Spotlight

I have never been much of a fashionista. My oldest daughter, however, is very interested in what clothes are popular and fashionable, so I’m trying to pay a bit more attention to the topic. I’ve also noticed that in most Chick Lit novels, the characters have wonderful clothes, shoes, and handbags. Of course, in my fantasy I might have lovely things, but what’s the attraction of paying that much money for something so utilitarian? Let’s focus on the handbags: Is it worth it to spend over $4,000 for a Fendi bag? Or is a $20 discount bag just fine?

First, the Fendi Hobo Bag. The prices range from $200 to $900. I can get a hobo bag at Marshalls or TJ Maxx for about $20. What is it that makes the Fendi bags better? Is it better materials, or better seamwork, or just a nice tag? Sadly, no one appears to be willing to send the Gaggle of Girls some Fendi bags to test, but I am willing to put out a guess that it is all 3 - though the price is still high. My $20 hobo bag didn’t last very long. I’m betting that the Fendi Hobo Bag is made with higher quality materials and that the seamwork is better in general and around zippers and fastenings so that it will last longer. However, I’m willing to bet that there’s still quite a markup for the Fendi name!

The Fendi Spy Bag is a cool bag - secret compartments are wonderful, they bring out the little kid in me! I don’t care if they’re only coin purses hidden somewhere, they are still secret compartments! If we check out the Fendi Spy Bags we find using The Find, the knock-offs are $40-$60. The real Fendi bags are $1,000 to over $4,000. Yikes. I like secret compartments and cool purses, but not quite that much. I can see paying around $100 for higher quality work, but $4,000? Not in my budget, so I’ll be grateful for knock-offs!

Finally, there’s the Fendi Tote. I have several tote bags, and love them. In fact, Santa brought me a wonderful Australian Cattle Dog tote bag. However, we are back to the $20-$50 range for me, while the Fendi range seems to be $500-$1400. There’s a really cool sparkly silver Fendi Tote which I would love to have - I’ll admit that I haven’t found anything that cool when I was looking for a new bag!

After looking at the different Fendi bags, I am willing to admit that they create unique bags that appear to be very well made with high quality materials. That doesn’t change the fact that they are out of my budget, but after really looking at the bags (rather than simply dismissing them as being too fashionable for me), I’m starting to understand why people love them. I may have to check out eBay … Now if only I could understand the attraction of $600 high heels…

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