and I can't imagine...

I met some friends for lunch today at the snooty mall (Tysons II), which consists of the following anchor stores: Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's and the Ritz Carlton (which isn't a store, but it is a huge part of the mall). I parked by one of the Neiman Marcus entrances.

After a lovely lunch, I had a little extra time before I had to get home to the kids, so I decided to stroll on through the shoe salon at Neiman Marcus, something I do maybe once, oh, every decade. I came across a beautiful table of shoes. The designer was Christian Louboutin. I've heard of him--he designs shoes that Oprah and Victoria Beckham wear. I've seen beautiful women wearing these shoes on the red carpet. So, I stand before the table of shoes--some very beautiful and some very funky--and I pick up a pair of good old fashioned black patent leather, peek-a-boo heels. Very cute. Beautiful, in fact. I liked them. I turned them over and instantly suffered a stroke.

After the blood rushed back into the left side of my body and I picked myself up off of the floor, I looked again at the bottom of the shoe. The price tag said, "$749". Dollars. Not $7.49...SEVEN HUNDRED FORTY NINE DOLLARS.

Okay, seriously? Maybe I have turned a corner in my life. Maybe I am a completely unhip suburban mom, now. Maybe I am just totally out of touch with reality, but really? That is the cost of the monthly mortgage on a small condo. That is four months of preschool payments. $749.00 is enough to feed my family for two months, easily.

So, who, exactly, is buying shoes at this price point? Who can afford to buy shoes that are 3/4 of a thousand dollars, in this recession? I looked around, and at 2:00 in the afternoon on a Wednesday (on St. Patrick's day, no less) there were people trying these shoes on! Women all blinged out and over made up and sporting lots of diamonds. Who are these women? Are they the women who live in those enormous mansions along the Potomac River? Are they diplomat's wives? Are they from "old money" and able to live off of the interest of their bank accounts?

As I stood there, looking at these women, watching the shoe salesman salivate over them, I realized that even if I could spend $749 on one pair of shoes, I don't think I ever would. Not after what I have seen in my life. I couldn't do it. I can't imagine having that kind of money, but if I did, I know that I wouldn't be spending it on a pair of shoes.

Thank God for Target.