When I told my brother and husband to buy that Whole Foods coupon that LivingSocial was offering on Tuesday, I knew I was on to something hot. Woo hoo! I spent $10 for $20 worth of groceries at my neighborhood's most overpriced grocery store. Then my husband burst my bubble by explaining that I'll likely spend more than $20 at Whole Foods thereby reducing my percentage saved, and they'll have me over a barrel. This is true of course, due in part to my Mexican Standoff with rival grocery store Safeway, who I have boycotted over the outrageous communist pricing of their milk. For a few fleeting seconds though, that coupon felt like a coup.
We all love a bargain, don't we?
The Whole Foods coupon sellout wasn't a surprise. But yesterday's run-on-Target news shocked me. I cannot wrap my mind around how the unveiling of the Missoni line at Target was worth people lining up for miles, playing punch and grab and then reselling it all online for higher prices. These people do know the store of origin is Target, right? Not Bergdorf, not Barneys, but Target -- the place where I buy my tampons and dog treats.
I'm not sure what is going on in the world but I'm feeling very conflicted. By the time Halston sold out to JC Penney, no one wanted to even snort a line with him, much less wait in one to buy his clothes. To me, a real score is getting a Diane Von Furstenberg online for half price. I don't have to wait in lines, it gets shipped to my house where I can try it on without judgment and it's the real thing. DVF on sale. Not DVF of a lesser quality for Target. And if DVF did end up in Target and I bought some of her stuff? I would never resell it online. I would go home, sit on my bed with the fruits of my labor around me and do like my 5-year-old niece does and scream, "MINE MINE MINE!"
Is there a new trend brewing in disposable clothing with a big name on it? Plenty of designers have had lines at Target. I received a Kohl's catalog yesterday in my mailbox and Jennifer Lopez was on the cover hawking her new fashion line. (Guess she's not using real fur anymore, huh? Slumming it with the little people really changes your business plan doesn't it, J. Lo?) (She was making out with Mark Anthony inside the front cover. I think someone dropped their editing wand too soon.) (Also, I don't know either why I'm getting a Kohl's catalog. I'd been throwing them away until I realized my husband's name was on them. Oops. But it doesn't belong in the mailbox touching my Harper's Bazaar!)
Then my poor eyes were assaulted with some advertisement for Sears. Guess who has a new line there? The most confounding celebrities of the century -- my all time favorite bubbleheads -- the Kardashians -- who, by the way, were made supreme fun of the other day:
Sigh. So it's not just me who sees it then?
I guess what I'm saying is that the appeal of a luxury brand loses its, well, appeal, once it's available to the mass market. Does this make me a snob? Maybe a little. I would not line up to buy a cheap version of a brand if I wasn't willing to buy it through their regular collection. I also hate mass market shopping for the same reason I don't wear khakis: I don't want to wear what everyone else is wearing.
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Melissa blogs at Velvet in Dupont and can be found on Facebook.