The high-lower

I have a problem, and that problem is Uniqlo.

The shop, a chain from Japan, is basically affordable Agnes B. Which is to say, I like the clothes so much that going into the store is starting to seem like not such an affordable option. Two shirts and two pairs of pants were supposed to be my new clothes for the season, and by 'season' I of course mean until finishing grad school. But no! I remembered seeing a skirt at Uniqlo not entirely like this Guess one, a garment the liberal elite media deemed cheap but that I'd be inclined not to purchase on account of it being so expensive. (According to the NYT "Moment" fashion blog, the $79 pencil skirt in question is "the perfect foundation for an 'investment' piece — like a chunky knit or a sweatshirt a la Balenciaga." To be clear, the point the paper of record is making is that the skirt is basically a rag, but you can dress it up. Items like that make us all feel salt-of-the-earth...)

So anyway, when trying on pants a couple weeks ago, I also tried on a skirt that differed from the Guess one in that it a) lacked a belt (and I'm not a fan of the belt) and b) was $40 less. I didn't buy it, which a) was the sensible move, and b) I came to regret instantly. On a subsequent trip to the shop (which is, I should note, practically on NYU's campus), I learned that they were sold out of the pencil skirt, but might be getting more. How could I live with the uncertainty?

So today, at long last, I returned, and saw a woman who worked in the store looking in vain for where some... pencil skirts! belonged. Clearly these items were in fact sold out, but either someone had returned a couple of them or they'd been misplaced or who knows, but I had a choice between the one I initially wanted, one size too big, and the same one but in dark gray in my size. Figuring that a) clothing should fit, and b) I already have a black skirt not entirely un-pencil-ish, I am now $39 poorer but at least, at least, $79 more elegant.