airport shopping

For those of you here for sewing or crochet, this is one of those off-topic rants. You know the kind? The one that may not appeal to everyone. It's a happy rant though. See, I am confused and I need help... maybe you know the answer!?

Today, at this very moment, I am on a three hour layover at a South Korean airport. Lest there be any confusion, it is a very nice airport. It's tidy. Like Kansai in Osaka, it has free internet. Free laptops even. There are restaurants and cafes. There is a cultural center that will teach you to make a Korean headband or how to beat a Korean drum. It is a very nice airport. As far as airports go to be waiting in, this one is very good.

Along with nice airports comes duty free shopping. Now, the infrequent consumption of alcohol in our home rarely warrants a duty-free purchase though I travel extensively. We don't smoke and the one time I bought duty-free perfume my husband asked me what smelled like toilet. So despite travelling abroad five times this year, I have yet to purchase any duty free.

Now, I'm not sure when the last time you were in an international terminal outside of Australia but I'd like to take a moment to discuss clothing shops. In Australia, the international terminal has Billabong and Bonds. Practical, functional, affordable. In Osaka, Tokyo and Seoul, the airports feature Chanel, Burberry and some golf brand that I am not familiar with. I am here for three hours, so I thought I might look for a shirt. Actually I didn't look but one jumped out at me in the golf store attached to the souvenir shop. I saw one, I liked it, and then I saw the pricetag. $426US. Goodness me. Now, I won't lie. I have bought expensive shirts in my time. When I was a swank film gal flush with cash, I'd dance into the shops and toss down my money for Marc Jacobs and Betsey Johnson. Certainly not easy on the wallet... Now I shop at Target.... if I shop. Running my own business rarely affords me the luxury of new shirts and frankly, working from home means I just don't need them. Instead, I work that same blue dress over and over again to every occasion. Have you noticed?

So here I am at the Seoul airport. Incheon, I think its called. And here is a $426 dollar golf shirt. And I am wondering who exactly shops here? I suspect that if you are the kind of person willing to buy a $426 shirt, you aren't exactly hung up on whether or not you get 5% off at duty free. You aren't exactly concerned about the extra $20. No?

But why would you want to buy your $426 shirt at an airport? Back in the day when I'd waltz into the Marc Jacobs section, I'd be treated like royalty. The lighting was nice, the displays were trendy. But now, I am standing in an airport. It's bright, a bit fluorescent and there is an incessant shrill noise coming through the intercom. There in front of me is a $426 shirt. And somehow I am failing to grasp the concept? and I need help? Can you explain?

And it's not just the $426 shirt. It's also the handbag that I need help with. Just as I walked out of Kansai airport in Osaka, I noticed the Liberty fabric Hello Kitty bags. 27000 yen. About $300US. I wanted to kick myself for leaving behind bolts and bolts of the same Hello Kitty liberty fabric in Osaka because surely I could have made a bag or two and pawned off my wares for a fortune. ...in the airport, of course. To whom? I have no idea. But it must work. The labels are all here.

Airport shopping perplexes me. As a frequent traveler, I feel the need to understand. Can you help?!