Yes they carry designer bags all the time. I’ve seen Dooney there, Coach and Francisco Basia on a regular basis.
There are some people who stalk the shipments when they come out and buy them all up so they can resell them on ebay. But you can find them.
That’s my rule of gifts…I try to ge them something they would never get themselves. I dislike buying ‘practical’ presents. 
Dude, I will defend to the death your right to wear shoes I consider abhorent. 
And I won’t even judge you, for all I know you may have recently had foot surgery or hard to fit wide feet (I have noticed Crocs are very wide which is why I think a lot of people find them so comfortable). Or maybe you just have different taste; liking different footwear says nothing about you as a person. It’s cool with me, I just ask that those people who don’t care about these things don’t prematurely judge those of us who do.
Some people in this thread seem to think that the women who are renting bags are trying to show off and that all their friends will ohh and ahh. But women who are into this stuff are often into for their own sake; they get a little thrill that they can carry an expensive bag from a famous designer. They can’t afford a Dior couture dress but they can rent a Balenciaga bag. Maybe the same bag a celebrity uses which generates a little frisson of associated glamour.
And most people enjoy the association with celebrity. Not just entertainment celebrities but people big in your hobbies. A book signed by your favorite author. The same brand of motor oil used by your favorite indy driver. Home decorating techniques endorsed by Martha Stewart. Celebrity association shouldn’t be the only reason for buying something but I don’t think it’s a totally invalid consideration.
None of my friends give a crap about labels so that I have a couple of pairs Louboutins means nothing to them. They appreciate that I love shoes and admire the shoes I wear but it doesn’t give me any “status” over any of them and that’s not what I’m going for. I adore expensive shoes for the quality, the style, and, yes, the associated glamour. Dita Von Teese (the burlesque star) has a pair of the same heels I do and everytime I wear them, it makes me feel just a little bit sexier.
I also think a lot of people who have an almost instinctual aversion to fashion and thinking about clothes harbor memories of cliquishness during high school. The girls who were considered “fashionable” in high school were usually the popular girls who slavishly followed trends from the mall. Pretty but boring. Like the girls of “The Hills”. The real fashionistas were the weird kids on the fringes who played with style and wore stupid shit.
I make it perfectly clear that it is perectly ok for them to return it…and even put the gift receipt in the bag. Not one has done it though.
The ‘shakiest’ one was my son’s fiance. She was a poor starving college student and wore inexpensive clothes and said she liked to live simply. I asked my son if she ever badmouths ‘fashion’ and he said she didn’t…so I bought it for Christmas. I thought she might return it…but she didn’t. What was more surprising is that I wanted to get her a more ‘conservative’ Coach purse - one without the brand labels on it and a nice light tan leather. I went with a coworker and she and the sales person helping me outvoted me on that and said she wouldmuch rather like a bright red ‘flashy’ one. I wasn’t sure…but hey, I was outvoted :D.
She loved it. Son says she takes it everywhere.
Hey…many women like Coach purses. It’s not a bad thing.
To everyone who has replied to my deplorable Crocs wearing situation, I thank you. However, I absolutely cannot get behind anything that looks like ‘flats’ from the 80s. Everyone has their line-in-the-sand points and, considering I hated the fashions then more than most any other period in life, it’s just a no go. I think the look is adorable on other people, but for myself I go more for the hippie / funky vibe.
Although, if anyone would like to donate me a pair of Alice… oh wait. I’m a feared I’m thinking about something entirely different. Carry on.
Coach bag as a gift has to be one of the most inspired ideas I’ve read this week. Thank you.
Know something? I used to not even notice handbags, although I like a nice tough leather one that I can get a lot of use out of. Reading this thread has planted the seed of lust for a designer handbag in me, for some reason.
It has caused me to go look at all the real Italian bags over at styledrops.com. I picked out one that I liked (a Fendi spy bag), then went over to e-bay and ordered a knockoff. I hope it is made well enough to last a year or so.
So this thread, although conceived to mock fancy handbag ownership, has started me down a crooked path. I may not be buying the expensive real McCoy, but I can see myself going there eventually . . .
Whoa. I’m sorry, but I need to ask. You go on about how it’s the bag and the quality, not the status symbol, then say that people who sneer at those who’re slaves to fashion are “just jealous,” and then post…this? I don’t care which bag you carry, but aren’t you judging people for NOT wearing what’s “right”?
Maureen,
slave to her new Gabriella Rocha wedges, mainly because they’re the most uber-comfortable shoe on the planet, not the name on the label.
Can we *really * not do this without the smileys?
Hey, I’m just sayin’.
This reminds me of an argument I had about the $350 I spent about 15 years ago on my roller skates. People called me crazy. I was lectured on how a donation of $300 might have helped some unfortunate family and how selfish I was in spending that much money on myself when skates could be found for $30 or $40.
I roller skate 2 or 3 times per week - every week. I’m 50 years old and I’m in pretty good shape.
Those who don’t skate may never understand my purchase, but some are rude to assume that I’m shallow and selfish because I bought the best skates I could afford.
Yeah, I think I hear a whooshing sound.
[Foghorn Leghorn]
It was a joke, I say, a joke, son.
[/Foghorn Leghorn]
I read an item about this in an issue of Time magazine, dated December 2006. Bags, evening gowns, jewelry, shoes. It was supposed to be the hot new way of decking oneself out for the holiday season parties.
My system works! we’re both happy! 
ETA: if Tuba were so inclined, “snotty little cunt” would be a GREAT sub-title for my username…
My apologies. Really. I had no sense of humor this morning; I was preparing for a meeting with an attorney.
Out of curiosity…would a beginner need expensive skates for any reason? Me and my daughter have very cheap skates (35 bucks). Do we need better ones, even though we aren’t professional skaters?
But back to the hand bag thing. I have decided to demonstrate the beeyootiful longevity of a quality hand bag.
This is what a cheapy hand bag looks like. I loved this one though, because my mom bought it for me, and picked it out herself, and that was sweet.
This is what a good handbag looks like. It is no LV, but it is a really good bag.
Carried the Kors bag for nearly 3 years.
Carried the cheapy bag for mere months.
This is the shoulder straps of the cheapy bag.
This is the shoulder straps of the good bag.
I have co-workers that see the cheapy bags and snatch them up, two or three at a time because they are so ‘inexpensive’, and they turn those bags to junk in a matter of months. If only they had invested in a quality bag, they would have gotten a beautiful bag they could love for years.
This post was entirely unnecesarry, I know, but I wanted to use my flickr account. Just figured out how to send pics to it from my phone.
Thank you, and no worries! I hope your meeting went well.
Nzinga, I love that Kors bag, and your sadface in the cheapy straps photo cracked me up!
I agree with your entire post, and have nothing to add other than the fact when I saw your facial expression in the first picture I laughed out loud.
I’ve had the "I Bought a Cute, but Crap Quality Thing That is Now Wrecked[sup]TM[/sup] hang-dog face, many, many times. 
–Darryl Lict, in the process of losing the key cute chick demographic.