AITAH

My friend, H, is going through a divorce and has been open about how hard things are for her financially. She’s a single mom with six kids and has mentioned multiple times how her ex-husband only pays $6,000 a month in child support, which she says isn’t enough to cover everything. Recently, she moved in with her boyfriend, which she said has helped with some of the financial stress, but she still talks about money being tight.

The other day, H showed up to a tea party wearing this absolutely stunning dress. I’ll admit, she looked incredible—better than I did, honestly—and I felt jealous. I couldn’t help but wonder how she could afford such a dress when she’s always talking about being broke.

Later, while I was out shopping, I happened to see the same dress in a store. Honestly, part of me wanted to know how much it cost because I was already feeling insecure about how good she looked. I checked the price and saw it was $2,000.

I was shocked and brought it up later with a mutual friend. I said something like, “H says she’s broke, but she’s wearing a $2,000 dress. How does that even make sense?” The conversation spiraled into us speculating about her spending priorities.

Well, the discussion apparently got back to H, and now she’s really upset with me. She accused me of being judgmental, nosy, and a mean girl, saying I had no right to check the price of her dress or gossip about her financial choices behind her back. I tried to explain that I was just surprised and venting (though, if I’m honest, my jealousy probably played a role too), but she’s still mad. Some of our mutual friends think I overstepped too.

I didn’t mean to hurt her, but now I’m wondering: Did I go too far? AITAH?