I need to stop embracing my victimhood...

.... my fashion victimhood, that is.
Because there are real victims.
One of my least admirable traits is my onlyoccasionalbutthenborderlineobsessiveburstofinterest in fashion.
I know it is shallow and irrational, I know it can be socially and fiscally irresponsible... I even know it's mostly ugly.
But from time to time, sometimes out of the blue, I will experience a sudden urge, a need (or so it feels,) to "look good," (albeit "good" by no objective standard.)
Himself's current gig is putting me in a fairly unusual situation for me, socializing (that is rare enough!) with people I do not know at all, and straddling two very different circles, (one moneyed and social, the other artsy and theatrical,) leaving me uncertain what I am "supposed" to wear, and eager to put HIM as much at ease as is possible, (which, given his personality, means not very...)
So I'm thinking not my one of my bizarre men's dressing gown worn as a wrap, or craft project sweaters, or....
There was an article in the NY Times today about the growing disparity between the price points of high-end, luxury fashion, and low end, but still fashionable clothes.
Anyway, so now having glanced at the S & F section , I think I'm probably cured of this fascination for a good while, at least....
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/29/fashion/29PRICE.html?ref=fashion&pagewanted=all
Flexing Your Buying Power Dress for Less and Less
Over all, apparel prices have gone down primarily because of two factors: the overwhelming movement of manufacturing to countries with cheaper labor, where the clothes are made, and increased competition between traditional retailers and discounters, where the clothes are sold.
In some cases, the low prices today seem almost ridiculous. Steve & Barry’s sells celebrity-branded shoes and dresses for $8.98 or less. Target offers a silk faille ball gown from Isaac Mizrahi on sale for $129.99. Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, promotes an Op T-shirt for 97 cents.
But how low can prices go? While fashion deflation may be good news for consumers, it is not necessarily so for stores. Such prices at the low end and, conversely, such high prices at the luxury end, where $1,300 handbags are piled up like tomatoes at Saks Fifth Avenue, are beginning to cause concern among retailers and analysts, because they are having a profound impact on the way people shop.
The fashion and retail industry fear that the appeal of price, for consumers of both mass and luxury goods, is becoming a more important factor in decisions about what to buy than desire, which has been the driving mechanism behind the growth of fashion and luxury for decades.
“We as a business cannot afford to have a customer take a second look and ask, ‘Do I need this?’ ” said Bud Konheim, the chief executive of Nicole Miller. “That is the kiss of death. We’re finished, because nobody really needs anything we make as a total industry.” [Such dangerous honesty! that struck me.... but then this:]
The divergence of price extremes has become so striking that some fashion executives, including Mr. Konheim, are openly asking whether prices have reached both their nadir and apex at the same moment. “As far as bottom costs go, we’re there,” Mr. Konheim said. “I think we’ve exploited all the countries on earth for people who really want to work for nothing.”