Some of you may know I've been dabbling in handbags for over 20 years now. When I first started, luxury bags by high end designers were aspirational. The "it" bag in 2005 was the Chloe Paddington and the price was $1380. The Balenciaga City was priced at $1195. The smaller first style was $995. Fast forward 20 years later and the prices are just insane. It's hard for me to come up with a premium designer bag that's under $2000 right now.
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Balenciaga 2005 Indigo City $1295
Balenciaga 2005 Teal First $995
Balenciaga reissued the city bag for their 20th anniversary and the price has more than doubled what it was. Not only has the price gone up significantly, the quality of the leather feels awful. I went to the store to check it out and it feels plasticky. It does not have the same vibe as the original version.
I just googled the price of a Louis Vuitton Speedy 25 and it retails for $1940. Sure, it now comes with a crossbody strap, but when I first started buying designer bags in 2005, the Speedy 25 was $540. That is a huge price jump. Even calculating for inflation, a Speedy 25 would be equal to $900 today. On top of this, the quality has gone down so much that I see posts on reddit all the time complaining about LV's quality control. They're so focused on pumping out bags to make their quarterly earnings that their customer service and quality has declined so much that you might wonder is it even worth spending your hard earned dollars on a bag that looks like it's made by an amateur.
This is just one example that I've seen. The motifs are not lined up and the hem is completely crooked. This bag retails for over $2000.
My 2004 Speedy 30
You could say, well what about buying preowned luxury bags? I've been buying preowned bags before online consignment shops were around. My first LV bag was my Speedy 30. I still have it and I paid $400 for her in 2006. It was barely used, in amazing condition and this was when it was still under $600 retail. If I could save a couple of hundred bucks, I would go the pre-owned route. Why not? If I were to buy one in similar condition from Fashionphile today, they are asking $30 under retail, which is no fun at all. You might as well buy it new at that price. Even preowned prices have gone crazy in the last few years.
So, what does a bag connoisseur do with ever rising prices and declining quality? I've gone the super vintage route, where I snagged some bags from early aughts for cheap. Timing is literally everything. I was lucky to grab a few Chloe Paddington bags a couple of years ago before they announced the 20th anniversary reissue for a few hundred dollars each. The same thing happened with the Fendi Spy bag. I did snag a 1980s Dior Boston bag recently for $700. I'll have a review coming soon.
I personally no longer think the prices for luxury brand handbags are worth it. Obviously, if you have a ton of disposable income and never worry about how much you have in your bank account, the rising prices for luxury bags aren't going to stop you. I know my raises have not matched the rate of Chanel price increases. The Chanel classic flap is now over $11,000. I know you're all going to be sick of this when I say back in 2005, I bought my first Chanel reissue for $1800. I know, crazy right???
I'm taking a step back from premium luxury bags. I think I had one hell of a good run for the last 20 years. Going forward I'll be looking to discover affordable luxury brands. Popular brands that fall into this category are Coach, Polène, and Songmont to name a few. I want to discover more brands out there that fall under the $1000 price range. I've already explored Go Forth Goods quite a bit, I'll be covering Fount more. I'm curious to try Parker Thatch's heritage leather.
That said, I still have premium bags in my collection that I haven't posted reviews yet, so for a little while you'll still see a mix of both until I run out. I'll end my Ted Talk here. Hope you all have a wonderful start to a brand new week!
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