The Luxury Shopping Industry's Biggest Lie... that every woman fell for

I cut out a 10 minute portion (in fear the video was getting too long) about the production being moved to China it’s all very hush hush but it again adds to the air of luxury legitimacy that a lot of bags are 95% constructed in China and brought back to Italy or France for that final ‘made in France/Italy label which all very much feeds back into the heritage and origin story that I was sold for so long. If you haven’t yet checked out this book I highly recommend ❤

Status is an illusion. It’s a concept created by marketing people. I know, I was one. If you are a self-confident good human being, wearing some companies logo is meaningless. Buy what you like within what you can afford & stop obsessing over things that aren’t important.

I think you're right about Hermes still being exclusive, but the fact that tacky celebrities (like the Kardashians) have multiples make me second guess that.

From 2012-2019, I bought and loved luxury handbags. Since the pandemic, I no longer care. Life is too short for me to focus on such trivial things. I kept 1 Gucci patent leather satchel and sold the rest. Best decision ever.

There's a news documentary on Hermès on YouTube, "The Secret of The Luxury Dynasty". When one of the heirs said the goal was to convince shoppers the price doesn't matter, Hermès lost a bit of its glow. I kind of hate that the perception of luxury today is to serve the ego and make one feel superior to others

I think wealthy people hate others looking for status 😂 but I feel at this point social media makes the cycle of trends so much faster in an effort to be different. Quiet luxury came and went and now looking for smaller designer brands also feels like a mass movement, almost a “I’m not like other girls” kinda thing but really everyone is doing it. Just buy what you love.

I too was brainwashed and sold on these luxury brands. I’m just now happy that I’m over it all. I feel so at peace now.

I watched a video on a young woman that saved and saved for her Chanel bag. She went to the shop and the bag they handed her to check over as a purchase was, I guess lopsided. She said one side was longer than the other and the quilt stitching didn't match. The inside stitching was lopsided and off key. She went on about these visible issues and the bag in USD was about $8000 (I believe that same bag is now more money). Apparently, NO ONE in Chanel noticed it but the person about to spend the money sure did. She eventually bought another bag from Chanel but after just over a year it began to tear inside. Now I see more and more videos of where these bags are made and perhaps it explains why the fakes are such good copies. It's very clear that their target customer are people that cannot afford their bags. The fact they all overlook the poor qualities of their bags at such outrageous prices should be an eye opener as to what they think of us.

You're right about the card holders though. The cheapest card holder you can get is either a rubber band and a Ziploc bag, or a trident gum folding set of 20 pieces of gum. Once you eat all the gum it comfortably holds about 6 cards. It perfectly fits bus cards and credit cards so you can store things discreetly in the gum cardboard paper.

I never bought a small, expensive bag like that. I bought myself a 1 bedroom apartment to live in, instead. As a hairdresser, my income is very humble. Great chat. Keep being magnificent. Love Princess Holly of Australia, hairdresser and free 🕊🌿🌳🌱🌲🍀🍃🌴

Love the commentary! I'm a recovering Luxury addict and have recently downsized and sold about 15 bags and scarves! I've recouped around $14,000. Even though I lost money, I'm happy to have captured some of my initial investments! Thank you :face-red-heart-shape:

We can’t dissociate luxury and accessibility . If any working woman can walk in and buy luxury and it once used to exclusive to royalty , we should not consider that as a degradation in brand value , it is an upgradation in removing societal hierarchy that sets a portion of the people from the rest . By constantly battling against it and making yourself exclusive by finding more authentic brands/ products that make you feel luxurious, you are also subconsciously putting yourself in a higher place than the rest of the “common”/ mainstream population . Question is , isn’t that just as toxic of a mindset ? Brands and logos are nothing but associations to an idea of “I am more special” . Is it worth the price tag or not is the only real question there is !

I went shopping awhile ago for office appropriate clothes and couldn’t find anything that fit. Walked in Coach a bit demoralized and told the sales associate, “I can’t find anything that fits so i decided to look at bags.” She lost it laughing at me and knew exactly what I meant.

It’s mind control. It’s leather with a metal label. A brand is a marketing tool to charge you excessively more. It’s all made up. But humans desire the need to fit in and inherently want to be told want to think and do. Not to mention the influence of excessive consumerism and social media. It was special and you cherished the pieces.

I still have the Speedy I bought 40 years’ ago (had zip replaced) in a department store BEFORE there ever was a LV Store 😳. Yes, I’m old 😬.

From watching many YouTube videos, it seems that even if a person gets an 'appointment' at Hermez, they rarely come out with the exact bag in the exact leather, exact colour and with the exact hardware that they want and are made to feel honored to be able to spend thousands of dollars on something that they really didn't want or even like. Then l hear of people who are so neurotic about the bag if they do take it out for fear of scratching it our getting it stolen. As for ' wearing ' a bag. Where did that come from? I wear my clothes and shoes, l 'carry' my bag.

I think framing ANY scarf with a cool pattern is actually a fun idea for wall art. I’ve seen some cool ones at the thrift and passed on them because I’d never wear a scarf. Using a cool vintage one as wall art is kind of smart. It doesn’t need to be “luxury”

Fabulous video!! I just got back from Italy and I wasn’t interested in high end designer hand bags. I found a boutique in Florence that is family run and owned and purchased from them. One of the owners who worked with me picks all the leather herself from Italian tanneries and the bag was hand woven and stitched in Tuscany. Her son was learning the business and her brother was helping my husband. That’s what I want to put my hard earned dollars. In a family business. No one will know the brand bag I have, and that’s ok. it’s just a beautifully made bag that makes me feel good using it❤

As a Brit, I have to say here, there is definitely a difference between the sartorial choices of the aristocracy compared with nouveau riche - aka anyone from a reality tv show. The 'quiet luxury trend' seems to have identified this distinction perfectly - the aristocracy simply don't walk around head to toe in Chanel or LV, or if they do, there are no logos anywhere. New Money people really haven't got the natural (learned) ability to look understated and refined and so walk around head to toe in logos, literally displaying their new-found wealth like a badge of honour. What I do find really disturbing is that because the CC logo and LV logos (etc) have become so ubiquitous recently, the 'aspirational' shoppers among us (those who think that if they have a Chanel handbag, they'll ultimately be happier for it) end up in so much debt just to make it look like they can afford all this stuff. It's such a con. Owning a Chanel 11.12 won't make you happier, nor will it actually make you part of "the rich".

I feel about luxury now like I did about tattoos. I used to want one but now that everybody has one, I don't care anymore. Tanner Leatherstein did a video about a small town that was nearly ruined when a major luxury company decided to just take their manufacturing somewhere else...that really turned me off. I'm done. As for the handbag question--not only they are a great accessory, but you can lose or gain weight, the handbag still fits. It's a great way to dip your foot into the luxury water without worrying about it not fitting later on.