When I first saw a picture of the grey jersey bow clutch that Alexis Mabille designed as part of the collaboration between the Gap and Parisian lifestyle store Colette I was intrigued...I've been lusting over Mabille's designs for a while now and this seemed an ideal time to pick something up but (why is there always a "but" in these stories) according to Colette's website the bag retails for $296 (okay $296.16 to be precise but what's 16 cents between friends?).

Love, as they say, is officially dead...it's a cute bag...just not three hundred dollars cute. Not wanting to sound like a curmudgeonly old grandma but this seems to be pricing gone mad. And it raises the question of how highly we, as consumers, rate design versus materials when it comes to justifying a purchase...in this instance the cost of the fabric is negligible...the remainder has to be regarded as paying the artist for his work (plus the necessary store mark-up)...is it worth it?