Comments on: Handbags and the Economy: Got Any Thoughts?

By: Authentic Cheap Ugg Boots

Authentic Cheap Ugg Boots — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:03:39 +0000

Wow you are so smart ! very good work !!

By: Cakebaker

Cakebaker — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:54:51 +0000

Great post pixiepoo.

By: pixiepoo

pixiepoo — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 05:38:57 +0000

An astute observation that as bags go, so goes the economy. What I find disturbing is the way so many people have been made to feel ashamed of owning something nice. Or of having more money than others, even though it was hard-earned. I think this is related to class differences as much as it is to the economy. How dare you carry that purse, don’t you know you are no better than anyone else? Please dummy-down your wardrobe as well, you have no right to dress up when the rest of our culture is warning you to dress down. Beware of any society that wants to make you the same as everyone else. Perhaps we should all earn the same salary no matter what work we do. Then we can all carry the same handbags (as long as they are the same price) to make sure we don’t stand out from the masses in any way. Amanda, you are the ultimate purse expert, can you please choose one that will suit everyone?

By: voiceofreason

voiceofreason — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 23:24:59 +0000

i have an average income and i deeply debate spending even 200 on a bag. but i live in new york city where you feel like a weirdo if you are holding some dumpy five year old bag while everyone walking past you has chanel or the latest it-bag. so i try and challenge my style and look for great deals and sales. plus like many other ladies here have expressed, i love the look of a great bag, and the feel and smell of high quality leather.

nevertheless its insane to me that people spend thousands of dollars on a bag. i don’t even get how anyone has that much money to spend on something like a handbag! i’m not judging anyone, if you can afford it go for it, but i’m just saying that whenever i see a bag above $500 i just roll my eyes. its more like artwork to me, not something i can afford to carry on my arm and fill up with my daughter’s toys and bottles of vitamin water.

point is: if you read this website because you love to look at beautiful new bags, but you know that there is no way in hell you would ever buy something that costs four digits, you are not alone. thats me all the time, not just during a recession.

By: hazel

hazel — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:22:30 +0000

My bag buying is about the same as ever, but I’ve always been really picky and look at way more bags than I ever buy. I do like that the economy is making the bags less logo-y, I’ve always hated big logos.

By: Timber

Timber — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 18:44:18 +0000

I once longed for and coveted Coach bags. I would drool over each new catalogue and visit the their stores often. I made sure that when I made my purchase, it was done for practicality…this would be the bag that I carried every day. No I wasn’t one who would change her bag each day. I have learned to love the feel of finely crafted leather bags with their silk linings. However, I agree in this economy it seems almost shameful to buy a “quality” bag from someone who’s name is famous. Ladies, if you can afford the bag, buy it. Why should you suffer if you were the “ant” and watched your pennies when everyone else was playing the “grasshopper”? You are actually helping the economy in indulging your “needs” as long as those “needs” don’t prevent you from paying the rent, buying food, and the other necessities of life. I for one look forward to that wonderful experience of being the first to put my hands on wonderful supple leather, the softness of it, and the richness of it. Since I can’t enduge my senses through food (goes straight to the hips) why not induge it with something that I don’t have to worry that is (a) will makes my jeans tighter, (b) they really weren’t that into me or (c) just didn’t give me the thrill. Why if your jeans are from Target, something has to be well….truly enjoyed.

The Ant who is helping the economy!

By: gpc

gpc — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 14:41:28 +0000

Wow, great posts. I don’t know if we are in an era of “retail guilt” or just more thoughtful, prudent purchases. Really, what has really changed other than the fact that the current economic situation is in the tank, i.e. there are still those who can and cannot afford to buy $2000 handbags. This is the case now and when the economy was booming. I have to say, I am a bit resentful of continuously being told that I must now make sacrifices for the greed and over consumption of others. I am a working professional, and so is my husband and fortunately, our job condition is secure. We have no children, by choice. We did not buy more house than we could afford – as a matter of fact, we rent. We save for our future. We are cognizant of the need here and abroad, and we donate to causes important to us. As for handbags, I love them, yet I am not a collector or thoughtless purchaser of them. I buy discreet styles that are classy and will remain timeless. This has been the case for me when the economy was great and now. Again, I think, with the media’s help, the current economic condition is forcing a social climate that magnifies the perception of the “haves and have nots”. Once the economy picks up, we won’t even be thinking about this anymore…

By: Merve

Merve — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 06:53:21 +0000

I have always been a bagaholic so my colleagues and friends dont hold it against me that i still splurge on all the bags i want despite the recession. Plus i earn my own money and i spend it. Its never on credit and i never go into my savings! Thats me trying to justify my blatant over spending. The general trend within my group of friends is a move away from blatant logos from big houses (Except Chanel Hermes) and towards more interesting unknown designers. Where as before we would have seen a cute gucci bag and said right lets buy it, now we prefer to hold onto the 2k and put it towards something we really really want. Those spur of the moment handbag purchases for me are limited to below 1k for sure like the DVF Stephanie. PB always has lots of posts about great bags all averaging 2k and the point is that in the recession im just not gonna go after one unless im absolutely sure i want it and it has to be quite classic. For example i might love a random yellow bag but im not gonna buy one. My job is secure, i have no debts but still im curbing my spending because there is a recession. To be honest the huge discounts that stores are offering only interest me for clothes. I dont care if i wear a last season dress/coat etc but for my handbags im a little more picky. Plus in Europe maybe we dont have as extensive stock because all the handbags that i want rarely make it thru to the discount bin or the designers i want dont do sales. The three bags i have bought so far this year are sold out everywhere…what are the chances im gonna run across one in the sales? I might see a bag that i like in the sales but i never think its a good idea to plonk down money on a previously overpriced, item that didnt get sold, just because its 50% off. I know im a bit odd but i really have an aversion to handbag sales.

By: Anastasia

Anastasia — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 06:16:21 +0000

Speaking as someone who lives on the other side of the world (Australia), that sees a customs tax as well as a V.A.T. charged on most items, the prices tend to be outrageous.
What I can’t help thinking about, only because I know about it, are the huge and I mean huge mark ups. Just today, I saw a pair of shoes (not handbags, premium designer handbags seldom go on sale here in Australia, and we have very few outlet stores) that I was craving, at half price and even then that half price was AUD $500.00 – which makes me think that the wholesale price has to be around fifty to eighty dollars at the most. The full retail price was $999.00. So many times I snap out of my girlie shopping trance and ask myself who these designers are really fooling. Is a Chanel classic 2.55 really worth more than the three thousand dollars Australians pay? I doubt it. I can buy a compact and classic (and authentic) Louis Vuitton for less.
Then there are designers. I think Marc Jacobs takes the piss, thinking women will pay anything for his name. Dolce & Gabbana handbags are eyesores most of the time and Bulgari handbags are overpriced for the name alone. So, I do believe that we pay more for a name than the quality because there are many bags that aren’t worth the amount (the materials don’t cost that much: I saw a premium vinyl designer bag for more than a thousand dollars…and it’s vinyl ffs).
Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy looking at bags in boutiques and browse through department stores, but one look at the price tag is sobering enough. I think I’ll wait a little longer. This recession has made me really reassess what I need on a daily basis rather than fit in. Nevertheless there are bags out there that are still ridiculous for the price. I mean, come on, more than four thousand for a coated canvas LV Kalahari bag because Marc Jacobs designed it? I don’t think so, but there are many people (monied people) in other parts of the world who don’t really have any fashion sense, who prefer to pay for a name, to show their friends how trendy of fashionable they are, when they’re really putting money down the drain in terms of quality. The money can be spent on other quality products than overpriced handbags. For example, I’m on the market for a good quality watch. I’d rather put the three extra thousand dollars toward a Cartier Tank, than an O-T-T handbag.

By: me

me — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:12:05 +0000

When things get so out of control people are just buying to show that they have money rather than to enjoy; the economy fixes the problem. The Great Depression came after the Roaring Twenties, which started out great and fun and turned into a look at my money situation. I feel like recently was similar to the twenties and while there is now more economic stability this sure feels more like the thirties. Prices were sky-high and retailers had a skewed opinion. Now prices are lower and many women are able to appreciate more that they might be able to buy a nice bag. And it won’t be an It Bag, they want it to be beautiful and last as long as it can, not just until next season.