Mirror, Mirror | Discounted to distraction

I'm a sensory shopper. I like seeing my merchandise neatly folded on display tables and hanging delicately on colorful racks. I prefer airy spaces and natural light.

And I'm a sucker for a crisp shopping bag with a logo. It's like a Starbucks cup to the coffee drinker. Just by swinging it, I'm announcing my fabulous fashion find. (Don't you want to know what's inside?)

That's why Simply Vera by Vera Wang, the new line at Kohl's, is making me simply tired. Don't get me wrong, Wang's dark, jewel-toned dresses, wide-leg pants, and metallic-trimmed, ruched blouses are on-trend. And her size 12s are actually cut to fit size 12s, a relative rarity.

It's just that finding clothes with designer monikers in "affordable" stores doesn't feel special to me anymore, and it took my Simply Vera experience for me to realize it.

Thanks to the designer discount lines that are now ubiquitous at big-box retailers, style has become geographically and financially accessible. But having to cruise past waffle irons and racks of the store's private-label clothes to get to those designer items is - call me shallow - a shopping downer.

Vera Wang is best known in fashion circles for her $10,000 wedding gowns. (The New York-based designer is also the brain behind those sparkly, barely-there Eagles cheerleader uniforms.)

Two years ago, on the runway at New York's Fashion Week, Wang debuted her women's ready-to-wear line with a shimmery, satiny, globally-influenced collection that included pants that sold for hundreds of dollars.

Her Simply Vera line - like the Alice Temperley women's-wear collection that recently arrived at Target, and Italian designer Roberto Cavalli's forthcoming line at H&M - is an attempt to further expand a brand. Simply Vera also includes bedding and will eventually extend to home-decor items. Wang is Martha-izing herself.

Designers depend on their lower-price brands to achieve wider sales that will provide them the capital to focus on their couture and high-end designer lines. And the stores love carrying the designers because it gives them fashion cachet, which they hope will attract new customers.

When Isaac Mizrahi sportswear came to Target and London designer Stella McCartney debuted her snazzy clothes at H&M a few years ago, their stuff felt special.

Mizrahi revived a somewhat "been-there" career and Target solidified its trendy

Tar-zhay

image. H&M added extra oomph to the McCartney collection by billing it as a limited edition. Once the clothes were gone, a girl was out of fashion luck.

Even before the Simply Vera launch, Kohl's had done well at amping up its chic factor. Its pieces, including the store's Daisy Fuentes line, are cute and colorful and have lured more teens and young professionals to the cash register.

Landing Vera Wang was a coup, but finding her among the store's sensory overload of throw rugs and throw-around clothes lessens the experience. It's nice stuff - just like the high-end designs at Target and H&M - but the specialness is lost in the clutter, just as at those other populist outlets.

I went to Kohl's in Andorra recently to finally check out the line. Even though a lithe, redheaded mannequin wearing satiny Simply Vera clothes invited me into the section, I kept getting distracted. First the juniors department caught my eye. Next my attention drifted to a group of vests attached to starched white shirts. (Talk about a fashion no-no becoming a fashion must-have.)

Finally I made it back to Simply Vera. I was kind of intrigued by a black dress with gray-and-black paneling for $108, but then I was drawn to a bright pink shirtdress from Kohl's private Apt. 9 label. After that, I wandered over to a red smock-style dress by the brand Elle.

I tried to refocus on Simply Vera. Maybe the purple wrap-top would work. Or maybe the full-cut black skirt with delicate embroidery on it. But within seconds I was holding a gray knit Fuentes dress.

It was too much.

Carrying the Elle smock dress and the Fuentes frock, I walked to the cash register, where the checkout woman packed my purchases in a bag big enough to hold bedsheets and a small appliance.

I had seen enough.

Two dresses and 30 minutes after arriving, I was just tired.