I was at an off-price retailer, one famous for its “half-off department store” slogan, when I spotted him: a Giorgio Armani silk blouse wedged between a bottle of cinnamon-infused sesame oil and a mermaid-shaped soap dispenser in aisle nine. I approached cautiously, and gingerly lifted the blouse out of its callous confinement. It was wrinkled, sure, but it also bore a hasty smear of lipstick along its delicately embroidered collar, indicating that another size-10 mystery woman had quickly removed the blouse in the dressing room, and then stashed it haphazardly in, of all places, housewares. I whispered softly to the garment, as if it were an abandoned child instead of a misplaced top, and gently nestled it against the pepper mill I had just picked up.
“Excuse me?” I said to a nearby store clerk. “This blouse seems to be lost.” The clerk stared at me as if I had five heads, grabbed the blouse from my arms (where I had it carefully swaddled against the pepper mill) and tossed it onto her metal cart of stuff to go back.
Except, couture clothing isn't 'stuff.' It's valiant, it's special - and it sure as hell doesn't belong at an off-price retailer subject to the hot dog-stained hands of women looking for bargains.
With the country in a full blown recession, it's no wonder that $500 blouses and $800 shoes (well-justified prices, if you take into consideration the cost of quality materials and handmade craftsmanship in the creation of a collection) have found their way to these very locales. Specialty boutiques, devoid of customers who are suffering from financial crises of their own, have no choice but to literally dump excess merchandise down the proverbial retail rabbit hole. What formerly served as a rare “find” - the unicorn-like appearance of Dolce & Gabbana stilettos at a fraction of their original cost, or a snakeskin Gucci belt from two seasons ago - is now commonplace at off-price stores across the country, with hoards of Jil Sander skirts woven into racks of 'better brand' suits and other sensible frocks, never to see the light of day again until they reach clearance status. And by then, who knows what fate awaits them?
