There was a time when buying a cashmere sweater was a big deal. The ultra-soft wool made you feel like you were wearing something really special.

You thought you’d found a bargain when you paid $40 for a cashmere sweater at your favorite clothing store.

Fast forward to 2007, stir in a mild winter and a serious glut of cashmere.

Ladies, welcome to the era of the cash-mere $20 sweater! $19.97, to be exact, and yes, it’s pure cashmere, and we bought it at WalMart (www.walmart.com). It was two cents cheaper then the $19.99 isaac mizrahi version at Target (www.target.com).

Serious cashmeretologists will be able to find differences between our new, cream colored cashmere crew created by designer Mark Eisen for WalMart, and its more expensive cousins at Lord & Taylor or Saks.

The $20 sweater is 2-ply, not 6 or 8. . But it?s also been so warm lately one of those gorgeous heavier sweaters would leave you schvitzing outside! Our sweater is fluffier, and may pil faster and not last as long. But at $20 dollars a collar, you can buy one in every color.

Tuck a pressed J.Crew (www.jcrew.com) cotton blouse underneath the nicely cabled WalMart special and you’ll be ready for your spring semester at Princeton.

All this discounting is good news for the consumers, though it’s a little sad that something once so special now seems a bit ordinary. What’s next? $50 Louis Vuitton bags? Now if the folks at WalMart could pull that off?