And what is your latest purchase?
To off start the thread, I"ll share my purchases.
Marni wooden platforms
Stella McCartney wooden pumps
Prada suede booties
I would love to hear about everyone elses’ recent buys!
Moreover, if you do not buy luxury goods ( not consequence to monetary circumstances ) , why don’t you?
Personally, I think most luxury items like you mentioned are overpriced because it has a fancy label on it. Sure, there are some luxury items worth spending the extra bucks on - but simply because they are “in” is not a reason. If you feel the quality is worth the price - go for it. However, having worked in retail and seen the mark-up on some “name brands”, I think it is a waste of money and there are other products that are just as good if not better - without the fancy label attached.
I really don’t begrudge your choice of buying those products though…if it makes you happy, and you can afford it, then why not? Good for the economy, and keeps many retail shops able to pay their rent.
BTW, I have always hated wearing clothing with some designer label visible to all who see it - seems just wrong to spend a bunch of money and then have to be a walking billboard with some designer’s name on your ass or tit for all to see. Maybe that is just me.
I think the last thing I bought was a pair of Gucci sunglasses.
I buy luxury stuff maybe once every few months. Not so much about the name but rather sometimes I see something I really really like and it happens to be a luxury brand name. I can afford to splurge every once in awhile.
I just bought a nice new cologne (CK Euphoria Intense) yesterday, around $70 for 1.5 oz. It’s a good scent which lasts a looong time with just a spritz or two, so a little will go a long way. I also wanted to expand my stock of colognes… I have a few regular, light scents good for daytime wear, but wanted a new heavier “nighttime” scent for nights out dancing and such.
I’m not much of a label snob, but I do seek out some luxe brands because IMO the higher prices are offset by quality construction and materials. For basics like underwear, casual shirts, and jeans, I really don’t care about brand; I’ll spend extra investing in things like overcoats, suits, watches, dress shoes, since those are items I want to last for a long time and continue looking nice.
It’s hard for me to know what to consider a luxury and what is not. The sterling silver harmonica from Tiffany & Co. last July was a luxury item. But so is lunch at my club when I still have Krystal burgers that I can warm up at home. Is buying expensive tickets to a charity event a luxury if you do it just so that you can watch your football crazy husband have a roaring good time meeting his favorite pro football coach? If so, that would be the latest: Monday night.
I am so grateful for the perks that I have that I guess I consider just about everything to be a luxury. I’m a very content person.
Is expensive food considered a luxury good?
When my wife or I has a birthday, we visit a top-notch steakhouse in town. Even though they discount the total bill by half (because one of us has a B-day), the bill still comes out to something like $130 for the two of us.
A few times a year we head to the Chicago suburbs (Schaumburg) for a weekend. Take in a comedy show at the Improv, do some shopping, and share a crab-legs dinner at Shaw’s. Dinner there ends up costing well over $100.
A big part of what we enjoy about these high-end dining experiences is the service. Instead of being served by a shy, pimply-faced teenager with an untucked shirt and a bad attitude, you get a well-mannered, well-dressed adult who is courteous, focused, and well-spoken.
Last month we attended an Andre Rieu concert in Milwaukee. The tickets were about $175 apiece, but I wanted to get good seats: lower level, close to center, about 13 rows from the stage. We could have gotten crappy tickets for under $100, but heck, we’re going there for a sight/sound experience, so I wanted to be able to hear the orchestra properly as well as sit close enough to see them. No regrets.
A couple of years ago we sold my old house, and celebrated by buying a badly needed new vacuum cleaner. Each of us already had one from before we got married, but they both sucked (or not, as the case may be for vacuum cleaners). So we went over the top and bought a Miele cannister vac for about $950. Very quiet, very strong suction, HEPA filtration, and so on. It would have been difficult to spend more on a vacuum cleaner, so I guess you could safely call this a luxury item.
I’m an engineer - a Ph.D., even - so I have no fashion sense. I hate shopping for clothes, and don’t give a shit about designer labels; my off-duty garb typically consists of jeans and a T-shirt. My wife is trying to slowly improve my wardrobe, and so now I have a few Calvin Klein T-shirts in my collection, but of course they were all bought on sale. She buys nice stuff for herself, but not very often and generally not unless it’s on sale. I guess you could say we’re not big on luxury clothing items.
We’ll be shopping for a flatscreen HDTV soon. My current SDTV works just fine, but we’re ready for hi-def. Could get by with a “modestly” sized one, but I’m expecting to get something with at least a 60" diagonal. (speaking of which, my B-day present last year was a 30" computer monitor.)
It really depends on how you define luxury goods. For example, I consider cable a luxury, so I guess we technically buy luxury goods once a month at least. I also consider eating out a luxury, and we do that about once a week.
As for things I buy for myself, I get a really nice, expensive haircut with highlights and an eyebrow shaping at an Aveda salon once every couple of months.
The last time I really and truly splurged was in April when I got stuff to build two raised beds in the garden, plus already-started plants and a big scoop of compost and soil mixture.
I’m not big on buying stuff, though, especially if I have to find someplace to put it in my house. My husband and I both work and we each receive a very generous salary, but we both agree that we already have a metric ton of stuff at home, so much so that we’re tripping over it, and with another baby on the way, it’ll only get worse. Oh, and we’re both total misers. We like to have nice things, but if we don’t really need a thing (like a piece of furniture, a TV, a car), we just won’t buy it. If we do buy it, we go all out because we know we’re both too cheap to want to buy it again later on.
As for designer clothing…well, I got some Old Navy maternity clothes last week. Does that count?
I suppose the iMac I bought last winter (I got tired of surrendering my laptop to my daughters) and my Armani titanium eyeglass frames. I NEED glasses, but I don’t suppose I need these frames, which by the way are awesome. I’ve had them almost 2.5 years and they don’t look like they’ve aged a day. And, I suppose, my Korg M3 module, but that’s for making music and making music is as necessary as breathing to me so it’s not really a luxury item, is it?
I first read the title and thought that I buy luxury items all of the time but then i started thinking about it and the closest thing was three hand carved stone benches for my backyard but they were only $120 a piece so I’m not sure they count. Along the same lines I bought a papasan chair from Pier One for $100.
So really no luxury items but then again we don’t have any good luxury shops here so I don’t get that “ooohhh I want that!” feeling walking into shops. But I’m going to Vegas this weekend so that might change.
We bought some Godiva chocolate a few weeks ago (and will be buying a little more tonight as a gift for a teacher).
I expect a lot of things we buy on a day to day basis would be consider luxuries, though not in the sense this thread means, I expect. For example, the kids have cell phones (inexpensive prepaid ones, but still). That by most standards isn’t a “necessity”. Some of the groceries are brand-name products when the store brand would do, we just happen to have tried it and prefer the brand-name slightly. We buy soda rather than sticking to water. I can’t buy “cheap” shoes so mine are often north of 100 bucks a pair. We ate dinner out last night when we could have had spaghetti at home. Etc. etc. etc.
But as far as true Luxuries (Godiva vs. Hershey’s… Prada vs. Payless) - very rare around here. I own two Coach bags, rationalized in both cases because I had discount cards for the shop, and the bags have a reputation of lasting pretty much forever. I bought myself a pair of gold earrings a few years back that I didn’t need by any stretch of the imagination.
I can’t bring myself to buy high price, name brand goods when the less expensive version works just as well. I prefer shopping at the flea market to any boutique, but that probably has to do with the fact that I’d rather buy a trench tool and an Elvis paperweight than clothes or jewelry. If I need something like a tv, I get it used or handed down from someone else in the family.
I don’t make much money, and I would rather spend what little I do have to throw around on a few beers at the bar with friends or live music at a cheap venue than a bunch of stuff.
The last luxury item I bought was probably my most recent tattoo, a year and a half ago. That can’t be right. I bought a digital camera last summer, and I spent a little more to get a little better quality. So there’s that.
I don’t buy them because they are a ripoff in most cases. And I don’t try to impress people.
For example the Acura TSX is very similar to a Honda Accord , they are both made by Honda. But the Acura costs $4000 more mainly because the name says Acura which is supposed to be a luxury brand.
I don’t pay extra for stuff just because it is supposed to look better, I pay extra for more durability in some cases.
How often? Very rarely.
The last item was a Waterman pen imported from France.
I loves me a nice pen.
Just last week - some expensive coffees pre-packaged in single-use servings specially made for my single-cup brewer (which was also a luxury item).
Ugh, I love all the Marni wooden platforms, I’m jealous.
I bought a Trovata trenchcoat and a Vena Cava dress from Gilt Groupe this week. I enjoy buying designer things occasionally because the quality is there and you feel like a million bucks. Also, none of the designer stuff I have EVER has the name of the designer on it, I think that is tacky. Ok, my Chanel earrings, but it is kind of supposed to be tacky.
Don’t know if it counts, but I also bought us two nights at a hotel in the French Quarter this weekend, and my boyfriend and I are going to eat our way through the city. Jacque-imo’s, here I come!
It’s amazing that a lot of designer clothes are still made in Indonesia/China/Vietnam/etc. right along side the cheap stuff.
Speaking of tacky, I saw a car yesterday that had the Louis Vuitton logo stamped all over it. Literally. The whole freaking car was covered in little LVs. I almost got pulled over because I kept looking over my shoulder at it. I couldn’t believe anyone would do that to a car.
My boyfriend just bought us awesome tickets to see Spamalot in SF next month. He likes to get good seats to wherever we go–that’s his pricey-est habit.
If manicures, pedicures, facials and massages are luxury goods, then I buy them often but those are luxury services…
I came THIS close to buying a fox jacket last month but where would I store it? I hate being practical.
I don’t buy designer purses and shoes for the labels or to impress anyone…I buy them because they are beautiful and they make me smile every time I look at them.
I love pens, especially fountain pens. I own a Waterman, several Parkers and a Levenger.
Go fountain pens!
Rarely. I did buy a big-assed TV about 1 1/2 years ago. That is the only thing that leaps to mind right now.
Do silver coins count? I buy a few times a year.