Found this interesting article from Wall Street Journal/Yahoo:

With new styles at high prices, mall chains make a big push into designer turf.

"As shoppers begin to feel the recession lifting and tiptoe back into spending, some mall stores are seeing a small window of opportunity to woo them in a new way: big-ticket handbags.

Talbots Inc. will line its shelves with a $425 python-embossed shoulder bag come fall. Teenybopper Abercrombie & Fitch Co.'s megastores now stock $300-and-up bags alongside the belts and flip-flops. And Ann Taylor Stores Corp. is offering new carryall totes for as much as $298.

These pricey purses -- which feel particularly pricey in stores like Ann Taylor, where the average price of an item sold last year was $38 -- are the latest incarnation of the accessory craze, which retailers seized on last year after clothing sales plummeted. Penny-pinching shoppers who took a pass on apparel instead snapped up jewelry as a quick way to update their wardrobes....."

Click here to read the complete articles:
http://finance.yahoo.com/insurance/article/109671/omg-these-bags-cost-a-Lot?mod=family-home