What is it about bags...

[ChishandFips33]

...that cause so much negative reactions??

A poster asks advice about a £20,000 kitchen

A £2,000 watch /ring
and gets great advice/support

...but ask about which designer bag to buy for £1000+ and it's a different story: ie advice to spend it on something else/give to charity

I'm not a big spender so get the 'value' perspective but why do bags cause this reaction?

No, that's true. But an ikea kitchen isn't probably very good quality, whereas a more expensive one may last longer, add value to the house etc. Anyway, I don't know the answers, I'm not someone who comes on the bag threads having a go at people who do spend a lot on them, I don't care how people spend their money, I'm just speculating about the reasons why people do.

I think part of it, for me, is that I find so many designer bags immensely ugly. I know it would be boring if we all loved the same things etc etc but I open bag links occasionally and think 'What the fuck?'

Then there's the price inflation: I can't find the link now but I'm sure I've read there was a 70% increase in designer bag prices over 6 years. They've become a code to signify wealth. And we've all been dragged into it because prices all the way down the chain have risen as a result. That's bound to piss people off.

On the other hand: I'm all for people spending money on things they love and I completely see the sense in splashing out on something that's going to give you please every time you use it. I think it's shitty to rain on someone's parade, especially when they've been saving for it for a long time.

I also get pissed off by people who seem to think it's more ethical to buy a bag from Primark that's been made by a 5 year-old - when you can afford not to.

And I completely agree there wouldn't be this level of huffing and tutting if it were men buying them.

"give it to charity" line, how would they like it if everytime a relative gave their child money a stranger butted in and said "you can't buy a toy! Give it to charity! You selfish little shit!"
There is literally no difference.

Now you see I wouldn't give it to charity on the basis that it'll no doubt end up buying the CEO's wife the bag 💼

A lot of it is that it's something for the sole benefit of the woman and won't retain its value - so no one else will benefit from it, you aren't buying a bracelet or watch that your child could equally enjoy. It's not like a car where everyone in the family will benefit from you owning it, the only person who'll benefit is the woman.

Also interesting that it's the only threads where woman are told to buy something cheaper, and give the difference to charity/those in need. I have never seen that on a "aren't 4x4's a waste of money?" Or "holidays in school holidays are so expensive" no one is told to trade down and give the difference to charity.

If you preserve them well, Hermes and Chanel bags actually do retain their value, or so I'm told.

I'd rather spend £1200 on a bag than on a wedding dress and people spend up to 3x that on wedding dresses. Which are worn for half a day to a day tops.

I'd definitely spend £1K on a holiday rather than a bag.

But I love the threads - I get a vicarious pleasure in admiring the super expensive bags, and wondering which one the OP will choose.

I get the same kind of enjoyment out of the Marlborough or Eton threads.

Bags can be an investment too. I have a Miu Miu tote I bough about 12 years ago for around £600, I recently saw it in a pre-loved bags site for £1400.

Same with others I have. So if you look after them they can appreciate far more than say a diamond ring, which generally have much lower resale value.

Just seen the relevant thread. There's a lot of virtue-signalling going on. I think a lot of it is the product of people's insecurities around their income level, their own appearance/fashion sense etc.

I was at all those saying it was too much to spend on a bag and they'd spend it on a holiday. I felt like telling them how much my last holiday cost just to make their tiny heads explode.

Tiny heads ? Just proved that money can't buy class

Are you ok NewBrummie? That chip not too heavy?

Awwww nice but dim Cherry

With regard to the comparison to kitchens - the bag might be a 25th of the cost - so yes, only 'the woman' is using it but at a fraction of the cost

A bag (thinking a Bayswater work type bag) is functional, practical, useful and used daily, so although it might decrease in value it has also served a purpose

Jewellery can be classic, it can also be lost and damaged...my watch faces get scratched (albeit my watches are Fossil and £100!) surely the expensive ones do too if used daily

It's not so much about the money spent but the lack of support/helpfulness/politeness/consideration that appears once handbags are mentioned that I don't get - and yes to if it was a man it would be different (why should a woman only justify treating herself for a milestone event!)

I couldn't bring myself to spend that much (my friends do) but I look at it from the posters point of view and think, if I was that person, what would I like/want - not subject them to my opinions that they hadn't originally asked for

I was just about to post this same thread!

As you can see on the other thread I became rather over-invested. I'm like a moth to a flame when all those tossers come out.

They talk such shit.

I was also just looking for the luxe watch thread to see if that OP got the same beef

I've just caught up with the other thread - you weren't holding back!

I'm so glad that people have stuck up for the OP - it's just a shame it had to be done and detracted from helping her.

I hope she's not been put off and gets something that makes her smile

I love the architect quote and I think that's where I've reached in life, for one reason or another.

And all this bollocks about how a kitchen is for a family.

So if you're a single person living alone, you're wrong to spend yer hard earned fish on a nice kitchen? You should make do with tiny stove and a set of billy can???

I DON'T THINK SO

See..... the logic doesn't work

dosh not fish obvs

I'm not actually convinced a new kitchen does add value. I have an EA friend who claims not. A kitchen is a very personal thing IMO and I know many who share my view.

So whilst if I moved into a house and it had a newish kitchen I'd be happy to live with it, but unless it was my taste and the layout suited it'd be one of the first things I got rid of. I wouldn't pay a premium for it and it wouldn't persuade me to buy.

It's the worthies that claim they'd donate all but 25 quid to charity that make my eyes roll like a slot machine. Like feckity they would.

I was on the original bench thread. It was brilliant.

I don't think kitchens add value though if you have done building work to enlarge a kitchen, that may.

Those saying it's a waste of money and they'd spend it on a holiday make me laugh the most - a holiday, so something that will give you pleasure for a week at most, is somehow a better use of your money than something that will make you happy when you use it every day for several years?! Both are unnecessary spending, yet it's acceptable to spend several grand a year on holidays without anyone saying "it's immoral to go for a fortnight with Mark Warner, you should book a caravan in Skegness and give the £5k difference to homeless charities".

Comparatively, a holiday is a bigger waste of money, you have nothing to show for your money (once your tan lines fade), yet that's socially acceptable on MN but a posh bag always brings out the morally superior.

If you think you have nothing to show for a holiday but a tan you're going on the wrong holidays, travel is educational and broadens the mind.

Bobochic kitchens and bathrooms sell houses, well known fact

There is a difference between selling houses and adding value.

Well no because any perceived value is pie in the sky until you come to sell at which point it's a quantifiable number ... hopefully a positive one