I have been thinking a lot about bags lately - I have always wanted a Birkin but my husband is not quite seeing my point there. I try to convince him about the beautiful craftsmanship etc etc and see his eyes glaze over. Then since I started having an income from my necklace and dress businesses I have tried to figure out how many I'd have to sell to be able to get a Birkin. Well, it's a lot of course, and once you see how much hard work goes into earning that much cash, you start to wonder whether you shouldn't save your money instead.
Anyway all of this makes me think of handbag prices today and how out of control they have become. The above bag is from 1984 and in the advertisement there is heavy emphasis on the quality of the leather, the stitching, the details. And as you can see it is pretty perfectly made. A lot of bags now are desirable because they are not so perfect - the leather varies in color, the hardware is made to look old, and they are often unstructured. All of this should make a bag cheaper - if you can use imperfect skins of leather there is not as much waste, if the hardware doesn't need to stay true to color you can pick a cheaper metal, and if you don't need to structure the bags you don't have to cut as many pattern pieces and therefore save on labor. It's quite interesting to me how over the years we have started paying for the overall effect a bag has on our look, not for the small details and quality that may have been important in the past. Interesting as well is that after the financial crisis quite a few designers are making structured bags again and are emphasizing timeless quality.
Don't get me wrong - I am not reminiscing about the good old days... I would be perfectly happy with a new Balenciaga bag if someone would feel inclined to buy it for me as an anniversary present...
I totally agree. I remember buying my first bag in 1983 from Gucci, it cost AUD 140 expensive in those days, but the most expensive bag cost 300 dollars! The first time I went to florence in the early 90s I bought a bag from BV. I had around USD 600 to spend and could afford anything in the shop! Now I go to BV and die of shock with the prices. At least 4 to 5 times that will get you a bag. You can't tell me that cost have gone up that much in the last years. The only thing that has changed is the amount of money spent on marketing
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely agree. I have two bags from Celine that I love but feel the quality overall did not match the price and I don't think I will buy from them again. Surprisingly the reasonably priced Coach and Tods' bags I have have really withstood the test of time. My latest, BV, was eye wateringly pricey enough that I now carry it carefully like a small kitten!
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