What's the max you'd be willing to pay for a pair of blue jeans?

Before you answer, consider how much comfortable fit, body shape enhancement and exclusivity are worth to you.

	Martha Rial, Post-Gazette Dolce & Gabbana jeans -- the most expensive you can buy in Pittsburgh -- come with the DG logo on a rear pocket. Click photo for larger image.

For generations, men and women of every age could walk into a store in any season and not find a pair for more than $40. Then came the '70s and the rise and reign of the designer jean, when prestigious names such as Jordache, Calvin Klein and Glora Vanderbilt were stitched across posteriors and customers gladly paid more for the brand identification.

You can still get decent denim on the cheap. But with advancements in fabric technology, the addition of luxurious embellishments and more variety than Levi Strauss could have possibly imagined when he pioneered the garment in 1873, it's commonplace for ordinary people to drop $125 on a single pair.

We embarked on a style search to find the most expensive pair of jeans in Pittsburgh. The haute hunt ultimately led us to Shadyside's tony Walnut Street shopping district and through the doors of uber-fabulous Choices.

Martha Rial, Post-Gazette Dolce & Gabbana jeans have hand-embroidered butterflies at the waist and down the legs. Click photo for larger image.

It was there, at 5416 Walnut, where one of Jeff Malkin's employees presented the prize.

Brand: Dolce & Gabbana.

Style: Destroyed straight-leg silhouette.

Details: Medium blue with colorful hand-embroidered butterflies at the waist and down the legs and, on a rear pocket, a large metal DG placard with a pink leathery backing.

Size: Italian 46 (converts to American 10).

Exclusivity: Only eight pairs in the region and a worldwide waiting list.

Who, some wonder, is the sort of person willing to dole out such a large amount for a pair of jeans?

"There's always an exception," answered Malkin, "but generally it's our same customer that is willing to pay the price of Dolce and Lanvin and Prada and Chloe and Tory Burch ready-to-wear. The same one who pays $2,000 for boots or $750 for a pair of shoes. Although Pittsburgh isn't New York, we have cultivated that customer here."

And this particular customer will return home to Pittsburgh soon to claim her purchase.

The price? A mere $1,150.