HIGH STREET HOLD-UP

We all have a vague idea, when we’re shopping in a British high street chain store, that we’re probably not getting the best value for money. With both sterling and euro prices on most labels, a little in-head maths will usually reveal that we’re being shafted out of a fiver here and €20 there. Annoying, but not necessarily enough to prevent you from buying the top, or travel to Newry to buy it. After all, there must be factors that us mere consumers cannot understand, such as taxes and transport costs … and the fact that everything just is more expensive in Dublin. That said, there are times when the price difference is really too much to stomach. Take for example this embroidered Portobello jacket from Monsoon, which I rather fancied and was about to feature in the magazine, as I thought you lovely readers might fancy it too. Until I saw the pound to euro price ratio, that is – £120 and €285. What the heck? And no, it’s not a one-off mistake. I checked other similarly priced Monsoon pieces to find the same mark-up. I certainly won’t be duped so. Will you?

Kate O’Dowd, ASSISTANT EDITOR