My Wife and I Struggle With Paying $47.00 for...

[rsmith6621]

......A haircut,a pair of pants,a polo shirt, a pair of comfortable shoes....How do you justify a $150K shopping trip and say you are going to be there for the 95% of us who can only dream of a trip to Nieman Marcus...



PIGS

[Liberalboy]

1. Amen!

[zanne]

2. I second that Amen! nt

[Sydnie]

3. The show "What Not To Wear" gives the person they help style $5,000 and they get a whole new

wardrobe for that amount from stores in NYC. She couldn't learn to mix and match for less like the rest of us?

[Jennicut]

7. I was so thinking of Stacy and Clinton and their little $5,000 shopping sprees

when this story came out. I love that show. Phalin could have spent way less then she did. I don't blame her got getting some clothes but $150,000 worth? Plus for the kids too?

[Erin Elizabeth]

16. I almost wonder if she didn't spend less and pocket the leftover.

:hmm:

[knitter4democracy]

23. I was thinking of that show, too, and how hard it is to spend it all.

So many of the people on that show spend hardly any of it, and this in Manhattan in fancy shops, the first day. It's hard to spend the whole $5000--and that's for an entire wardrobe!

The guy who does the hair charge $500 for a cut for his regular customers, and I'd trust Nick over whoever's doing her hair now for more.

[madaboutharry]

4. Neiman Marcus is an outrageously expensive store.

I don't understand the thinking behind this. I will defend the fact that the woman needed a makeover. If you look at the clothes she wore before she was selected as McCain's VP, it is clear she really did not know how to dress herself. She looked like a hick. (No offense to all the nice hicks out there, but it is what it is). But you know, there are many, many "medium priced" mall stores like J. Jill, Talbots, White House/Black Market that make lovely clothes that would look great on Sarah Palin. They could have dressed her for a fraction of this. And the other thing that is disturbing is the question of whether campaign donations could even be used for this kind of thing.

[AspenRose]

8. They don't call it "Needless Markup" for nothing

[Erin Elizabeth]

15. Absolutely. White House/Black Market is really nice.

And you are right, it's a fraction of the cost of Neiman's. I can't even afford White House/Black Market, but I have gone in there before. Nice stuff. Average cost per item about $65-85.

[demokatgurrl]

21. All made in China... if that matters. n/t

[madaboutharry]

30. Actually a lot of stuff is now

made in Vietnam. :(

[Cassandra]

20. I can assure you that the women who are in the RNC...

don't shop at mid-priced mall stores.
I grew up shopping at Saks but when I see that high end stores off-shore production of their mid-priced clothes, I feel better shopping at J.Jill, Talbots and Ann Taylor. They suit my NYC lifestyle better anyway.

[Beacool]

25. Yeah, but you must admit that it's fun to shop in Saks.

Particularly the flagship store on 5th. I love that place, same as Bloomies on 59th. When I was a child my mother and I would go on Saturdays to John Wanamaker's in Philly to hear the organ concert and have tea, you would always meet people at the eagle. Thank goodness that Lord & Taylor took over that store, I would hate to see it disappear the way that so many have in the past.

There's nothing wrong with shopping in any of these stores as long as one can afford it.

[uponit7771]

5. OBAMA DIDN'T PAY 1,500 FOR HIS SUITE EITHER!!!

I just had to get that out, that's the "retail value" of his suite not what he paid and that usually is the prime market value.

I REALLY REALLY doubt the person who just paid off his student loans and walks holes in his shoes paid 1500 for the suite he's been wearing...around 500 - 700 would be more likely.

[madaboutharry]

12. I think you are right.

Last year, my husband bought a Ralph Lauren suit for $500. The regular price was close to $1000. Men's suits seem to work that way.

[RebelOne]

28. Well, he might have paid $1,500 if he stayed in a suite at the Ritz Plaza.

[life_long_dem]

6. Everyone knows that the (R)acist Party is also called the Hypocrite Party.

[uponit7771]

9. They rationalize their hypocrisy usually in the form of "national security" or their own "godliness"

...I pray their party culture changes or gets beat into the ground and comes up a new

[hamsterjill]

10. Seven Houses

The way you "justify" it is by being picked for VP by a man who has SEVEN houses!!!

These people are certainly not in tune with ordinary Americans who have to stretch every dollar as far as they can.

I await the change eagerly. Go President Obama!!!

[Spritz57]

11. We need to be vigilant and make sure those clothes are actually donated.

The RNC doesn't have a sterling track record on this point. For those old enough to remember, remember Nancy Reagan and her designer dresses which were undeclared gifts. She balked about have to declare them, when she was caught, and her fellow Republicans actually defended her.

[Erin Elizabeth]

13. Yep.

I don't have any respect for that.

I've never bought a purse for more than $35. I desperately need to buy new shoes for work--my work shoes are all from about a decade ago and are really showing it now (and they were cheap to begin with, so they've really held up well!). When I buy a new article of clothing, it's to simply supplement what I have (as probably most people have to do), I've never purchased a whole new wardrobe. And I can guarantee you it's from Target or maybe Kohl's if I'm feeling wealthy, LOL.

But I have a teenager and I just got done paying for $6000 braces. Between my husband and myself, our monthly prescription med costs are $250. And we do mail order and generic as much as we can. Health coverage for my family is $400 a month out of the paycheck.

I could go on and on, obviously. Point being, just getting by is so expensive nowdays that there's no way I could go out and buy the kind of clothes they got for her for this campaign.

[murray hill farm]

14. This item is an important one in one huge way!

It hammers into the minds of all the millions of hard working and struggling, trying just to make it from day to day on so little money, that there is "us" and then there is "them"....and clearly spending that much money on clothes shows just how completely out of touch with the "real" ha! americans the whole mccain/palin is and has become. This will not go unnoticed, by the people who are increasingly struggling to just survive. I will bet it makes the whole of "spreading the wealth" much more meaningful than it was before.

[Doctor_J]

17. She's just a regular hockey mom

you know - a pit bull with $20 lipstick.

[KingFlorez]

18. It shows how out of touch they are

150K for clothes is just excessive

[nini]

19. you're just a lazy American who is jealous of those with money.

:sarcasm:


it's sickening isn't it?

[yy4me]

22. I just heard on the news that she will have to pay taxes on her

new wardrobe. I hope this is the case. Even if she donates the clothes, the cost is excessive and not justified. Must have received her fashion advice from Cindy, for whom $150,000 is just chump change.

PS: Wednesday is Senior dollar day at the Salvation Army store. Other Thrift shop stores also have "special" days. Not that I am suggesting that "golly=gee Sara" shop there but for some of us, the money saved allows us to pay some other bill.

PS, does it seem to you that there is no money left anymore after the bills are paid. No extra for that frivolous jaunt to the movies, no trip to see a baseball game, even an ice cream cone for 4 people is the better part of $20.00 here. 'Tis a sorry state we're in.

[n2doc]

24. Heck, for Cindy 150K doesn't even cover the cost of her Jewelry!

And you are exactly right about costs. If I don't think and consider every single thing going into my cart while shopping (with kids) the checkout is horrendous. Hard to get out without spending over 30, even for just a quick trip.

[juno jones]

26. Hell, I just bought a new wardrobe...

$200 at Value Village. :evilgrin:

I had to. All of my clothes were at least ten years old and wearing out.

[Two Sheds]

27. Come on, people. You know that God wants His people to go first class

:sarcasm:

this is a godsend. The Dow is tanking again today which makes a wonderful contrast.

[tigereye]

29. it's odd, because that really isn't the "populist" way for Palin to go

odd that they simply didn't have her campaign in her usual clothes ( or at least not Neimann Marcus.)

[kestrel91316]

31. Heck, three years ago when I found a wool cardigan sweater at Goodwill

that is actually roomy and comfy (rather than the new trend of TIGHT sweaters) for only $1, I though I had won the frickin' lottery!!!

I choose shoes based on comfort and how long they will last - Dansko clogs aren't cheap, but they are comfy and last YEARS. Sneakers also have to be excellent quality, so I take good care of them so they will last. Needless to say, I don't own any wear-once-and-donate-to-charity red patent leather stiletto pumps.

And I don't want to be saying here how old my Target underwear is. Let's just say I wear that out, too.

$150,000. Shameful.