[QUOTE=alice_in_wonderland]
Wow. So am I the only person in this thread thinking “Thank god this snotty little cunt is avoiding me?”
[/QUOTE]
Why no, alice, no you aren’t. I’m right there with you. Oh, and I’d add “condescending bitch”!
[QUOTE=NightRabbit]
FWIW, I would consider receiving a coach bag as a gift to be a huge insult. I wouldn’t wear one around if I got it for free. Not every woman is obsessed with bags and jewelry, but at least nice sterling earrings doesn’t make you look like a fashion-obsessed clone.
[/QUOTE]
That’s why I’ve never bought you one NightRabbit 
Seriously though, many women do like the Coach purses. It’s not something they expect either.
[QUOTE=Autolycus]
It’s been a while since we’ve had a good 'ol fashion-related smackdown. I’m glad to see that this time around more thoughtful opinions are prevailing. Better yet, this time I can throw in my 2 cents.
I used to be the type of person who didn’t give a shit about clothes. I thought that wearing expensive clothes was kinda shallow, and that spending so much money to look good was wasteful. I saw no reason to spend that much money, and thought people who bought Coach bags and expensive suits were slightly shallow. I didn’t condemn them as people, but I did have a negative opinion regarding their attire.
I forget exactly how and when, but I gradually started to appreciate looking good. Not only that, but perhaps, I thought, it’s not shallow to wear good clothing? What if looking confident/sexy/stylish/what-have-you serves as a visible showing of a confident/sexy/stylish-what-have-you personality? Or, maybe one doesn’t have such a personality but is trying to. What’s wrong with that?
[/QUOTE]
Blinkingduck…is that you? 
[QUOTE=BlinkingDuck]
That’s why I’ve never bought you one NightRabbit
Seriously though, many women do like the Coach purses. It’s not something they expect either.
[/QUOTE]
As a person who once worked in handbags at Macy’s, I can tell you that a lot of men do buy Coach purses for their women. And a lot of women bring them in and exchange them. If they don’t appreciate the bag, they appreciate the credit/refund.
[QUOTE=EJsGirl]
Well, I identified myself as having several, so I’ll bite. It’s about quality AND style.
Let me see-
-
The cute little Chanel is a very formal, small bag, that I only carry on special occasions, mostly because you can’t fit much into it! It’s black because that color usually goes with my “formal” outfits.
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The Louis Vuitton is the standard brown and beige, I use it when I am casual in jeans or wearing earth tones.
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One Coach is bright red, so I don’t use it often (but it’s a big hit at Xmas and Valentine’s Day), the other is brown but dull and I haven’t carried it in a long time.
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The Dooney & Burke, as stated earlier, is a riotously colorful patchwork of plaids, very summery and bright. I like to use it in spring & summer especially.
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The Prada is a nicer black leather bag, roomy but the straps make it a bit awkward. I still use it quite a bit, though.
As you may have noticed, I have lots of purses! Probably 2 dozen, at least, from tote bags to clutches. Most are very inexpensive. I like having a funky, cool bag sometimes (like the olive drab canvas army-type bag I just got from HRC when I set in my check), and I also like to match an outfit when I can.
Different colors, different styles, different looks. What’s the big deal?
[/QUOTE]
My sister has always been more fashionable than I. Her problem with Coach bags: They last so long you get tired of them. Good for people whose #1 concern is Practicality, though.
She sent me a Betsy Johnson bag for Christmas. Not expensive as handbags go, but definitely beyond my comfort range. Time to expand the comfort range! Cheerful, colorful skirts & tops from Target work fine for my work & life style. And I wear boringly comfortable shoes. But a non-Target bag kicks everything up a notch. (Not that my sister avoids Target; Cheapo bags last longer if you switch them out.)
One obvious suggestion for RenFest/Fashion Bag Fans: Whiting & Davis. I’d already collected a few pieces, thanks to a glamourous deceased aunt & local resale shops. I recently bought a new one with an amazing Klimt design & an amazing (for me) price.
I’ll soon be receiving my Authentic John Muir Rucksack for re-upping at the Sierra Club. So I think I’ve earned a bit of frivolity.
[QUOTE=EJsGirl]
The Dooney & Burke, as stated earlier, is a riotously colorful patchwork of plaids, very summery and bright. I like to use it in spring & summer especially.
[/QUOTE]
That bag is super-cute. Sadly, I have Chanel taste and a Target budget. I do need to stop in there for a spring/summer purse soon, though.
That’s a very interesting point. I’ll have to think about it. Like it or not, every one of us projects a certain image with our appearance, even if the image is “I don’t care what I look like.”
[QUOTE=NightRabbit]
FWIW, I would consider receiving a coach bag as a gift to be a huge insult. I wouldn’t wear one around if I got it for free.
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=NightRabbit]
actually, then we’re probably very much alike! sometimes I buy name labels at thrift stores- I don’t put them back b/c I realize they’re “designer”.
[/QUOTE]
Let me see if I’ve got this straight. You wouldn’t pay a lot for a designer product. You’d be insulted if you got one for free. But you’d pay a small amount for one.
You might want to consider lightening up a bit and stop judging people. It’s really unhealthy.
Auto, I couldn’t agree with you more. But it’s not just about projecting sexuality. There’s a certain psychological power and satisfaction in walking down the street knowing you look goooooood. I will say this, though – my new Miralto shoes can beat up your shoes.
[QUOTE=BlinkingDuck]
That’s why I’ve never bought you one NightRabbit
Seriously though, many women do like the Coach purses. It’s not something they expect either.
[/QUOTE]
For Christmas a couple years ago, my boss gave me the cutest little Coach purse in hot pink suede. Her husband, who helped her pick it out, said it was the perfect thing, because I would never buy it for myself. He was right. If I ever do spend $$$ on a bag, I always get something practical and boring. I love that bag, and certainly would not consider it an insult at all. I don’t even understand that.
[QUOTE=burundi ]
Sadly, I have Chanel taste and a Target budget. I do need to stop in there for a spring/summer purse soon, though.
[/QUOTE]
The one I am using this week ( 
) is from Target, just last weekend- it’s a sack-like hippie thing, a pretty blue linen with a batik-look print all over it. Everything gets lost in the bottom, but it’s pretty and holds a lot of stuff. Here it is- it’s ten bucks! And it comes in at least one other color.
[QUOTE=EJsGirl]
The one I am using this week ( ) is from Target, just last weekend- it’s a sack-like hippie thing, a pretty blue linen with a batik-look print all over it. Everything gets lost in the bottom, but it’s pretty and holds a lot of stuff. Here it is- it’s ten bucks! And it comes in at least one other color.
[/QUOTE]
That’s adorable. I really like this one, though. I love yellow.
You may now return to your regularly scheduled Pitting.
[QUOTE=burundi]
That bag is super-cute. Sadly, I have Chanel taste and a Target budget. I do need to stop in there for a spring/summer purse soon, though.
[/QUOTE]
Join the club sister. I sigh longingly for the days when I actually earned enough money to contemplate buying a really nice bag at least once a year.
Thank God for consignment shops and eBay.
Just curious – Is it possible to get a designer bag at someplace like TJ Maxx? I mean, if I can get Perry Ellis slacks there for $20, I’d think that anything is possible.
[QUOTE=HazelNutCoffee]
I’m too tired to forumlate a reply, so I’ll let these posts speak for me.
Myself, I don’t speak to people wearing Crocs. I mean, OBVIOUSLY everyone who wears those shoes is a bit off their rocker if they think it’s okay to leave the house in what are essentially ugly bathroom slippers. Their poor sense of aesthetics is an indication of their inability to enjoy the finer things in life, like roast swan intestines glazed in ambrosia and the delicate taste of coffee extracted from the snot of a ferret.
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Heh, I can appreciate roasted swan intestines glazed in ambrosia as well as the next person (although coffee extracted from the snot of a ferret is so last year – all the cool kids are already on to whale smegma, duh :smack: – some people just don’t know anything), but you can have my Mary Jane Crocs when you pry them from my cold dead tootsies.
Come on you trend-setters, how about a little love for the other side who has backed you up so fashionably? 
[QUOTE=faithfool]
Come on you trend-setters, how about a little love for the other side who has backed you up so fashionably?
[/QUOTE]
That depends. Do you wear these or these?
Choose wisely.
[QUOTE=tdn]
Just curious – Is it possible to get a designer bag at someplace like TJ Maxx? I mean, if I can get Perry Ellis slacks there for $20, I’d think that anything is possible.
[/QUOTE]
Sometimes, at *some * TJ Maxx/Marshalls, *if * you hit it just right. Not usually high-end stuff (and never *really * high end stuff… sigh, and again, I miss Filene’s Basement), but I’ve found some good deals there on mid-priced bags.
[QUOTE=HazelNutCoffee]
That depends. Do you wear these or these?
Choose wisely.
[/QUOTE]
Well it’s probably going to set me up for being shunned, but I not only admit to the latter pair, but I have that exact same color! So now all I’ve got to say in my defense (apart from the fact that I don’t wear them with socks) is that I fought for you guys to the bitter end… AIYEE!!!
[QUOTE=Obsidian]
One of the things I always think about whenever this subject pops up is how money scales. Most people have a “waste-able” number. Under that number they stop thinking about value, because it’s not enough money to worry about. Under that number you’ll buy something without really looking at the tag, or without caring what the tag says. (I got a dress at Marshals for $20. I didn’t contemplate if I really needed it, or if it was worth $20. At $20 I bought it because it was pretty.) If you have enough money, well, $200 (or $2000) is $20. It’s just not enough money to worry about value. If it’s pretty, you like it, you buy it.
[/QUOTE]
I think this is a really smart post, which nicely articulates my half-formed thoughts on the topic. Perceptions of value scale with income, but I think that is precisely why this is a touchy subject for some. If you don’t value designer purses, I think you automatically view them as something that would have to be below your “waste-able” threshold to buy. Therefore, it’s easy to view someone else walking around with a $500 purse as someone who makes so much more money than you that $500 is nothing to them, or assign dubious motives to their higher valuation.
Although I think it’s a mistake, I think we all do it to some extent. I think you can’t help but have opinions on what some things should cost from an absolute standpoint. Imagine if some item you don’t particularly care about (fur coats, diamond rings, SUVs, purebred dogs, etc.) cost ten times what it does now, and you had friends or family who still bought it. I know I’d have a hard time not thinking someone was nuts for paying e.g. $600K for a huge SUV when you can get a perfectly nice car which gets better gas mileage for $15K, or $8000 for a purebred dog when you can get a nice one from the pound for $50 in adoption fees. Even though I know theoretically it’s none of my business and people can buy whatever they want, I can’t help but think “man, that’s crazy” when other people’s choices about what’s worth a given price are so far from my own.
What kind of people would we be if we shunned you? We want to help! Friends don’t let friends wear Crocs. But since we’re really just internet-friends, who don’t have to be seen in public together, I’m willing to compromise here as long as you promise to replace those monstrosities with a pair of black Alice immediately.
[QUOTE=tdn]
Just curious – Is it possible to get a designer bag at someplace like TJ Maxx? I mean, if I can get Perry Ellis slacks there for $20, I’d think that anything is possible.
[/QUOTE]
The Marshall’s and TJ Maxx stores by me carry lots of Dooney & Bourke bags, for pretty decent prices. I got a good-sized tote there for I think about $80, and I think the price would normally be in the $200 range.
[QUOTE=DianaG]
Sometimes, at *some * TJ Maxx/Marshalls, *if * you hit it just right. Not usually high-end stuff (and never *really * high end stuff… sigh, and again, I miss Filene’s Basement), but I’ve found some good deals there on mid-priced bags.
[/QUOTE]
I dropped by FB for the first time yesterday, but they didn’t really have the brands I like (except for French Connection, but only weird stuff). Maybe I needed more patience and more time to dig through the chaos. Consignment shops and eBay are the way to go, I tells ya. I got a Marc by Marc Jacobs dress on eBay for $50. I win at life.
faithfool, tsk tsk. At least you are AWARE that those shoes will get you shunned. Admittance is the first step to recovery.