Many women I know have made purchases that were extravagant, often involving a certain amount of deception. Some have hidden items of clothing from their partners for a period of time, or told him the item was on sale, naming a price half that of the true one.

I’m no exception. I’ve occasionally made purchases that have brought with them more than a little guilt. But I’ve learned something most peculiar about these purchase transgressions.

It’s the things I haven’t bought that I most regret, not the things I have, costly or not.

It seems that time reconciles me to dollars I will never see again, but the beautiful item of clothing, or ravishing pair of shoes, that was once within my reach, but that I didn’t buy, haunts me forever.

There have been a few such episodes in my past, but the one that still really bothers me is a certain coat.

I was in Buenos Aires with a girlfriend. We were walking in the beautiful Recoleta area when I saw THE COAT in a boutique window. It’s hard to describe that coat, and the affect it had on me. Suffice to say it was a piece that combined unique style with quality and classic chic. It was something I knew I would never see again.

However, I was at the beginning of a long sojourn that was to take me from South America to Europe. I was thinking about Budget (horrible word) and, though I oscillated for a few days, I eventually made the painful decision not to purchase the coat.

Of course my friend urged me to the opposite choice, told me in no uncertain terms that I would regret it, and still brings the matter up every now and again, with mischievous glee.

Because I have to admit that coat still haunts me seven years later, especially when I acquire a pair of shoes that would have complemented it perfectly, like the pink Megan shoe below, or even the yellow one.

I won’t make that mistake again. There should be no price on beauty, when it’s something you know you will treasure forever.