Why do people buy designer bags/shoes?

[ettieb]

I have seen a few threads recently with people discussing designer handbags and I'm absolutely baffled why people are spending so much money on a handbag.
What can be so special about a handbag (or a pair of shoes) that people will pay hundreds of pounds for them when they can get a decent leather bag for a fraction of the cost of a designer bag?
There must be a limit to how good the quality of a bag can be... surely no bag is worth £800?
The most expensive bag I have ever bought cost £35 and I felt very guilty as this is a lot of money for a bag in my world.
Is it a status thing? Do they buy and carry these bags so other people will know that they have lots of money to waste?
I honestly don't get it, it just seems obscene to me. I get that people can spend their money on whatever they want but it just seems such a waste and so show-offy.

I don’t spend more than about £800 on any one item but I enjoy the buying experience and using it so why not?
I have some cheaper bags (£100 ish) but I don’t get the pleasure out of them. None of my bags are recognisable as expensive and in reality they are hardly LV/Prada level anyway so people probably don’t know what they cost.
I don’t judge anyone else on their bag or clothes but I DO judge people who wear fakes - it’s unnecessary and illegal and supports criminal gangs.
If a £35 bag is what you want or can afford there is nothing wrong with that

Absolutely!!

Why not? I bet you waste money on stuff too.

The car comparison has been made already but if all things in life were down to functionality no one would buy a Porsche over a Renault. They both get you from A to B.

Some if it is liking the aesthetic of a bag more - preferring a flap style or a zip or having your mum’s bag which hasn’t really dated, or a really good colour that you don’t see everywhere.

Some of it is showing off or buying because you’re miserable but have money so you might as well have something to show from the job you hate.

Some of them are presents from loved ones.

Sometimes it’s just a huge treat that you’ve saved up for, for whatever reason.

It doesn’t really matter what other people do with their money if it doesn’t hurt anyone.

You will find the majority of expensive bags are understated and certainly not “billboards”. The ones that aren’t are probably fake

I like the Kurt Geiger eagle and the range of colours they come in. I buy in the sale, but that's still a lot for me in terms of income. My health limits my life, my handbag gives me pleasure. We need people to spend money and often designer bags are more ethical. I love the Stella McCartney mushroom leather range, but could never afford one.

Why do people buy expensive watches, shoes, cars?

Personal choice

Strange question

I don't really get it either and I can easily waste huge amounts of money on other crap. I buy based on what I like, couldn't care less what the brand name is.

I’ve got chanel for £4000 buy it years ago. Now i cant justified to buy it for £10k. I dont have hermes because its beyond my budget.

£4000 is my top budget for bags. Thats my most expensive bags. Lots of them i bought for 1k or 2k. My cheapest bags is kate spade or polene for £300 - £400

why do i buy expensive bag?

because i want it and i have the money for it. I’m very fortunate so its not too hard to spend on designer bags, its different if someone buy it but have to struggle to buy it. I dont agree with that.

also all my circle more or less have same income as me. And all wear more or less the same brand. I wont go to a important fundraising and wearing kate spade. It is a status symbol. I agree. But not only bag. Its all your appearances.

It's like anything. Why do some people shop at waitrose and not aldi. Why do people eat at fancy places instead of mcdonalds. Why do people like expensive make up when drugstore is also makeup.

A lot of the time you are being mugged off. But some designs can be investments but usually not. I still love my Vivienne Westwood bags 🙈. I can’t justify spending £350 on the hazel one though. Way too much. Fools game.

The people who are saying there’s no difference between a £35 bag and a £1k bag have obviously never held a £1k bag 🤣 the quality is much better!

You can pick up a decent quality bag for a few hundred, but I have some bags that are worth more just because I like them and I tend to keep them for years.

It's the typical Mumsnet "but what does it meaaaaaan?" question.
Like it's so very hard to grasp that we're not all identical bots who do the same as the OP.

Funny really. It's like when a 2 year old keeps "why-ing"

I love my designer bags, I have a few. I bought them just for me, because I wanted them and I could comfortably afford them. It's up to me what I spend my money on and I have few other extravagances.

I bought an expensive (for me) bag from a well known brand. It was a good few hundred pounds. Very disappointed in the quality of it.

I like nice shoes and bags. So what? You probably like/value things I don’t. We’re all different.

I have a couple of designer bags, which were gifts. One is 20 years old. I love them and would buy more if I had the money. As it is, I buy what I like, that I can afford. Sometimes more than £35! 😮

Threads like these are always so judgy. You do you, hun!

This man deconstructs bags and reports on true value. https://www.sinardaily.my/article/186982/lifestyle/fashion-amp-beauty/this-man-deconstructs-luxury-leather-bags-to-discover-if-theyre-worth-the-cost

Most people waste money on something. But it's not for me either.

I don't really understand it, but it's very much each to their own.

I used to have a friend who bought designer handbags, spending what, to me at the time, were eye watering sums on them. I used to ask her what her £000s bags did that my £25 ones didn't. She couldn't answer, and I concluded, as a pp said above, that it was a status thing, signalling to others "look at me. I can afford these designer things".

Didn't affect me (or impress me) but it made her happy.

My most expensive bags are from Vendula of London. I like their quirky designs, but I did feel a pang of guilt (although why should I?) at paying over £100 for one.

Because they are told that by buying this stuff it makes them a better person !

My most expensive bag is £180, which isn't much. But the quality really does go up the more you spend

This. With knobs on.

"But I don't underrrstaaaaaaaand"

I once saved £2.5k for a Givenchy handbag I coveted. Ended up not doing it, couldn’t get over the psychological hurdle (or maybe it was the spirit of my ancestors reeling in horror at the profligacy 😂)

I do think designer items often have something that more affordable comparators don’t ie. a certain timelessness, flair, attention to detail, ‘personality.’ You either rate it or you don’t. My mum and I sometimes play a game where she covers the prices in her Sunday paper Style supplement and asks me which bag/coat/pair of shoes is most expensive. I wouldn’t necessarily choose the most ££££ selections - even if I had the money - but I can pick them from a line-up 99% of the time. DM really can’t!

I don't understand it either. I went to the Mulberry office in Somerset for an interview and was shown around the factory . Yes its a factory with machines, not vestal virgins hand sewing every stitch.