I have forayed into that /r/repladies subreddit. It's... interesting to say the least. Among all the QA/QC posts, there are occasional threads on how people feel and how others feel about the world of fakes/reps, etc etc.
What I'm going to say below may not be true but after having been a lurker there for a while, here are my thoughts. I'm going to be generalizing a bit and maybe a bit of psychoanalysis/just me making (possibly false) assumptions.
I don't think they realize it but it feels to me that those who are active in that community (will refer as RepLadies from here on out) are living kind of a contradiction and don't have insight into their contradiction. There's almost like an undercurrent of disdain and bitterness toward the world of luxury. I see it coming out when they poo poo or turn their noses on authentic bags because they constantly are putting down the real bags. "Quality is no longer as it once was so it's not worth the money" or "My rep is just as good" or that "it's just a bag, I'm not going to spend that much on it". I feel that they're trying to elevate their rep bags by devaluing the authentic bags. It's almost like they're trying to say "the emperor has no clothes" and they're the only ones who can see through the facade. Simultaneously, they really want the bag. Because whether or not they will ever admit to it, RepLadies also has this consistent theme of people really enjoying their bags, including the status symbol that they represent and what it says about the wearer of the bag. But it comes out as "Ha! I pulled a fast one on everyone else cause I got it at a fraction of the price and you can't even tell!"
I have always wanted to point out this out to them and ask them, do you not see this contradiction and the mental gymnastic you go through to justify this 'journey'? It's almost like they were not invited to this cool and awesome party. But instead of either navigating their way into that party (venturing outside of your comfort zone to make new friends, finding a date, or just asking the host) or just being ok with not included, they poo poo on it and make fun of the people who are invited, almost as if they're too cool for it. But deep down, I feel like they really do want to be invited to the party and would go in a heartbeat if they could. But until then, they would rather steep in their own insecurities and turn their nose at others, rather than just dealing with it maturely and say "I wasn't invited to this party. It wasn't meant to be or whatever. It's ok, I'll just keep doing my thing and there'll be other parties" or whatever healthy coping mechanism.
It just seems like there are a lot of people in RepLadies who want to live and project a certain lifestyle, but they either don't have the financial ability to do it or don't want to or whatever else reason they have. And deep inside, they're bitter about it. Maybe because of social media, societal pressures, etc, they feel entitled to have that lifestyle. That entitlement and insecurity then combine to create this subreddit/community where they get to simultaneously worship and tear down the very institution they love and hate.
Sorry for the wall of text. And you can definitely accuse of me of generalizing and making tons of assumptions. But if anyone cares to, spend some time in there and see if you agree or disagree. The amount of scrutiny they have over the bags. The amount of $ people spend. It's... something, if not at least a fascinating psychological survey of people. Just like my wife says, some times it has nothing to do with the thing itself but everything around it. That's why I think it's more than just the bag. I feel like it speaks to their station in life, what kind of life they expect to have versus what they actually have, and how they want to be seen by others, and how they desire to be in that world of luxury but at the same time detest it. Hope they, and many non RepLadies, all find peace in whatever they're buying.
