Well, that was *****y. My comment wasn't directed at you. I was making a general statement. You may not want to take things so personally.
Best and worst quality Contemporary brands?
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Well said! I also think in terms of resale just in case one day I find something I love even more and want to swap my purchase (usually years later) for something that suits my needs then more. Paying a high price for premier designer bags in certain persistently popular styles will get you a lot of your original investment back especially if you bought in EUC to start with. But a used coach bag (no matter the line) will not fetch you four digits so paying that only seems wise if you are 100% sure you'll keep it forever. I'm not the best at those kinds of commitments, although I'm going on seven years with many of my bags so I'm not totally fickle either.
Although if coach makes a comeback with their brand cache maybe it will be possible to recoup much of the price. I just don't see many brands recovering from a Tommy Hilfiger blunder. Not at least in the last 30 years that I've been aware of brands. Before my awareness apple messed up their market position and then they obviously made a huge (the hugest of) comebacks 15 years ago with the iPod. But this story is the exception that proves the rule. This stuff about branding and the economics of name brands is so so fascinating to me!
Another reason that I am unwilling to pay high prices (especially for Coach) is that pretty much every bag even those that have been promised will never show up at the outlets end up making their way to the outlets. How many times has someone paid retail for a Coach bag that they were told would never go to the outlet, only to discover that bag at the outlet a few months later for significant savings...and this also drives down the value of the bag you paid full price for. Why pay retail for Coach when it is highly likely the bag will show up at the outlet? The Coach outlets (especially made for outlet bags) need to be axed if Coach if ever wants to be taken as a more serious brand.
I never buy any bag with resale in mind.
One good thing is boutique bags are not being made in the numbers they were before, so very little is making it to outlets and over time this will help.
But this happened in the past too. Originally, low numbers of some bags for the boutiques, but then later they start producing them in larger quantities and then viola, you find them at the outlet...or you find a 'made for outlet' version of the bag at the outlet. Hopefully, Coach has learned the error of its ways, but this has been promised in the past, only for them o show up at the outlet. So I am taking their word that these bags won't end up at the outlet with a grain of salt until it has been shown over a couple years that they will actually be sticking to their word this time. It has happened too many times in recent years for me to just take their word for it,
I've only been a fan of Coach for a couple years, one of the first bags I got was acted suede Ryder. I think that was Stuart Vevers first year there? Maybe I'll just be a fan of his?! I don't have an outlet anywhere close to me, so I guess I'm not dealing with that either. I do agree that the two should never have been mixed, maybe even called a different name?!
I think that would have helped alot to have different names. I have said this in the past. The lower end outlet stuff should have a different name to boutique items.
^ I definitely agree with both of you about Tory Burch. I've been really unimpressed with their quality in the past year. I still like the designs but I doubt I'll buy another TB.
Usually if I'm looking at a contemporary brand I expect to spend $300-$500 before taxes, mostly since they have lots of sales. I'm surprised to hear Coach has bags in that price range, do they have a higher-end collection similar to MK? I wouldn't spend that much on a contemporary brand because I don't see the value in the quality of those bags equating to that price but maybe someone who is loyal to a single brand might.
I agree, I'd rather put that towards a premium designer bag where I know the bag is worth that much.
MBMJ are very nice. One of my bags I have had for 5 years with no signs of wear. I was disappointed when he did away with this line.
Same, MBMJ is one of the few brands where I actually like the slouchy pebbled leather. It's rare to come across these bags in stores but when I do they're marked down quite a bit!
I have a bag from Mania Italia (a TJ Maxx buy) that has held up incredibly well in spite of the rough handling.
Also have a Cole Haan bag that's about 8 years old and although I don't use it much (once in the last 2 years) it's in excellent condition.
As per contemporary bags with worst quality, would Hype bags qualify as contemporary? I don't even know if they make them anymore but I had one that was gorgeous and fell apart in about 40 days. I went straight to TJ Maxx and they kindly gave me store credit.
And as per RM I had a bag for about a year and when I got rid of it, it was in perfect condition. The RM was from 2009 I believe.
Also have a Cole Haan bag that's about 8 years old and although I don't use it much (once in the last 2 years) it's in excellent condition.
As per contemporary bags with worst quality, would Hype bags qualify as contemporary? I don't even know if they make them anymore but I had one that was gorgeous and fell apart in about 40 days. I went straight to TJ Maxx and they kindly gave me store credit.
And as per RM I had a bag for about a year and when I got rid of it, it was in perfect condition. The RM was from 2009 I believe.
Just based off of my own experiences:
Dooney and Bourke and Coach have excellent, thick, hardy leather and hold up very well to heavy use.
I was disappointed with Kate Spade's stitching and stiff materials.
Dooney and Bourke and Coach have excellent, thick, hardy leather and hold up very well to heavy use.
I was disappointed with Kate Spade's stitching and stiff materials.