Why no, alice, no you aren’t. I’m right there with you. Oh, and I’d add “condescending bitch”!
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.
Blinkingduck…is that you? 
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.
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.
That’s adorable. I really like this one, though. I love yellow.
You may now return to your regularly scheduled Pitting.
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.
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? 
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.
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!!!
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.
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.
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.