What if all shoes were created equal?

This post could really be applied to all clothes, but for the sake of keeping things simple, I'm going to focus on shoes.

A couple weeks ago I was wasting time on my day off at Target. I didn't really need anything, but I hadn't been to Target in a while, so what the hay. I was browsing through their shoe department and came across a pair of flower-printed close-toed sling-back wedges. My immediate reaction was, "Wow, those are hideous." But then I saw the price tag: They were on sale for $5. $5!

Suddenly my first impression changed. Even if I only wore them a couple times, it would be worth $5, right? I had a couple tops that matched the purple in the print. Needless to say, I bought the hideous shoes, along with another pair that were also on sale for $5.

But this got me to thinking, what if all shoes were to cost the same? I bought these shoes because they were on sale, but this could also pertain to the flip side of the price range. Why do people spend hundreds, even thousands of dollars on Jimmy Choo's or Manolo Blahnik's? Yes, they are gorgeous and extremely well made, but let's be honest girls, you buy them for the name. You want people to know you can afford those kinds of shoes.

So what if we lined up all the cheap shoes from Target and other discount stores next to the super-expensive shoes, and let's say you couldn't tell who made what. What shoes would you pick? What would the high-end socialites think if they chose a discount shoe? Would that make them change their ways and start shopping at Target?

That's doubtful, but you get my point. I totally changed my mind about a pair of shoes based solely on their low price, while some people solely buy a pair of shoes because of their high price. What if all shoes were created equal?