We hope our readers had a safe and relaxing July 4th celebration. Today we selected the confessional of a young NYC lawyer whose relative in her homeland offers insights into conditions of a factory that produces counterfeit bags. One obviously needs to tread carefully not to be dismissive of the troubling implications of many such factories, but her relative’s testimonial may just offer an alternative narrative to consider. If you’d like to tell your own story and experience, hit the link below and fill out our confessionals questionnaire. Have a nice weekend, all!
[sc_cc_callout]The Basics
Age: 26
Gender Identity: Female
Location: New York, NY
Occupation: Attorney
Industry: Law
Salary: $225,000
Household Income: $225,000
The Bags
Are you a PurseForum member? No
How many bags do you own? 12
What bags are in your collection?
2 Celine bags – 1 Cabas tote, 1 Luggage bag
2 Chanel flaps
1 Chloe backpack
1 Givenchy Antigona
1 Lady Dior
1 Louis Vuitton Neverfulls
2 Louis Vuitton Speedys / Speedies (?)
1 Prada tote
1 YSL WOC
How much is your collection worth? About $26,000, give or take
What is your most expensive bag? My Lady Dior. I fell in love with the Toile de Jouy cruise collection and could not tear my eyes away from the small Lady Dior embroidered with fantastical creatures and small shiny beads. It never fails to attract compliments when I take it out for dinner or special events.
What are the most important brands or pieces in your collection? A Limited Edition Speedy from a collection that was released over ten years ago. I was still an awkward sophomore in high school when the collection was released and I was not even aware of the brand “Louis Vuitton” at the time. By the time I fell in love with the collection, the Speedy was being sold on resale sites for over $2,000! I finally bit the bullet after stalking eBay for months and realizing that the prices were just going to get higher and higher.
What age did you get your first designer bag, and what was it? I was 24. It was a few months into my first year at my law firm and I needed a work bag to replace my ratty backpack (which I had used all throughout college and law school. To this day, I am ashamed that I brought that backpack to my law firm. It was a tacky purple color and there was a stain on the side pocket that couldn’t be removed).
I went to Fifth Avenue after work to window-shop for a new bag and was so impressed with a sales associate at LV that I ended up talking to her for half an hour. She just had so much passion and knowledge about the brand. I walked away with a Neverfull and a newfound love of luxury design houses and their histories.
By the way, that sales associate apparently did so well that she had been promoted to the corporate office by the time I went back to visit her.
Any particular bag that holds a special sentimental value? My first Chanel flap holds a special place in my heart, but I honestly think that it’s probably due to Chanel’s marketing. Growing up, I had this vision of the Chanel flap as the ultimate bag, the one accessory that every classy lady should own, a bag that you could pass down to your children. However, once I purchased my own flap, I realized that it was just a bag, albeit an expensive one.
That’s not to say that I’m disillusioned with the brand or anything (I would later purchase a second flap bag in another size). But I no longer put Chanel on such a pedestal. Also, I don’t think I would ever pay full price for a Chanel bag (aren’t these price increases are mind-blowing?). I’m happy to get my Chanel bags secondhand, and I actually like the fact that my flaps have a bit of history behind them. Sometimes, I even daydream about how my bags’ previous owners went about their lives.
Do you feel like your bags change people’s perceptions of you or how you’re treated? Definitely. I am short and I look very young, so I’ve struggled with people taking me seriously in the past. I find that I get better service at restaurants and stores when I am wearing a designer bag. My friends, who are mostly attorneys, accountants, or engineers, like to tease me about my bags, but I tease them right back about how much they spend on watches or computer games.
The Shopping
How often do you buy new bags? As you can probably deduce from 1) my age when I bought my first bag and 2) the number of bags I own now, I purchase bags very frequently. However, I budget carefully and I review my budget every Sunday night, so I never feel like I’m spending beyond my means.
Which stores do you frequent the most? I like to window-shop at Chanel, Dior, and LV because there’s always something new to look at when you visit. What do I mean? Well, if you go to YSL, you’ll see the same “Kate” clutches and WOC’s, whereas LV has released several different bag styles in the last two seasons alone (e.g., On the Go tote, “egg” bag, mini luggage bag, Cannes bag, and that “flying saucer” bag).
Do you ever buy second-hand bags? Where do you buy used? I don’t mind purchasing secondhand, and I actually prefer purchasing secondhand when I get to meet/chat with the previous owner of the bag (since I’m a sucker for that romantic idea that the bag had a wonderful journey before it fell into my hands).
I’ve purchased from Tradesy and eBay. I find that the Japanese resellers on eBay price their bags very fairly and they often overstate the extent of wear and tear on their products, which means a “B+” bag on their grading scale translates to an “A” bag in my eyes.
Do you sell old bags to pay for new purchases? I haven’t had to sell any bags yet, but if I had to, I would probably sell on Tradesy or Fashionphile.
Do you ever feel societal pressure to purchase more bags? No, in fact I feel quite the opposite: for instance, I love the craftsmanship and the story behind the Hermes name, but I don’t think I could pull off a Birkin at my age.
Do you consider your bag purchases investments? I am familiar with the resale market so I can’t lie to myself and claim that these bags will hold much value. But in terms of whether the bags are an investment in myself, I definitely consider them wardrobe investments.
Who influences your buying decisions? Myself — and to a large extent, the SAs that I talk to. I love hearing about the inspiration behind new collections and a thoughtful conversation with an SA will be the deciding factor as to whether or not I purchase from a brand. I’ve avoided buying from Gucci for this very reason. Perhaps the Fifth Avenue location is just an outlier.
Are sales associate relationships instrumental to your shopping? Yes, see above.
Why do you enjoy shopping, beyond just acquiring something new? I don’t have a lot of variety in my work wardrobe so bags are one way that I can express my personality.
Have you ever felt like you received inferior service at a store or boutique due to your appearance, ethnicity or gender? I suspect that I do sometimes receive inferior service based on my ethnicity, but luckily I don’t think this has happened at a luxury bag boutique (some of the fancy restaurants in New York are a totally different story. I have a unique name so I often abbreviate my name when I make reservations on the phone, as I’ve found that I receive preferential seating or treatment when I anglicize my name).
The Money
Who pays for your bags? Myself.
Do you set aside a budget for your bag purchases? I keep a fairly strict budget and I review my purchases and accounts at the end of every week on Sunday night. There’s no set amount that I set aside for my “bag budget”; I usually contribute what I feel like after I’ve contributed to rent, student loan payments, and my IRA. There was a stretch where I failed to fall in love with any bags and I opened a brokerage account with some of my “bag” money.
The Taboo Topics
Have you ever purchased a counterfeit because you couldn’t afford a designer item? I purchased a Neverfull from a Facebook group out of curiosity, to compare with my authentic Neverfull bag. I was slightly impressed with the fake Neverfull; it was nothing like the sloppy fake bags you find on the sidewalk in Times Square. I would say the fake was pretty close to the real thing, maybe 85% passable. I still have the fake bag in my closet but I don’t consider it as part of my collection.
If I was any other person — someone who isn’t intrigued by the story of the brand or the story of a bag’s previous owner — I might consider buying these “super-fakes.” The fake bags are quite good nowadays. But they lack the personal connection that I get from chatting about the bag with SAs or my purse-loving friends.
I know PurseForum doesn’t encourage the purchase of fake bags, and I can’t say that I’m 100% okay with them either since “super-fakes” affect the resale value or perceived value of the bags that I’ve worked very hard to purchase.
However, I can’t bring myself to judge fake bag buyers or sellers. My aunt, who is still in my homeland, actually worked in a factory that manufactured fake bags. She dropped out of high school to take care of her siblings, and her limited education meant that she could only find work as a janitor or factory worker. She told me that the fake bag factories look just like any other factory that makes leggings or microchips. The factories even use the same machinery used by real bag factories to manufacture chains and hardware.
So I roll my eyes when I lurk on a PurseForum thread and someone claims that fake bag factories are causing terrorism or child labor. Often, the the factories making fake bags are owned by the same people who own the factories making legitimate goods for U.S. companies. And the people working in those factories aren’t enslaved or abused — they just have limited options and factory work is a good job for many of them.
By the way, my aunt thought it was hilarious that I could have purchased a fake bag that she may have helped to create.
Do you ever hide purchases from your significant other? No. My boyfriend knows about my love of bags but he couldn’t tell you how many I have or what brands they are from. The only one he can recognize is the “robot bag” (the Celine luggage bag).
What’s the craziest thing you’ve done to afford a bag? I can’t think of anything crazy, so I guess I’ll offer the next-best example I can think of.
My Chloe backpack was an impulse secondhand purchase. At the end of the week, during my Sunday budget review session, I found that I forgot to account for the cost of upcoming dental work and a recurring payment. Although I wasn’t in financial danger or anything, it annoyed me that these costs had slipped my mind. Over the next month, I asked around for more work so I had an excuse to stay late and work on the weekend. At my law firm, the client will pay for your Seamless order and your Uber home if you work overtime. The money that I saved that month on food, transportation, and “fun” costs (since I was too busy to go out for meals or events) more than made up for my Chloe purchase.
That being said, I would never do that again, because the grueling hours have taken their toll on me. Nowadays, I can’t wait to get home as early as possible and pay for my own Seamless order from the comfort of my bed.
Do you think your shopping is ever a problem? Have you ever felt like you were struggling with a shopping addiction? I don’t think so. I realize, however, that my shopping rate might seem alarming to an outsider, or even to some of my Facebook acquaintances. But as long as I know that I’m keeping my budget tight, I try not to let random Facebook comments bother me (comments like “is that a new bag?” “when did you buy that bag?”). I simply refrain from sharing too much about my purchases on social media.
The Rest Of It
Any other expensive hobbies or passions? It sounds really sad when I say it out loud, but my working hours leave very little time for any time-consuming hobbies. I do place a priority on seeing my friends on the weekends and planning cross-country trips for my old college crew. But I don’t usually need to start saving for those trips until the month before.
this is the first confessionals that seem to come from someone who lives in the real world – someone who’s educated but not holier than thou.
I agree! She is a sensible smart person.
I do not think she is condoning buying fake bags. She is just pointing out that a gross exaggeration about the counterfeit industry could undermine the campaign against fakes. Of course, a portion of that industry could very well be connected to despicable crimes and criminal organizations, but according to her, that is not the entire cross-section of that industry. BTW I have heard this from other sources, that the factories of fakes are run very similarly to legitimate factories in China.
Making it sound like the entire counterfeit industry is riddled with atrocities on human rights is dishonest, and it actually hurts the credibility of people campaigning against fakes. We shouldn’t buy fakes, simply for the reason that it is wrong to buy stolen designs and trademarks. That should be reason good enough not to buy fakes.
Sounds like a smart cookie, she budgets well and took on extra work to cover her “overage”, I liked this Confessional. And I had to Google Seamless!
I believe they rank first among the food delivery services in NYC – super popular. When we still lived in New York, our Midtown building had nearly 500 different places deliver to it via Seamless during dinner time. Fancy some late night Peruvian chicken dish at 1am? Why not.
LOL me too on the Seamless Google…like Grubhub or Uber Eats apparently
This CC brought me back to the enjoyment of reading these. I like that she researches, budgets, and knows what she wants. And I love how the purses are just for her. Great start for her collection at such a young age. My big money bags didn’t start until my late 30s.
I’m surprised that the powers that be that put down fakes so hardcore on the forum allowed this post to be. But then again, many of the bags we see on the forum are fake too.
Are you serious? You mean fake bags pass the scrutiny of sharp-eyed TPFers? I am not being sarcastic. I might be naive but I believed that no one would dare post a fake bag and expected to fool the forum members
there are definitely fakes on TPF. SOOO many more on IG
Which brands are we talking about? Hermes? Chanel? I am really curious~
Almost any brand you can think of is repped. From the big houses like Hermes, Chanel, LV, Dior, etc. down to brands like Loewe.
I think so, the sub-forums are pretty cliquey so some or the more popular people can get away with it. Plus, it’s easier to blend in fakes amongst authentics. The same applies to Instagram and Youtube.
I wish I knew which action shots are of fake bags!
Im sure this confessional was chosen because it would generate a discussion about fakes and provide a contrast to last week’s snobby confessional but I actually found the other parts of the confessional to be more interesting. Her writing really brought me nostalgia for when I was just starting to collect bags and everything about fashion, design and the history of the brands was exciting and new. She also seems to have a good head on her shoulders about money and works long hours. I wish her the best of luck
I live near ‘those’ factories and agree it’s just like other producing nonfake bags. They manufacture together, just slap different brands on (often the same) products. Fake baga, fake bras, fake Nikes, etc. Are there actual sweatshops? Probably, as they are everywhere producing bags, to harvesting fish, to cleaning houses. Plenty example even in America how cruel humans can be to each other, but they are the exceptions rather than norm. Most are just normal factories. Are working standards lower than high income countries? Of course, but it’s still average for the local condition.
Just because one aunt happened to work at one of the counterfeit factories and it was fine doesn’t mean the entire industry doesn’t fund bad people.
She may roll her eyes at people that make these claims, but I roll my eyes at her because she thinks she’s now some kind of expert on the industry because she had this tiny glimpse into the tiniest sliver of it.
She didn’t say that. She doesn’t think she is an expert but she is from a country that has these factories, and a family member works in one. So I would say she has better insight than you. I am also from one of those countries, and I know a few factory workers. Most are adults who just happen to have a factory job. .
She’s certainly acting like she’s some kind of expert.
She has as much insight into this industry as I do, which is absolutely nothing.
Anecdote is not data.
Anecdote is not data.
Anecdote is not data.
I disagree. I don’t believe she is “acting like she’s some kind of expert”. She is expressing her opinion, and has a better understanding and perspective, based on the information she has received from a family member that works in a factory. I’ve traveled to Hong Kong and Beijing and I’ve seen this crap sold at street markets, but I’ve never been to a factory or known anyone who has worked in one. Therefore, my experience about factories, workers or the products produced are as limited as yours as you’ve previously stated.
She does not have a better understanding or perspective.
Her ‘insight’ is trivial and worth nothing. She does not back up her opinion with data, or sources, or citations. She makes sweeping generalizations about a multi-billion illicit industry without anything to back it up, hence she is ‘acting like an expert.’
Sure, she has an opinion. It’s as worthless as mine or yours on the subject and should be disregarded by everyone else.
Your “data” isn’t data either. It’s just bitchiness and snobbery.
I don’t have data, that’s the point.
I’m just calling out uninformed truthiness as it should be.
Exactly!
I thought her confessional was good and down to earth, however I completely roll my eyes at an attorney who seems to co-sign copyright infringement! That’s kind of weird.
I have to agree. It’s just a perspective of one factory, not the dozens spread over the globe. It might not even be the same in other countries, factories, or cities. But she is entitled to hold her own opinion, just like everyone else.
My thoughts exactly. One factory doesn’t account for all of them. Also not all fakes are made in the same manner.
Love it love it love it
I liked her perspective re: her finances and purchases. She’s educated and well spoken, which was refreshing!
I agree with the Japanese resellers. That’s why I only buy 2nd hand bags from Japan.