How Much Now?

I was out running a few errands when I saw the coat. It was in the front window of a store I pass almost every day but never go into. It was beautiful.

I actually need a new winter coat. I just bought one last year (a crappy one that started falling apart before the winter was over) though, and I kind of hate the idea of buying another one so soon. I've perused the racks of a few vintage/secondhand stores, thinking that would be a nice compromise, but nothing has jumped out at me yet.

So this beautiful coat; I had to go in and check out the price tag. It didn't matter so much that I was wearing a ratty t shirt, had wet hair and no makeup, and was carrying a bottle of grape juice with a picture of Grover on it. Just a peek.

I looked around a bit but couldn't find it on a rack, so I asked a salesclerk. "The coat in the window - where is it?"

"Oh," she replied. "It's made to order." You can try on the mannequin sample though; do you want me to take it down?"

"Um, that seems like a lot of hassle for you," I said. "How much does it cost?" ($200 or less, in my cost-benefit analysis, would make mannequin wrangling worth it)

"Well, you can choose which fabric you want the coat to come in. Wool is $980, a wool-cashmere blend is $1250, and all cashmere is $1600."

I left the store and walked home in a daze. Are there really people in my neighborhood walking around in thousand dollar coats?