Everyone Should Have Their Price

I kicked back on the bed with a copy of People Magazine’s Style Watch magazine this past Sunday. I noticed a mini-pictorial spread called “I Really Love My…” where A-Listers are shown using their favorite fashion items over and over again.

Sienna Miller loves her trench coat…Gwen Stefani loves her ankle boots…Jennifer Lopez loves her $2,865 Zagliani purse…

Wait a tick. A PURSE FOR $2,865?!

Now this may be shallow coming from a girl who dropped $220 on a leather bag two weeks ago in Vegas (C’mon…it’s COACH and it was 60% OFF), but isn’t that perhaps a tad outrageous? What would possess ANYONE to purchase a purse for almost $3K? It was incredible to me...and I’ve been known to treat myself a time or two.

I tried to reason with myself that this was just another celeb with a skewed sense of spending. The world is full of these people! But even hours after reading about the bag, I needed to know what the big deal was. Seriously…what would possess a normal person to purchase this purse after they’ve seen J.Lo flaunt it around in public? My trust friend Google led me to the Saks Fifth Avenue website:

For the low low price of an arm and a leg...

EXCLUSIVELY ONLINE in the U.S. at saks.com. Gentle pleating adds textural interest to this generously sized frame bag, exquisitely crafted of metallic glazed python. Designed by dermatologist Mauro Orietti-Carella, the snakeskin has been injected with silicone for the most buttery-soft, luxurious feel.

Did a little more research. The silicon injected into the python skin? It’s actually BOTOX. That stopped me dead in my tracks. I thought you injected Botox into living things so they would had that dead look…I mean paralyze the wrinkles? Am I missing something here?

Look…I like nice things too. I do spend – hopefully wisely – on items that make me happy. I figure that if I’m going to spend the money, I should get some quality out of it. I consider my “luxury” purchases investments, not splurges. I figure they will get their fair share of use over a certain length of time.

But $2,865.00? For a dead snake with handles on it? I just don’t know. I have similar issues with Katie Holmes wearing a $4000 pair of shoes whose style can be purchased at Payless for about $20. At what point does the price of luxury become ridiculous? And I don’t begrudge J.Lo for having a purse that expensive because let’s face it – she makes more in one day that I hope to SEE in a year.

What worries me is the fact that there will be people in my own financial situation – comfortable and making it – who will see this purse as the ultimate buy. And then go out and buy it!

As me and my friends hit our 30s, some of us have figured how to get most of what we want while remembering that we have a future to save for. However, there are still a few of our friends who are thousands in debt because they want to keep up with the A-List. The never really learned to ask themselves the question “What’s my price?” or “Where do I stop?”

Or when they have asked “What’s my price,” they discovered it’s apparently two Bulova watches for $1,700. That’s okay…I didn’t need to pay rent anyway this month. Their price was a car that cost more than they made in a year. Eating is pretty overrated…but come hear the stereo system! Amazingly, one former co-workers price was a $5000 state-of-the-art gaming computer. Sure I make $7.50 an hour and the electricity got turned off, but check out these Halo graphics!

There’s got to be a point in time where people have to say “stop” or “no” to themselves. Are we such a have NOW society, that we are willing to push aside all manners of dollars and cents? Whatever happened to earning and working our way up to things?

It’s not like these our price stays stagnant. As you move up the ladder – so does your price point. Lenny isn’t a rich man. But he’s not buying his jeans from Walmart anymore when he likes the fit of Gap or Haggar. Everything in due time, right?

I have miles to go before I graduate, if ever, to Botox-treated snake skin purses (thankfully). It took two laps around the Vegas Coach outlet and a 10-minute deconstruction of pros and cons with my husband before I swiped my debit card for that $220 purse. I can’t believe how much of a tightwad I can be even when purchasing a luxury item, LOL! However, if someone wants to halvesies with me for the multi-course prix fixe dinner at Michael Mina’s at the Bellagio…get in touch with me!

What? Everyone has their price!