Shoes

[willdob3]

It is all about profit.

[Kalli]

Yes, you're paying for the name and for the right to show everyone else how much money you can spend on a bag. heehee

I can't even imagine spending hundreds on a handbag. It's just not important to me. However, I've paid almost $2000 for a saddle for my horse and many folks would probably think that's outrageous. It's all in what's important to you.

[conlt]

I think that some Bags are marketed very well, people buy them and the prices stay up. I do not follow the "pack". I try to purchase Bags that people notice and ask me "where did you get that". I don't buy designer bags very often, I have a few Dooney's and Coach. Dooneys are better made I believe. I have some bags from Carlos Falchi on HSN and Emma Fox. I love Patricia Nash Bags also. Some of these are not so expensive but are not well known so people often ask about them. I personally like all leather. To tell you the truth, I think Emma Fox Bags, if you get the right ones are very well constructed and the leather looks expensive.

[stevieb]

I too like Nash bags, but again, I see them often (and Fox bags as well) at TJ Maxx for far less than they're sold for on the home shopping stations.

[3star]

Actually thee is more expense to manufacturing a handbag than meets the eye especially the bags made in Italy. It starts with the quality of f the raw skins, the tanning process, the dying process and also the quality of the hardware. Not to mention the huge taxes on these bags. The brand name is another thing altogether, the Gucci's, LV's and Bottega charge so much because they CAN and get a way with that. I've been in the luxury handbag marketplace for years and it's very frustrating for all of who deal with this business every day.

[circles]

the problem with spending a lot of money on a handbag is....hopefully you will love it forever...

if you tire of the handbag in a few weeks....months....and move to another...you have wasted good money for a short thrill of the purchase...

I have purchased Dooney's in the past...also Coach...costing well over $200.00 ...but what I am carrying, now....is a London Fog that I paid $50.00 here on the Q....in the clearance bin...and I find I love it more then the others...

[Q4u]

I can comment on Louis Vuitton.....

LV uses a propriatary canvas that they make themselves. They cover it with PVC vinyl that they have perfected with a formula unique to them. That's why counterfeit LV bags won't last like the authentic ones. LV also makes their own linings, their own thread... etc. etc. They do use leather as their trim, handles, etc. and have several styles that are all leather. Each bag is hand made. The brand itself originated in France in 1860~! Not many people realize this, and when they developed their Damier pattern (the little brown and tan squares) it was immediately copied by other manufacturers. So by 1880, they developed their Monogram Pattern, which was quite difficult at the time to copy. However, over the years, they have tweaked it and changed it to what you see today.

The company itself manufactures all items at factories they own. They have only "leased out" their brand once in all their history, to a company call The French Company for about 20 years in the 90's. They vowed to never do that again. Nothing that they produce is made by other companies, therefore if you see fabric being sold at a Sewing store, it is counterfeit. All of their items are sold by their employees and are never distributed, wholesaled, or clearanced. If a product becomes too old sitting on a shelf, they send it back to the factory to be destroyed. When High End Dept stores (like Neimans) sells LV, LV leases the counter space and provides their own employees. The only way to buy an authentic LV is to buy it either from their own Boutiques, their leased counterspaces at Saks, Neimans, etc. or from their ONLY website and you will ALWAYS pay full price. If you find this product brand new anywhere else for sale, you can be assured it is fake.

It is for those reasons and the fact that their bags are virtually impossible to wear out that has many people swearing that LV is the only bags for them.

For me personally, I have one bag that is over 30 years old and still looks incredible. And it's not about the "brand", it's about the quality and the respect that I have for the Company....

/end

[Deanie]

Well ladies, you are all a tremendous source of information. All your information is valuable including Q4U and the construction of a LV. Also, I learned something about Italian made goods, by imported Chinese labor? Holy cow. So, I guess it is what StevieB says, "it is all relative"

[millieshops]

Some handbags are priced terribly high for pretty much the same reason a Cadillac or a Mercedes costs more than a Ford or a Chevy.

When I'm buying whether it's a handbag, a car, a house, or even a tube of lipstick, the last thing I want to think about every time I use that purchase would be how much I paid for it.

I can afford lots of things that I pass up. Is that why I'm perfectly content not to own them? Or am I content because I've finally learned what it is I'm happy to own?

[scatcat]

On 3/14/2015 millieshops said:

Some handbags are priced terribly high for pretty much the same reason a Cadillac or a Mercedes costs more than a Ford or a Chevy.

When I'm buying whether it's a handbag, a car, a house, or even a tube of lipstick, the last thing I want to think about every time I use that purchase would be how much I paid for it.

I can afford lots of things that I pass up. Is that why I'm perfectly content not to own them? Or am I content because I've finally learned what it is I'm happy to own?

I have both a Mercedes and a Dodge. It's like comparing apples to oranges. I have both $30 purses and a $500 purse. Again, not really comparable. Do they both do what they were made to do? Yes. But you can't compare a pleather (plastic leather) purse to the real thing. I'm sure a lot of people don't buy leather purses for the animal side of it. Totally respect that.