I think this is a wonderful movement!--affordability in shoes & clothing.

LouisLady

Member
May 22, 2006
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I just found out about this new Steve & Barry's movement thing where a few celebs & designers have all joined in to offer super affordable clothing & shoes.

For example; Stephon Marbury, the guy on the AND1 basketball team came out with a line called STARBURY which offers stylish $15 shoes to help kids fit in!

This is such a heart warming movement for me b/c I know how it feels to grow up as a child and not be able to really have the same things as others.

Kids get shot and get made fun of because of their shoes and clothing so you can imagine how awesome this is now that someone finally steped up and is helping making a difference to help the community.

Not only is Steve Marbury making a difference, but so is Sarah Jessica Parker, Venus Williams, Amanda Bynes, and a few others have all joined in to offer affordable fashion!

:tup:

Links to the sites:

Steve & Barry's main site: http://www.steveandbarrys.com/default.aspx

Starbury:http://www.starbury.com/
Bitten(Sarah J.Parker): http://www.bittensjp.com/
Venus Willaims:http://www.elevenbyvenus.com/
Amanda Bynes: http://www.dearbyamanda.com/


Here is a link to some of the thank you letters from the Starbury site:http://www.starbury.com/buzz.php



Now to think about it, all of these other designers look bad for charging SO much for their items...*cough*cough*..(MICHAEL JORDAN,Baby Phat, SEAN JOHN, J LO, Apple Bottoms...etc etc etc!)

Thumbs up for helping making a difference! :tup::tup:

Starbury_Flava.jpg
 
Hi LouisLady,

Fashion marketing is all about hyping up the product as much as possible to create desirability. And, the more desirability a fashion house can create for a product the more they will charge for it.

Seriously, does anyone really think it cost Louis Vuitton anywhere near $1000 to create a vinyl coated canvas handbag? Well, if they do then I feel very sorry for them. The reality is that it probably cost them less than $100 - in both time and materials - to create their Damier Canvas bags. Yet, they can and do mark up the prices of these bags to command $1000 or more - which a lot of people seem willing to pay.

There was a interesting interview with Stephon Marbury - the NBA player endorsing the Starbury brand - on 60 Minutes awhile back. During the show a professor of Fashion Technology and Shoe Design did a comparative analysis of a $14.98 Starbury sneaker against a $400 Nike one. What was found was that the construction and quality of the two shoes was virtually identical. The only difference was the material being used for the upper and lining - Starbury's, of course, using synthetics - to keep the price down - and Nike using leather.

Another interesting thing I'd like to point out is that a lot of today's synthetics actually perform a lot better than leather - over the lifetime of a product. Leather can and does crack, rip and discolor is not well looked after. While the synthetics have none of these problems and just need an occasional sponge off to maintain their appearance.


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ITA! I can see theres a huge hype going on w/ this new $15 pair of sneakers. Perhaps this is a good thing to help everyone realize how much those other designers are charging for their stuff. I think that people pay for brand & popularity. If the popularity of these Starbury shoes along with the other lines of other designers get a big ol' hype, everyone will buy them.

Same as to how before I joined this forum..I didn't know much about LV, and after being a member for quite some time, I got "lured" ( lol ) into loving LV.
 
I hate spending a lot of cash on shoes, period: Simply because I find it unreasonable to spend hundreds of dollars on something that going to be in contact with the ground, most of the time, and my smelly feet. :roflmfao: I realize this is probably a typical male mentality speaking though.

I tend to dress in a luxury casual style most of the time anyway. Therefore, I have little need, or desire, for high-end dress shoes. Quite frankly, I find most such shoes to be quite boring anyway.

Some of my nicest, most comfortable and most sophisticatedly styled shoes actually cost me less than $70. :wlae: However, I was quite selective when I purchased them as I'll only go to little out of way shops that not many other people frequent. Therefore, no one will see them when I'm out and go "Oh, he got those at the mall.'
 
Yea, this has been around for a while. Last year when we were in Arkansas my SO got like 7 pairs of Starbury's lol. He loves them for those days that hes not doing ish, he just throws those on and doesnt have to worry about them getting dirty. I wish we were there for SJP line, but it wasnt out yet. I bought a crap load of kick back/workout clothes from there, and I still have them all-they are holding up pretty well for the price! I will deff. be hitting up S&B again when we go back to AR next month. I cant wait to check out SJP line!!
 
Amanda Bynes just came to our Steve & Barrys at Newark, CA.
I love the idea of clothes on a budget, unfortunately I dont fit any of their clothes that they carry. :confused1: Being Asian, I have a flat butt. And I'm short, with SUPER SHORT legs, and a abnormally long torso! Literally, when I go and buy pants in "short" they are about 4 inches too long still. Always going to get them hemmed, or just stepping on them. Haha. And my shirts are always too short because 1. my torso is long, 2. I've been blessed with breast. So even though I'm tiny like a size XXS it's too tight on my breast section, perfect on my stomach, but too short. Plus I'm smaller than a size 0, but the kid's size clothes fit weird on my legs. (I do find some kids sizes though).

BUUUUUT, I do love shopping there for my family and friends. I'm def. hitting this place up for Christmas shopping! Buying loads of shoes for my Fiance so he can just get them messy and not worry. :tup:
 
My daughter dragged me to Steve and Barrys for the Sarah Jessica Parker Bitten line and for the Amanda Byrne Dear line......I'm hoping the quality is good and things don't fall apart after too many washings!
 
I was just there yesterday with my 11 year old daughter. She got a lot of the Amanda Bynes items. For me, while they are growing I don't want to pay a lot for their clothes but I want them to feel comfortable and "in style." I was able to get her a lot of things that she liked at a reasonable price. My 9 year old daughter has some Starbury's and DH has 3-4 pair. I am interested to see the Venus Williams line. Maybe we will have to go back :smile:
 
Val! You're coming to Arkansas? You should so hit me up.

And I love this movement. Especially growing up in a small rural high school. It makes sense.

I totally will! How far away are you from Hot Springs or Little Rock? My friend lives in Malvern, but as you can imagine(if you know anything about Malvern lol!) we spend most of the time in Hot Springs and Little Rock.

I totally hijacked the thread:Push:whoops..
 
Since the thread has been hijacked :girlsigh: I just have to say another Arkansan Fashionista here. But I do love what Steve and Barrys is doing. I bought the cutest little shirt there.
 
It's great that there's celebrity endorsement for cheaper sneakers. It'll be great for the kids!
I do appreciate how brands like Nike sponsor a lot of sporting events and sponsor some great athletes. Some kids who are really good at their sports get their nike's for free and it's really nice. I don't think it's fair to compare these brands to luxury brands (who just seem to earn and not give back to the community).