Amber & Perceived Values, Part I

How much do you think a pair of jeans should cost? I am stuck in Gap prices from 1992 when Y.T. Vega got an employee discount and I wore size 4: $35 seems like a reasonable price to pay for jeans to me. Now, I know they cost more. For example, I bought a pair of size 6 jeans at the Patagonia Avalanche sale in 2007 with my professional colleague, Laura (who is a super smart person and currently looking for work if you're hiring). On sale, they were $50, but they were organic cotton so it seemed worth it to me. And, earlier this year, I bought a pair of size 8 jeans at Macy's (who knew that tourist destination had so much stuff for sale?) for $39. They were on sale, though, too, and I had to dig through a giant messy pile to find my size. I felt like that effort was like the discount when you pick your own apples.

But, since, as I approach infinity, I appear to be expanding at a rate exponential to the metric expansion of the universe, I needed new jeans. I am pleased to report the discovery of the Levis website where you can find many different models of jean (505,501, 550, and other three-digit numbers that had no meaning to me as an infrequent jean buyer) on sale for a variety of prices, some of which are $35. Of course, sizing on the web could be an issue, but it worked out well for me. Of course, I may have a hard time convincing Pickles that I just bought myself two $35 pairs of pants rather than one $70 cat environment for him.


This also means, of course, that tomorrow I will wear new jeans that are ALREADY covered in fur. It's like buying the floor model coffee table that comes pre-scratched. You can avoid that awful "first time" moment.