I’m not sure where to even start on this topic. Maybe describing in chronological order will be best.

A year and a half ago, I tired on a leather jacket that I absolutely fell in love with. The asymmetrical cut, the grey color, the ribbed inner sleeve—oh I imagined myself wearing it casually—everyday, dressed up—to an event…even to bed? It was that comfortable…the price tag however, was not. I could not spend $800 on the spot. And so, I then categorized it in the back of my mind as something I would get…as a reward, a birthday present to myself…to mark some sort of accomplishment in my life.

Photos: revolveclothing.com

Months after, I saw Kim Kardashian wearing it and I thought (Damnit! Now Bebe is going to design a (cough) similar version next season and it will have lost it’s originality [to me].)

And then of course, that beautiful leather jacket sold out EVERYWHERE. Honestly. And you know what scarce supply does? It increases the demand. Sometimes this does terrible things to a shopper…it’ll make her think she wants something maybe a little more than she really does.

In any case, here’s where it gets creepy. I found the jacket on eBay. Score! I am terrible at eBay as I don’t check it frequently enough and the final moments of bidding give me anxiety. Nonetheless, I put in a bid. On the final day of bidding, I woke up in the morning and a number came to my head. (I know this is sounding ridiculous/long-winded but try to follow me here.) $256.63. Yes, I don’t normally wake up remembering anything from my dreams, but oddly, this number stuck out, so I wrote it down. That afternoon when it came time to bid, I put in some random number. (Again, I am not eBay savvy and never know if you should put your best offer up front.) The madness of the final seconds of bidding ensued and for reasons I cannot explain (maybe I was being cheap?) I didn’t put in ‘my number.’ The bid was over. I had lost. And the note that displayed on my screen read, “This item was sold for $256.63.”

UNBELIEVABLE.

It’s like the shopping gods were trying to help me out and I ignored it. Ha.

You know what else happened? In September, I saw a very similar cut jacket in the window at Bebe. I tried it on. Liked the look. $100? I asked the staff, ‘Is this leather?’ The answer was no.

Photo: trendbite.com

There’s a place for all kinds of clothes in your wardrobe. The inexpensive tee, the designer piece, the mass produced, the vintage and the custom. There comes a time in your life, when you want something that is quality (or at least made better than you are used to buying). I’m not talking about a specific tier of designer, I’m talking about material and workmanship. Why buy pleather if lambskin is a little more?

I left the store throwing in the towel on this (far too long of a) jacket quest.

Until…Refinery29 teamed up with Veda to offer a mega deal. Eureka! Pieces are selling out fast. So if you like what you see, hop on it! The deal ends in 5 days!

(And by the way, I changed my mind on the style I loved…while it is still gorgeous, having it called the ‘it’ jacket turned me off a little…plus the shorter front and elongated back of this style seems more refreshing.)

Photo: Shopbop.com

And what started my entire obsession, is this Rick Owens jacket:

Photo: netaporter.com