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 wonder this too, but I seem to live on a different planet to most of Mumsnet.

Probably because they like them and can afford it. It's not something I would buy (even if I had the money) but each to their own.

To show that they can afford it / show off for some people

Others genuinely just really love those designs

In my case because they tend to be good quality and classic styles don't go out of fashion so you can use them forever. Better than buying many cheaper bags and disposing of them every few years IMO. Also I think if you have desigber accessories you look more put together no matter what else you are wearing. Each to their own though, I don't judge on how people choose to spend their money

Says nobody who’s ever owned an expensive handbag.

Well of course they wouldn't - otherwise they'd have to sit there telling people they're total fools, wouldn't they? Better to try and front it out, and hope the person they're talking to has never owned an expensive handbag, like I have 😂

very true, the Givenchy fixation started with a bag I saw carried by a lassie in the post office 😂

Ahh thanks Blossomtoes!

I used to date someone who was really in to buying designer, but second hand and reselling it on when he was done and wanted something else.

He bought me a Prada bag. I have barely used it. I've used New Look bags more. I don't see what is that special about the Prada one anyway.

Because they're inferior to you, OP. Obviously.

Incidentally, why do you think cheap stuff is cheap?

I love designer clothes and shoes, but I'm not really a bag girl - I've got a couple of Smythsons, an Anya Hindmarch Neeson and that's as high end as I go. I def covet a Saint Laurent Manhattan, but can't justify the price right now.

None of them could be described as billboards though. In fact, the total opposite, all the designer stuff I have is very understated.

wind em up then sit back and watch em go eh OP?
😉

I have a £500 handbag.
it’s beautifully made. Soft leather, versatile, bottom studs, various straps. I expect i’ll have it for 10’years

Is it a lot to spend? Yes, but this year I’ll earn over £250k, so, so what. I don’t have a collect of them.

I am not bothered by designer bags, my bunions are too bad for fancy shoes and I don't care about cars. I do however spend quite a lot of money on my garden. I am sure other people would think this a waste.

I do realise £500 is nothing in handbag terms!… but it’s not £35

Even if people are buying goods for status symbols , so bloody what.
I don’t understand the obsession with policing the choices of others.

Because they've fallen for the marketing. It's absolutely bonkers when you actually think about it.

Because they’re beautifully made, because each purchase comes with ceremony, because they last forever, because they retain value, because I want to and because I can.

Taste really. Some people love designer clothes, others designer watches, others designer shoes. I know people who dream of owning a sports car. I never cared about cars as long as the car is reliable and gets me from Point A to B that is fine. I know some people who love designer watches of course it is their money they can do what they want. But you have to think social media especially instagram and living an expensive life makes people want to do the same. I have seen people going into debt to look rich - e.g. expensive cars, watches, holidays and when the bubble bursts (divorces, mental health issues, repossessions etc) I was always taught only spend what you have unless it was buying a house. I try and avoid debt. If it means eating less, going out less, buying old cars I am content with that.

Just like virtue signalling then, right?

Because they like them and want to buy them?

Because we can 🤷‍♂️

We do. Just not handbags.
its more likely to be watches or cars with us though.

like anything else, you get what you pay for, up to a point…

Not at all. I buy them because I like them. The bags are understated, the shoes and clothes even more so but very well made with good materials. My money, my choice!

A friend got a £900 handbag from her husband for her birthday a couple of years ago.

Then she posted a picture on Instagram of this year's gift - another handbag with a hand pulling a Harrods label out of it.

Just downright showing off and nobody fucking cares.

Mine have nothing to do with brands and are not to show off as I really do not care what people think of me. I’d rather spend £400 on a bag that will last a life time and still look good than £5 in primark that will look horrible after a month. They are investments. I have bags from my dm that are donkeys years old, but because they are good quality have lasted and will go on for years yet.