Do you own any non-designer/non high-end bags?

[sarah2808]

I also own tons of non-designer bags and it wasn't until I joined this forum that I began to explore the high end lines! Even though I now own 2 chloes, 2 balbags and a gryson, my old standbys are still my "to-go" bags when I'm running around town. It's nice to have a selection!

Yes, it is only over the last two years that I have been purchasing designer. But there are some beautiful bags on the market that are well made, punched up with style and still affordable. Here in Canada we have Roots and I lover their leather. I also use my Danier bags and a few that I don't even know what they are. Lets be honest arm candy is arm candy :okay:

Hmmmm.....so many bags, so little time to earn the money!

 

[jester]

I've got quite a few, and they're from Le Sport Sac (I get a ton of compliments on that one), Stone Mountain, L.L. Bean...etc.

I sold designer bags at one time (LV, BV, Chanel, Prada...and the like), and I can honestly say that price does NOT equal quality, and designer does NOT mean better. A lot of designer stuff is simply junk, and yet it sells. You wouldn't believe how often us sales associates would just shake our head after making a sale. We couldn't believe the bag sold, and sold at a high price.

Hey I know that feeling. Sometimes I see ladies with some real freaky looking bag. Upon closer examination, you see it was a designer bag say from LV or what not. Then you can't stop pointing and laughing. I know it's cruel... but things happen.

 

[socalgem]

No, I don't own anything that isn't high-end. I started at 13 with a Chanel.

 

[cordeeelia]

I will be buying a Chanel eventually within the next few years, im sure. Meanwhile, I have no choice but to stick to lower quality bags, but they'll do, and some of em are great in their own way anyway.

I favour Topshop leather bags, vintage quilted chain bags, inspired bags from ASOS.com. I might be getting a 2nd hand Dior bag at the end of this year since it will cost something in the range of the early hundreds.

My only "designer" calibre of bags is 2 Coaches. 1 small scribble tote & 1 scarf hobo (which i am totally obsessed with).

However, funnily enough, my favourite bag is a $25 one from Angry Little Girls. Its a canvas tote bag with a cute asian girl saying "I hate people".

 

[jmcadon]

Sure...why not. If I see something I like, I'll buy it. I bought one of those cute Kathy bags in navy a few months ago...right before I bought my Marc Jacobs stam bag. I've bought a couple of Jimmy Choo lately, but that doesn't mean I won't buy a cute lower priced bag in a quirky color that I don't have to worry about it getting dirty.

 

[Raspberry]

I don't currently own anything non-designer, but I'm searching high and low! I really need a good, no label beater bag I'm not afraid to throw in the trunk or take to the beach. Unfortunately, being exposed to designer bags has spoiled it for me. I'm not able to find any bags that have good quality leather, excellent stitching, well-thought out details, etc. And when I do find some that are great quality (like Banana Republic), the high price makes me hesitate. I'd rather spend a couple of hundred more and get an LV!

 

[bjchilipepper]

humm, i like designer bags but i think most of them are not worth at least half of the price they're charging. so my motto is never pay retail and get the most bang for my bucks. the last time i paid retail was for a Burberry tote bag about two or three years ago. and i don't think i will ever pay retail again.

 

[monarch]

I just found this thread! So fun reading the responses here and seeing what everyone thinks on this topic!

I have a 4 yr. degree in Fashion Merchandising and had a 10 year career in retail management but had never purchased a designer bag until after I left retail! I'd always loved handbags and really liked unique bags that no one else carried or could "label" when seeing me carrying it in public! Last year I carried a Kathy Van Zeeland navy/paisley bag and had the matching french purse and cell phone holder to go with it, rhinestones galore. My co-workers at my last job (non-retail) made so much fun of me, asking me how much I spent on my bag ( I ended up telling them a much lower amount than what I paid for all three pieces, they all were into going to fake purse parties and not spending more than $40 on a bag and thinking everyone thought they were carrying the real thing anyway). Since then I found TPF, really educated myself and have fallen in love again with designer bags!

This past February DH got one of his quarterly bonus checks and gave me some cash to use as i wanted. I went straight to my favorite dept. store in the Chicago suburbs and without prior knowledge of MBMJ proceeded to walk around the handbag dept. and fall in absolute love with a chalk luxy Faridah hobo bag. It went so perfectly with the ivory J.Crew lady day coat I was wearing at the time! The SA admired it on me and I knew right then and there I had to have it, and I asked her if she had a "wallet" to match! LOL! They're called 'zip clutches'! But I didn't know that at the time. She brought a ZC out for me that matched exactly and I had them both wrapped up and paid for them, and was sooooo happy.

I'll still buy random fun handbags no matter what. I can say that my "designer" bag experience was this: I walked into a store without knowing a ton about anything designer, and spotted something I just fell in love with, and I think that's the way it should be with any handbag. You have to absolutely love it no matter what the price, and that's what makes it wearable and special to you as an individual!

 

[TreeDoc]

Sure! I love my LVs and other pricey bags, but I also have fallen in love with quirky little bags that aren't designer, too. I have a cute leopard print Kathy Van Zeeland, and another of hers I bought just because I couldn't resist the bright teal blue color; a couple of Liz Claiborne bags, and a couple of totes I found at Target.

The funny thing is, I have been asked more times, "where did you get that gorgeous bag?" about my Target totes than about any other bags I wear! Usually, women who recognize my designer purses don't say anything to me (I just see them doing "the look"), which is sad because I LOVE to talk about bags with a fellow bag-lover! People who don't love handbags just don't understand the obsession!

 

[lwatson13]

i do have a few designer bags...but none of them exceed $500. right now i am saving up for a rebecca minkoff morning after bag!! i love my designer bags, but i love my bags that i find at TJ Maxx almost just as much and probably even use them more...i love looking at high end bags (chanel, chloe, YSL, mulberry, etc...) but i'm just not there...YET!

 

[wordbox]

I still have some non-designer bags, or generally cheaper bags. However, since experiencing some really nice designer bags, I'm finding it's much easier to let go of my old bags and weed out the less nice ones.

I think low-end bags serve their purpose, though. When I'm painting apartments in the summer, I'm not going to bring my MJ collection bag with me, you know? Same with the beach or whatever. But every time I go through my bags, I'm finding I can let go of more of them because I simply don't love them the way I love my nicer bags.

One way I get around it is by buying on sale or used. You can find some amazing deals out there and save tons of money that way.

 

[duranie70]

I have a bag I love from a boutique on Portobello Road in England that I got 10 yrs ago. I'd get a bag if I really liked it if it was from Targets Go International or some superstar designer for H&M. I bought SO much stuff from Karl Lagerfeld for H&M, I did sell the handbag though on Ebay back in the mania height. Who is doing the collection this fall?

 

[tano expert]

I dont own a single high end item. I'm a bargain hunter and Im very frugal. You dont have to spend a fortune to be stylish! I personally think all of the high end bags are nice for the ultra rich who can afford it, but as a mother of 3 who works hard for her money, I would never even consider dropping that kind of cash on any single item! Also, most people say that they buy the high end bags because they are classic and last forever, etc. I dont keep my stuff forever! I use it for a season or two and they I give it away. Im constantly moving on to new stuff. (bags, clother, shoes) I like to always look current, not classic! But to each her own!

 

[melvel]

I have a lot of bags from the Sak, Liz Claiborne, Esprit and Ralph Lauren. I think I use them more than I use my designer stuff.

 

[rainrowan]

I dont own a single high end item. I'm a bargain hunter and Im very frugal. You dont have to spend a fortune to be stylish!

Well said! I agree with you on this.

I'd like to get a designer bag and came close recently, but I realized I was starting to feel desperate about the whole act of needing to have one. It made me feel kinda sick over it, so I came down to earth and perfectly happy with the non-designer and/or inspired bags. I'll get my designer one day just not today. I was relying too much on a designer bag to make me feel stylish.

I take out my non-designer bags, put on a nice black/white ensemble and fix my hair and makeup. It's true about style; people will respond positively towards a person when one projects oneself happy and relaxed to the world.