Cheap Chic

by Cathy

I am admitting it here. I am a designer brand fanatic. I love me some designer duds and accessories. But seeing as other priorities now grab hold of my weekly paycheck, it's quite the rare opportunity that I have to allow myself extravagant luxuries.

So naturally, when I heard about the Missoni launch at Target stores, I was all over that. Regular Janes like you and I would now have the chance to own a Missoni - designer level quality and style for 'cheap' compared to what it would sell at a shi shi store it normally sells in. However, I never expected the Missoni Madness that ensued, whereby crowds of anxious designer brand whores like me lined up hours before the stores opened and cleaned out the place within a half hour. No, that I did not expect.

As I've frequented Target stores since then, I have found that with every visit, more and more Missoni items have been slinking their way back on Target shelves. 'Buyers remorse' had set in for those that spent too much and couldn't sell the items on eBay. So there they were. The other day, I happened upon a Missoni knit vest (I had been in the market for a good vest for a while now). It was size large, but it was Missoni and I would make it work. I snagged up a pair of chocoalate lace zig zag tights and zig zagged my way home.

The next day (naturally) I wore the vest. I was at Costco (naturally) waiting in line, when I noticed the woman in front of me look over and smile as she eyed me up and down, slowly placing her humungous bag of croutons on the conveyer belt. She looked away and then back at me, this time, holding her industrial sized bag of broccoli. "Were you there? Were you part of the madness on the first day?" And immediately, like I've known her for years, I knew exactly what she was asking me.
"Can you believe," I responded without missing a beat, "I got this yesterday?"
An incredulous, low-pitched "Nooo!" was her wide-eyed response.
"And you're gonna die," I continued, almost tauntingly but with an obvious twinge of pride. She was smiling wide at this point, waiting for my next line like a child about to be handed an ice cream cone. "Seven bucks."
She threw her hand up in disbelief. "What?!? B..but..HOW?"
I touched her hand to calm her down and explain my strategy in the hopes she would be so lucky. "It had no pricetage and when I went to ask about it at the service desk, they told me it was on online purchase. So it was seven dollars."

There we were, at the Costco checkout line, exchanging stories about the Missoni Madness - because every brand-loving woman out there had one. She went on about how she was part of the 'first day' madness, a part of the chaos that will go down in shopping history, at least in her mind. She ended our exchange with, "Well, at least we'll have something to remember it all with."

As I cordially nodded goodbye, I concluded that what makes us women genuinely happy and gives us reason to strike up conversations with complete strangers about our wardrobe and spending history, is simply snagging a good bargain. And if it happens to be a designer brand?

Waaaay better.