Who is buying the really expensive handbags and £600 trainers??

[Newmeagain]

I really like clothes and have always splurged on the occasional “investment” item - e.g. nice boots, a jacket from ME&EM that I loved, etc.

But even though I am on a high salary I can’t imagine spending £2000 on a handbag or £600 on fashion trainers that will only last a few months.

I work with lots of women in a professional environment, all earning between £150k/£200k - many don’t have children - and I don’t see any designer items. Mostly mix of standard high street brands plus a bit of Sezane and similar.

So - if you are spending £££, are you earning over £500k or have a partner who does?

They look those orthopaedic boots for disabled people - and I am disabled myself and it wouldn't wear them! Insane price.

My son says this about Harvey Nicks in Leeds. The overseas students are the best dressed.

I can't imagine spending £1000 on a bag although I can afford it I suppose. I save much more than that every month. I am seriously tempted by a £1500 pen though. I need to resist 🤣

I definitely don’t earn anywhere near that but hubby does so my one big splurge is a nice handbag, other expensive items don’t interest me and I wear all high street clothes but always had a weakness for bags so usually have one for a birthday or when husband has a bonus etc, I look after them and they last forever. The only other thing I like is a nice watch and treated myself to a Rolex when we sold our rental property. On the other hand today I got some candlesticks from a charity shop for my fireplace!

This - I feel exactly the same. My threshold for more expensive items, like coats and trainers has held steady around the £100-150 mark my entire adult life, whereas my income has increased tenfold. I’d rather spend what I have on other things.

I’ve also often wondered about the economics of designer shops. There’s never anyone in them, yet they occupy prime locations everywhere you go. Gant is the biggest mystery of all to me. They must think of it as part of branding, rather than it being profitable

The most I've ever spent on one item was a £300 pair of boots from All Saints but my god I've had the most value out of them of anything I have ever owned ever worn them daily in autumn / winter for around 2 years now so the cost per wear is far far greater than say 10 cheap pairs of £30 shoes I may have bought over the years.

Same. I went through a phase of being slightly obsessed with ‘good’ handbags over 10 years ago (Chloe, Marni, Anya Hindmarch that type of thing). I bought quite a few in a couple of years and still have them. Some are still in regular rotation and I love them - whereas others haven’t been used for years and I’m planning to sell them.

They were a real financial stretch at the time. Now, I’m on a much higher salary but that obsession is completely over. I have no idea what that phase was all about tbh! Now I love mid-range brands - Mimi Berry, Kate Sheridan - which are a good combination of high quality and v reasonable prices.

I always wonder how they afford the staff in these places, always loads of staff milling about looking bored with no customers around. And yet we struggle to fill our schools and hospitals with enough staff to meet demand, crazy world .

In that financial bracket and spend on designer handbags and sometimes shoes. Less is spent on shoes because I don’t want to be precious about walking!

expensive things are purchased when there is extra spending money and would never come before retirement/investment, bills, anything the children need or a family holiday.

I love fashion and get a lot of joy out of my nice things.

My experience of this is that it’s actually young people that still live at home and pay minimal board to their mum and dad. Even minimum wage can pay for that this stuff if all other expenses are covered. Same with luxury holidays.

I buy knock off stuff, bags, shoes, trainers etc it’s very good no one would know and I’m not spending stupid money on something I carry around I’d rather go on holiday

DH bought me a tan leather bag that was £800 a decade ago as gift for my 30th.

I'm 40 now and have a couple more in the 700-1000 price range. They are classic style, "boring" colours (one black, one white). They are very well made, italian, in high quality leather. All the trims are high quality, robust. These are bags you keep for literally a lifetime. I've owned cheaper leather bags as well but the construction tends to be poorer, cheaper or weaker linings, cheap/badly made trims etc, lower grade leather.

We are both higher earners & live in a more expensive rural area, lots of people where I live have things like loewe puzzle bags, LV, bottega veneta, mulberry bags etc. Branded "classics" generally in fashion you see quite a lot of, things like burberry trench coats are relatively common, also lots of canada goose parka coats a few years ago.

There's a big second hand market for this sort of thing so I'd imagine some people have got them much cheaper on vinted

Its a uk cultural thing too. We don't go in for displaying wealth/seeing ability to buy brands as a marker of success. Its very different in other cultures.

This is me too. Don’t care about clothes - wouldn’t ever spend much. As long as it’s flattering and fits I really couldn’t care about a label.

Holidays though….thats where my money goes!

Yes, I buy expensive bags every so often but I'm not bothered about holidays so I justify it to myself 😂

I have some Mulberry handbags. But they still look like brand new unlike the £50 to £100 bags which were out far more quickly.

Jem and Bea used to work for Mulberry as far as i remember -since closed down . I also bought one for my sister when she was pregnant with twins, she didnt want a bag with pictures of any characters or orla kiely (which was the trend on baby bags when she was pregnant) It got well used when they were babies then it became her laptop bag, still on the go 10 years later and also used when going on holidays she says, brilliant and well worth the money
All of her friends thought she was cracked using it as a baby bag even though that was what it was designed for 😂

Im so glad someone said that, they are absolutely dreadful. I mean, truly truly awful

I used to spend a scary amount of money on designer items to the point some of the SA knew my name.

Now I don’t touch them. The markup is crazy and the quality has declined over the years.

I’d rather by quality items from smaller brands.

Some of the big designers brands are very ‘Dubai’ these days.

I actually think it's a bit of a Mumsnet myth. I live in London and know a lot of people with both old and new money, and I don't recognise that trope. People spend money on Chloe, The Row, Phoebe Philo, Celine, Khaite, Jil Sander, Loro Piana, Brunello Cucinelli, James Peres, but because they're not obvious labels, most people would never know.

I don't buy tons of stuff, and when I do, I tend to buy relatively high end. I spend more on classic things that will last for a long time and less on very trendy things. Not hugely into bags, although I have probably 5 that are high end (Loewe, Lanvin, YSL) and an inherited Chanel that I would never have bought myself.

I am actually coveting this in cherry red right now, and if I still worked in city law and it was pre-covid, would have bought it, but I'm not sure how much use I'd get out of it these days.

https://www.dior.com/engb/fashion/products/S0980OVRBM323

I bought a pair of Chloe studded boots with my bonus last year. £900. I love them to death

Why would you buy over priced crap made in sweatshops?
You could have a hand made ( in Britain) pair of shoes, tailored to your feet for that price.
Or a beautiful British/ Irish tweed coat / suit that would last a lifetime.
I’m not a handbag fan and there are so many fakes that if I saw a £20k bag I’d assume it was fake unless I was in London and the Woman carrying it was either in head to toe Chanel or in a silk burkha and Laboutins.

OP in my experience it really varies by industry and fashions within them. Some industries really do have a culture of having expensive accessories. (Men aren’t immune to this, there’s definitely some industries with a culture of wearing very expensive watches. Often not the showy footballer ones but subtle yet “price of a car” on your wrist to show.)

If you are surrounded by well paid women who don’t carry designer bags, it’s probably just not your industry culture.

I have a good few designer handbags, purchased over the last 20 years, before prices seemed to go a bit bonkers. I was thinking of selling a couple and I’d probably make money based on what they go for now. I’ve bought two mid-range designer handbags recently, £600 and £350 (the latter was discounted). I’d love a Balenciaga Rodeo but not at today’s prices (and I do already have a Balenciaga from many moons ago!).

In my early workings yrs pre marriage pre children I’d buy bags I liked LV Mulberry. Now married with children I can’t bring myself to that expense I do like RL bags nowadays.
I have some lovely scarves I still buy them as my only vice now, my winter favourite is cozy LV woollen one and a Hermes silk one.
When I graduated my parents bought me a beautiful Cartier Panthère which I wear daily when not operating.
On my wedding day my DH gave me a Longines Conquest which I wear most weekends.
Clothes I wear high street some vinyed and with a few classic pieces added to my wardrobe, I’m quite eclectic in style, as daily I’m in scrubs or overalls and waterproofs.