What price LOVE? Rare find of discounted boutique jeans prompts bout of shopper soul searching

Love, exciting and new. Step inside, we’re expecting you…

If clothing could sing, that’s what the pair of 7 for All Mankind jeans I found at T.J.’s last week would’ve crooned.

Not only were they cut like a dream, but they cost about half what they normally do at boutiques. Therein lies the rub (and for once, the rub wasn’t a too-tight seam cutting into my thighs). Even at half off, they cost more than I normally pay for four pairs of jeans.

When it comes to shopping, I have a split personality. On the one hand, I’m a bargain hunter extraordinaire. I scour the racks for ridiculously inexpensive finds. I boast about the deals I find – the dollar shirt I found at Marden’s, the $15 Ralph Lauren cashmere sweater I picked up at Sylvia’s. The 25-cent faux fur coat from the Orono Thrift Shop. Fabulous, I tell you.

On the other hand, I am a bit of a label hound – I can’t help it. I love my Coach bag. I proudly wear my cashmere Burberry scarf, which belonged to my grandfather. And I’ve coveted 7 for All Mankind jeans for years. No exaggeration. Every time I go to Bliss in Portland I try them on. My friend Emily treated herself to not one, but two pairs last summer and it was all I could do not to turn emerald green with envy.

I live in jeans. They’re my uniform. They’re flattering, versatile and always just right. But I could never bring myself to bite the bullet and spend $150 on denim – even if it was 7 for All Mankind. Gap and Old Navy are more my speed, though I did score a pair of Lucky jeans on clearance at Marshalls a few years back.

Still, 7 kept calling. I thought maybe I’d splurge on a pair last month, when I got paid for a freelance gig, but my too-huge cell phone bill dashed my denim dreams. I have other priorities, I told myself, far more pressing than expensive jeans that you can’t even throw in the dryer.

For the uninformed, 7 for All Mankind (along with Juicy Couture, Blue Cult, Paper Denim & Cloth, True Religion, A.G. and other boutique brands) are the Tom Brady of the jeans world – attractive and swoon-worthy, dreamy in a sporty kind of way. For me, they were a safe crush because at that price, it’d never come to pass.

Then the unthinkable happened: I ran into Tom Brady at T.J.s – and I was having a good hair day. OK, not really, but I did find the jeans – my jeans – in my size.

I immediately started talking myself out of it. “They make your butt look big,” the angel on my shoulder whispered. “Tight jeans are hot,” the devil retorted. “You could feed a thousand hungry children in third-world countries for the same price,” the angel pleaded. “Your budget is designated for shopping and only shopping, not charitable donations – it’s your job,” the devil (who doubles as an accountant) countered.

Ultimately, the devil won, but I still had my doubts. Racked with guilt, I brought them to the office and consulted with my rational, less frivolous colleagues.

A few scoffed at the $79.99 price tag, which I left on in case I changed my mind. But a surprising number of them didn’t.

My stylish but level-headed photographer friend urged me to go for it – she owns several pairs of Citizens of Humanity jeans and doesn’t have any regrets about spending over $100 on them. Of course, my friend Jess, who chipped in to buy me a Coach bag last Christmas, had no qualms.

My protegee Kailee not only supported the purchase, she planned to pick up a pair for herself. After a few cracks about sending the money to New Orleans, my pal Alicia admitted that I needed to wear tighter pants anyway. My editor had no objections whatsoever – she loved everything about them, and said people spend more than that on jeans all the time. Of course, we agreed, they also spend less.

The more I thought about it, the more it seemed like it was meant to be. Imagine wanting something for so long, finding it at a discount and walking away because of guilt. Sure, I’m going to have to scrimp for a few weeks, but it’ll give me an excuse to go thrift shopping. I have no regrets.

Better to have loved and bought than never to have loved at all.

ShopNotes

. Wear your heart on your sleeve: Justice Clothing on Main Street in Bangor is selling union-made, sweatshop-free T-shirts (the smalls are organic cotton) that declare, “I Love N.O.” to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. They cost $15. For more information, call 941-9912.

ShopGirl would love to hear from you! Send questions, comments or suggestions by e-mail to: kandresen@bangordailynews.net, by U.S. mail to: Kristen Andresen, P.O. Box 1329, Bangor, ME 04402-1329, or by fax to: 941-9476. Tune in to ShopGirl at 5 p.m. Fridays on WLBZ-2.