What Do Women Pay For?

Sometimes, my girlfriend and I go clothes shopping together. We actually happen to be in the rare and lucky position of mutually enjoying this process, regardless of who's doing the trying on.

I've noticed something interesting, even puzzling, on these trips, however: The cost of a garment often has less to do with its quality in women's apparel than it does in men's.

Now, this doesn't apply so much when it comes to lower-end stores. At the mall, Target, etc. -- even Macy's -- most of the clothes, regardless of gender, are not very high in quality. They look cool, but they're going to fall apart in a couple years, tops, which most people don't mind because everything will be out of style by then anyway. In a lot of these lower-end establishments, the women's clothes are even absurdly cheap: five, ten, twelve, twenty dollars. This, I think, is closer to what the clothes are actually worth than what men are paying in similar stores. Presumably, the rationale here is that women need lots of clothes so each garment should cost as little as possible. And, of course, you get what you pay for: The clothes in such venues are shabby for both genders, even though you pay a little less for this shabbiness in the women's case.

But in the higher-end places, the situation is more interesting. When I go to a men's boutique -- at least one where they actually sell suits and ties, etc. -- what I'm paying for is the quality and expertise. The material feels great and lasts forever (ten to twenty years at least) and a guy comes up to me who can tell me all my sizes without a tape measure and point me to everything in the store that looks like I was born to wear it. When I take my girlfriend to a women's boutique, however, the clothes feel the same as the ones at the mall even though the tags are in the triple digits (Ann Taylor and maybe Talbots constitute exceptions, though these aren't technically boutiques). The expertise isn't usually there either: There's normally a young, heavily accessorized salesgirl who sits in a chair, popping her bubblegum while we look through the racks.

What gives? What is the rationale for spending so much in these types of stores? If it's just a desire to look like a model, can't women satisfy this demand at the places charging twelve dollars a garment? Do many women just enjoy the experience of buying expensive things? Or am I missing something? Anyone should feel free to weigh in, but comments from women are especially welcome.