITHOUT knowing the price. Then I'm aggravated because everything else looks bleh compared to that item.

I think the thrifters are right that this is a thrifting skill, as I used to thrift EVERYTHING. I can go into a thrift store and immediately pick out the best quality items by look and feel. But in the retail world, that just leads to sticker shock!

Sylvie

Veteran

Joining the club. My taste in one word can be described as "expensive".

Besides thrifting, a good place to take advantage of this skill could be at the lower priced stores - ex: Old Navy and Target. My ON jean jacket is equal in quality to any other jean jacket I could find in the $60-$100 price range. Let's make our eye for quality work for us in a store where everything is affordable.

Lisa

Veteran

I have this problem with the jcrew catalog. I adore this jacket and also this one. Back in the fall they had a blue tweed one similar in price to the yellow one. Which is not in my budget.

Anonymous

I agree with Sylvie. I bought a fitted denim blazer on clearance at jcp.com and have worn the heck out of it. The cost per wear has been extremely low and is getting lower each time I wear it. So the moral of this story is to look at each and every price point. You never know when you're going to hit the jackpot and get something you love for an insanely low price! No one needs to know where you got a certain item nor how much you paid for it... unless, of course, you're like me and don't mind bragging about your clearance sale finds.

Meredith1953

Veteran

I am trying to take the attitude of "admire, not covet" and it does sometimes help take the sting out of not being able to purchase particular items. Maybe if I am willing to own less, then I can afford to own better would be another way of looking at it!

catgirl

Veteran

So here's the skirt that caught my eye (from the catalog picture). The rest of the items on the page are WELL under $100, mostly in the $50 range.

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com.....RTS_SKIRTS

Sylvie, you are right! The "pick out the high end item" skill has helped me in places like F21 where the occasional quality find can be had.

MsLuna

Veteran

You're telling me. I have expensive tastes myself and since I sew, I only seem to buy clothes that are high end (I never set foot in H&M anymore). The only "cheaply made" clothes I would wear are the ones I made (Ok... they're only "cheaply made" until I get better at sewing). So yes! I get it!

(I probably sound like a snob now...)

Fruitful

Veteran

Honestly, I think that jacket was made for you.

And yeah, this happens to me too

And I thrift a lot. Or maybe I'm just a fusspot.