Balenciaga BANKRUPT

If you've ever read my previous attempts at a blog, you will have most likely seen this before.

Clearly I don't spend enough time writing so I reuse old stories. Haha

I know the references may be out of date now, but enjoy while I prepare some newer writing.

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We’ve all dreamt of our

designer filled wardrobe

without a piece of Target

in sight.

Emma ****** finds out if

the dream is worth it.

You walk into your flash city apartment carrying

the latest Chloe Paddington bag and flip through

your letters. There’s one from your credit card

company that stands out. Gulping you rip it open

too see the word CANCELLED in big bold letters.

Across the road another woman walks in holding

the same style bag from Witchery for about $2000

less than you paid.

Same style, both leather and the only difference is

she isn’t in debt.

Millions of women save up for months to afford a

Chanel bag, Prada wallet or Louis Vuitton diary.

Why do we spend thousands of dollars every day on

an item that will be in stores just months later?

I was on the Vogue forums a few months ago

reading a post about the Prada Turban (as seen on

Ashley Olsen). One woman said “I’m going to wait

and buy it in a chain store in a few months,

everywhere will have it. And at half the price...”

I scoffed at people who said they were going to

spend $400+ on the headband and instead decided

to get crafty and make my own. I knew I was never

going to get around to it but it would keep me happy

until they came into chain stores. Finally, while in

Chapel Street I saw my first glimpse of the

headband in Sportsgirl for $9.95. I decided to wait

so I could keep my options open for when I see

them pop up in other shops. About a week later I

went into Witchery and saw a variation of the

headband in 3 colours. I decided to splurge and buy

it for $10.

To face the truth, however heart-wrenching

and cruel it is, the closest a lot of us will ever get to

a celebrity item is buying a skinny caramel

macchiato in the largest size from Starbucks. If you

live the high life with Chanel, Hermes and

Valentino hand in hand then your going to stop

thinking a $300 Lover dress is expensive. That’s

when you need to realise you’ve started retail

therapy for your retail therapy.

One of my biggest problems is attachment. I see

Nicole Richie in the gorgeous Chanel dress and

search high and low for a copy. Weeks and weeks

go by, sometimes even months until I see it. It hides

itself at first but you know it’s out there. I go

straight up to the counter and buy it. If it doesn’t fit,

we can make it. Now, what would have happened if

I had gone straight over to Chanel and ordered it in?

Except for being a few $1000’s shorter in my purse,

I would have felt regret and disappointment when I

walk into that shop and see the copy of my fancy

dress.

Now imagine being an employee at a high

fashion boutique. It’s the end of season and you

have to get rid of all last-season stock. Instead of

taking it to a factory outlet or something similar,

you burn it.

That’s right, stand there and watch that $10,000

dress that you have been lusting over for months,

but know you could never afford, go up in flames.

That’s couture for you. I’m not stating

every upper-end fashion brand does it,

but word has gone around that some

companies, who want to stay exclusively

to people that can afford it, would

actually burn their clothes rather than sell

them at a cheaper

price or give them

to charity.

Coco Chanel once

said “I love

luxury. And

luxury lies not in

richness and ornateness

but in the absence of

vulgarity. Vulgarity is

the ugliest word in our

language. I stay in the game

to fight it.”

Well, tough luck ladies because, while this is a

lovely speech, if you want the luxuries Coco can give

you then you’re going to have to have a few dollars in the bank.

Lucky for us there’s always the rare

occasion where fashionistas go mad over a Stella

item at Target. But if we're realistic, there’s no quality,

feeling or anything quite like walking down 5th

avenue in a real McCartney trench coat.

Then there’s the next level, the crunch of couture

and the bite of 13cm heels that you can’t stand in,

let alone walk. That’s where Anna Wintour comes

in and Sass & Bide becomes the new Savers.

For some of us it’s hard to believe

that people can afford these items,

but, while we roam around town

wearing the new season Alice McCall

dress, which we think is designer, and

to be fair to Alice, it is, there are

people also wandering around town in

the latest S/S 07 Chanel suit, and that,

is high fashion.

Do you think it’s worth it? Surely

style is skin deep; the brand is just a

dab of foundation. So why not blow

your credit card and find out, sometimes even that

paper bag with the little ribbon on the handle is

enough to make you feel like the fashion spread in

Vogue. Or you could head down to David Jones and

buy almost the same item for a ¼ of the price.

Sorry, no paper bags included.