Expensive things that look cheap and cheap things that look expensive: A meditation

Photo Credit: Paris Hotel BoutiqueJust ask an Olsen: When you have more money than God, sometimes there arises an inexplicable attraction to things that make you look way less affluent than you are. Some would call this boho chic, some would call it slumming it; either way, it's not just the Olsens who are afflicted. Witness the burlap-upholstered antique chairs selling for $1,400 a pair at Paris Hotel Boutique (yes, similar to those featured in the Country Living House of the Year bedroom tour), or the new line of recycled-feed-bag pillows from SOWN that are burnin' up the design blogs, or the classic: a $220 designer version of a plain wooden box. I have to say, I feel a little torn about these developments. On one hand, almost all the stylish people I know are adept at mixing high and low in their wardrobes and their homes, and it's pretty much the style tactic that won Kate Moss her eternal icon-hood, but isn't part the of the fun that the low is actually low, and not an expensive thing designed to look cheap or run-down (hello, designer jeans that are so "distressed" they fall apart after three washings)? And isn't it kind of sad to see just about every affordable line of anything out there scrambling to look blingier (or falling over itself to snag designer collaborations) just as high-end stuff starts raiding the bargain bin for inspiration? What do you all think about this? Do you prefer cheap stuff that looks expensive, expensive stuff that looks cheap, or just normal stuff not trying to be anything but what it is? Do you think the feed sack trend is Country Cute or just another way for the style elites to try to skirt imitators? Am I taking this all too seriously? Let's hear it.