Is it Better if it Costs More?

There is an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal today about the price and perceived value of "designer clothes". Over the last few years, stores like Target, H&M and Wal-Mart have brought in designers, some well-known and some new and edgy, to design and sell a lower-priced line exclusively for their store. I mentioned the other day that I was looking forward to the line this spring at Target by Tracey Feith. I see his clothes in Vogue and Bazaar all of the time. I've never bought anything by him, but I like the "look "of his clothes. Target probably started this trend years back when they brought in Isaac Mizrahi to do a lower-priced line. The irony was that his high-end line was suffering at the time, and his line at Target kind of revived him. To his credit, his line for Target was well-designed. I could never wear it because of fit, but I know a lot people who could and were very pleased to be able to buy a skirt, jacket and blouse for under a $100 that was cut well and looked modern.

After Mizrahi, Target began to bring in a new designer each season. In my opinion, some have been good and some have not. Behnaz Sarafpour was able to translate her high-priced, beautifully-designed clothes into a very lovely lower-priced collection. I didn't think Patrick Robinson succeeded as well. I tried on a few of his pieces and was really disappointed.

H&M is another entity all together. Their flagship store in New York (brought over from London) stays packed. They incorporate lower priced lines from people like Kate Moss and Stella McCartney with their own brand. People literally pile baskets full of clothing and run for the dressing rooms. Their own brand is full of trendy, low-priced items that will quench a fashionista's desire for something she has seen on the runway, but cannot afford.

The WSJ article had two "experts", a New York designer and a Dean of Fashion at Parson's School of Design, try and pick from a mixed group of high-priced designer clothing and the knock-off lines from Target and H&M. They were to indicate which were the "real McCoys". To make a long story short, they pretty much just guessed, and were about 50/50. A Thakoon dress regularly priced at $1,145 was deemed too normal to be the high-end pick, although it was described as high quality and very detailed. A $44.99 flowered raincoat was chosen as the high end pick because of the material and the lining. The "moral of the story" was that it is not always easy to tell the difference between the $1,000 dress and the $10 dress.

The premise of the article is fun, but in reality, I'd rather buy at Saks and Nordstrom's than Target or Wal-Mart. For one thing, the fabric is usually the give away. A talented designer can cut something well and make it look expensive. But the flip side of this answers the question of why items from Target only last a short period of time....the material. In most cases, they are mass-produced from cheaper materials, so unless you are going to hand wash every time, chances are, they won't last.

Having said this, I still shop and buy from Target. There is just no way for me to justify the high end purchases 100% of the time. I'll write more about this tomorrow because I just read an article in my new Vogue about how some people are "cutting back" in this economy, and it made me laugh out loud. I guess we all "cut back" in different ways. Tune in tomorrow.

For today though, I learned that Norma Kamali has a low-end line at Wal-Mart. I'll be checking that one out. My first ever "designer" dress was a Norma Kamali dress. I bought it back in college off of the sale rack. I still remember that it was originally $350, which at the time seemed like the price of a house. It was on sale for $65, which was still a stretch for me, but I took the plunge and was glad I did. It was cut beautifully and fit like a glove. I probably wore it 100 times over the next few years...thus lowering the price-per-wear to less than $1.

At the end of the day, I guess my closet break down is kind of like my diet break down. I try and go 40%carbs, 30%protein and 30%fats. The closet break down is similar. 40% Target, 30% J.Crew, and 30% high-end-stuff-hopefully-found-on-sale. It's all a matter of moderation, isn't it?

So until tomorrow, when we will discuss whether or not having to decide against buying a $2,ooo ring is really "cutting back"...