How Does Everyone Afford All These Designer Items?

[Jennyfer]

This thread is very inspirational!

Am going to give some ideas a go...

 

[thecatsmiu]

oh, so i see that there are like little to no posts from the perspective of people who are actually in debt from buying so many designer things, hahaha

for me, ever since i discovered the purse forum, i always wondered how people owned 20 Balenciaga bags. they seem fairly young too! then as i became pretty addicted with looking at these people's collections (i know, i'm SO sad), this devil and angel appeared on my shoulders... seriously! the devil keeps saying, "well, other people are buying a million $2000 purses, why can't you? they probably don't have a lot of money but just get one and then you'll be able to pay it off in the future when you have a career!" and then the angel keeps saying, "NO. don't get it because you can't afford it right now. wait til you're older!"

so far the angel's had my back, thank the lord. i do not want to go into debt at 20.

oh ya, so my background... i'm a fashion student in university which means we are super poor from spending hundreds on art supplies, fabrics, printing, etc. which aren't covered by our academic fees. i find that designer clothing and sometimes shoes are useless for someone like me, but designer accessories and handbags last a lot longer / are more worth it to me.

i love seeing other people's purchases though!

 

[parisia]

I love this thread. Great tips!

 

[from: sophia]

I wait a few seasons and search the web you can be surprised by what you can find for 300$ or less. I am a student so I also limit my self to one good item everother month or so and spend less at places like Urban Outfitters and H&M to get something better quality.

 

[glamrockgal]

I came up to this threat tonight by chance and I have been reading your long and short posts all night long and its midnight now.Its really pretty impressive to read from different backgrounds&ages&locations&economic situations of people talking about loving fashion and how they afford designer pieces.To me,its abit about the country you live(taxes,prices),your spending habits,your come and go what you earn and what you should pay(bills,taxes,debts,food etc).I am working for 7 years and I have a masters degree in finance and I am working to death to very long hours in the office.No work is easy in finance and no I am not a hedge fund manager something.Truth is I earn but I don't have a designer bag yet.I have a local designer bag and yes,it was a splurge I bought in university but after I started to work I did not splurge on one item,I rather buy more from top shop and pull and bear and zara and vintage stores.Its not that I cant afford a bag,but spending 1500-2000 TL to a "bag of the moment" would make me feel bad.The only thing I splurged lately was my iphone for about 1200 usd(everying in here is 2x expensive of usa prices in where I live.and that iphone still I am paying,I can't buy my dream marc jacobs bag since 3 months.Yes,I want to buy a marc by marc jacobs bag but its 2 times more expensive than US prices, and I can't really trust online shopping if the amount is really high. I used to spend SO much on splurge makeup on chanel,dior,shu uemura,mac,nars and many more.I also buy 3-4 magazines a month and that sum it to a year I spend so much money on magazines too.With all those money I could have bought many marc by marc jacobs bags instead.Its more about what you choose to buy.If you choose to buy other things your splurge goes zero and its becoming a dream.

and...style does not mean very expensive clothes.My style is eeclectic and vintage.I love buying vintage and I love Top Shop.Really,Top Shop makes my style because they come with great stuff.I also adore designer&retail brands colloborations and I'd bought great clothes from them -of Turkish designers like Bora Aksu, Hakaan known as hakan yıldırım and I also had collected some good pieces from the first collection of Kate Moss for top shop.You never know what you'll get in retail brands.

I can never regret designer power and I would kill for a JPGaultier cut.But I have my own bills and life I can't spend all my money for one high end piece at one time.Also we all need to save for bad times never forget recessions and job loses,credit crunches and health issues...

and if I would collect some money to spend on designer clothes anytime in the future,that I would be rather spending it not in here paying 2 times more I really want to try some famous online stores(no ebay I dont like paypal)

to me high end does not mean style,its just a pleasure to make your day or a way to make you feel better when you own a rare expensive item.

reading all your different opinions and posts I loved it all.I really loved most of your posts and might re-read again.

and that sample sale thing in NYC- I ENVY YOU GUYS!

 

[Underage]

For the most part I can't. lol Hopefully after getting my diploma late this summer, I can get the kind of job that will help me afford to get designer things. It's not important to me to buy a whole lot of designer items all the time, but it would sure be fun to buy them when I fall in love with special pieces.

Also, like some others have said, it's not important to me to have nice dinners. I'd rather save that money to go toward clothes or makeup.

 

[Girl About Town]

I only have bits and pieces, it mostly comes from birthdays, sales and saving up. It's all absolutely treasured. I can't afford the likes of Chanel and designer bags, but I have a lovely Anya Hindmarch purse, an Alice by Temperley top, things like that.

 

[FASHIONLOVA]

well high end designers definitly don t mean style. u can have style by wearing low end or any vintage pieces. style depends on u not on how much u paid that item that u probably can barely afford.
there are tons of bloggers out there who make it seam like u can only reach that by having an all designer wardrobe when it s really not the case.

for every sea of shoes, life in travel, fashion toast ... i d like to see bloggers who have style by wearing only affordable and vintage pieces. now that would be real creativity

 

[xing]

^I don't know... I havent found a blogger whose style I appreciate(ie. not overtly hipsterish/crazy/dirtylooking/unsuitable for day wear) that doesn't mix in some big ticket items.

I think those are quite hard to fine. Sure, there are bloggers out there with a more "down to earth" wardrobe in that they're not wearing designer or vintage designer from head to toe ala seaofshoes but they do have big ticket items like bags or shoes. I don't think $1000 and up bags, even when paired with $2 clothes, even when used a million times, are considered affordable. At least not to a lot of the students crowd.

In fact, i think anything more than $300 for an entire outfit is seriously pushing it. And I'm talking about wardrobe staples. Things you can probably wear for at least a good year or 2 before having to replace them, not on trendier items.

I think another thing to take note is that second hand/vintage items pretty much depends on where you live. Not every place has good/affordable second hands clothings and depending on the country you live in, it might even be hard to find a store. Also, in my country, places like topshop, mango, zara and even forever21 are considered expensive. they jack up the price quite a bit and you factor in exchange rate, and they're not that affordable any more.

 

[KhaoticKharma]

Let's start again, shall we? We are not here to criticize other members and how they choose to live their lives.

The question is simply ... how do some people afford it?

Simple answer in 3 parts: Some people (or their families) have the money and choose to spend it. Some do not have the money, but they put it on credit and overextend themselves. And some save for a long time to be able to afford it.

Oh .. and some get it as gifts (we all should be so lucky).

I think this post sums up the entire thread quite nicely.

I'm a college student, and I was discussing with a rather stylish classmate not long ago, when your a student you simply have to prioritize.

I myself was not born with a silver spoon, so my entire wardrobe consists of lots of "low end" fast fashion (Target, H&M, Forever 21) mixed in with crazy outlet shopping (I am a HUGE Marshalls/TJ Maxx fan) and TONS of thrift store finds ($3 dollar Guess shorts, $4 BCBG dresses, $5 Betsey Johnson slipdresses, that sort of thing). In fact, I would say that thrift stores are my number one destination, and the major source of the few contemporary designer items I own. I've recently joined a few sample sale sites (ideeli, Haute Look, Rue La La) which are fabulous, and I definitely hope to utilize them to the fullest once I'm out of school and (hopefully) making a nice amount of money. When it comes to bags, I'm pretty shameless about knockoffs; in the area I live in, no one is going to be able to tell the difference between a fake LV or a real one, and honestly, the bags themselves have become so ubiquitous because of the fakes that they no longer hold luxury cache. If you can't beat 'em...


I guess the "moral" of all this is that ultimately, if you do not have the luxury of being able to acquire whatever you want whenever you want it (and you're not willing to ruin your credit in the name of fashion), you usually have to chose between quality and quantity.

 

[SlovesNY]

Well everybody here recommends Ebay,
but although I have 2 or 3 pieces I bought on Ebay I can't say I find great pieces a lot, almost never to be honest
but maybe my searching techniques aren't what they should/could be

 

[quimby]

^ I've honed my eBay searching now that I rely on it so much.

I have many saved searches on eBay that I get emailed to me daily, usually of brands I'm familiar with so that I know how things will fit. You can set search parameters within particular price ranges, too.

I also sign up for mailing lists on websites that I like shopping from so that I can be notified of sales when they happen. I also sign up at savvycircle and some other websites to get notified when some bookmarked item goes on sale.

Basically, I'm always deal hunting. But admittedly, I do spend a good chunk of change on clothes.

 

[YoninahAliza]

I am just a poor student at the moment, however I do earn a little from my part time job. Right now all the money I earn goes into my account for a vacation I am saving up for instead of spending it on clothes. Honestly, I wish I could buy all these wonderful designers however it is just not in my budget right now. Though I have been lucky and scored one or two "designer" items I tend to shop at Target, H&M, online, and local stores in my town. Besides, just because you have 20 designer bags doesn't mean you have style. Style is what you do when you are faced with limited resources.

 

[*Jibrielle*]

In my case, I work and save money from my paychecks so when I really want a designer item I already have money saved up for it in other cases my parents either lend me the money or buy it for me

 

[thestylehive]

When I bought my first designer handbag back in 2006, I remember living on packet soup for three weeks because I got paid monthly. Looking back, it was really silly but I guess I wanted it so bad that I was willing to compromise.

These are some of the things I do to afford quality designer goods:

- Change my screensaver at work of the item I'm lusting over, do extreme amounts of overtime.
- Sell items I no longer use online.
- Layby (Lay-away in the US?) I've done this with my Margiela sunnies. This works differently from store to store but in Zambesi (Wellington, New Zealand) - they require a 30% deposit and the balance can be paid over six weeks. If the staff see you coming in every payday religiously, you can ask for an extension)
- And of course, second hand shopping. I've been very fortunate to have picked up vintage Chanel and Givenchy bags at my local Salvation Army.

 

[eternitygoddess]

I've heard a lot of people mentioning in this thread "high-paying job".

What exactly is the range of salary to be considered "high-paying" and to allow one to comfortably afford several designer items?

 

[thejarc]

I'd say 3500€ without children.

I have to save every penny I have. But I have to admit, that I spend every single one of it on high-fashion clothing.

 

[eternitygoddess]

^$3500 A Month?

 

[thejarc]

That's what I could imagine. I know people who earn less and buy a lot of expensive technological things. So if you don't want to buy Balmain stuff every month you could afford some nice designer pieces.

And I was talking about Euros. That would make about 4400$ today at 8:16pm GMT.

 

[Legyviel]

^ 3500 euros. Which is a lot...