It's okay, alphagamzetagam. I'm a born and bred 'burger myself :) I should have specified that my sister doesn't know her Cucci from her Goach :)

Aww sad. I guess it depends on what neighborhood you live in but I saw designer stuff all over the place. And my Furla got more compliments than any other accessory I had.

My uncle owned a restaurant for years. There was a ladies trench coat that no one claimed from the coat check for a long time, so he asked several of his waitresses if theywanted it. The coat was too small for everyone else, so he brought it over to my house. The label --- Burberry. This was back inthe 80s, before knock offs were mass produced. I wore the coat for years and finally donated it when it looked "dated".

Where is your mother shopping?!?! I need to go to that goodwill.

I have a few crazy cool real bags that I've gotten very cheap: 1) Burberry tote from the ChiO MSN list 6 years ago... it was free! 2)very real, new, beautiful Marc Jacobs bag that I got from my roommate's cousin's gay brother who works at Saks. 3) new Bulga bag, (I unwittingly talked the lady down in price at the beverly center!).

oh please, if u saw the goodwill she got it out of...we only went in there looking for clothes for a family our church adopted. i dont know how that coat got there lol!

I know what you mean. My sis-in-law is a bargain shopping queen! She gets all kinds of designer clothes from Goodwill and consignment shops. She even scored a pair of $300 jeans for my niece for only $15. It's a gift that only a few are blessed with.

Love it---I worked at the Burberry store on Michigan Avenue in Chicago on weekends one Christmas holiday in the mid 80's (second job). We got the plaid kilts to wear, along with the pleated tuxedo-front shirts. When we were done, we got to keep the shirts. How strange--I never go downtown anymore, but we went past it & the other stores just last night and my husband asked me, "Didn't you work there for awhile?" I also worked at the Gucci shop for several months, which is how I got the position at Burberry's. Working at Marshall Field's (almost "The real Field's" - it had already begun to change somewhat) for several years helped alot in retail.

My take on designer bags:

a) Most of them are ugly to me. I buy bags that look good.
b)The point of a designer bag in most cases is to say "I am rich. I can afford this." So if you can't, really, what's the point?

I buy for my body. If it looks good, classy, and cute I'm buying it. Fashion is fun from an artistic standpoint, but I don't feel the need to blow a paycheck on a brand name.

I think their point is so that they can pretend like they can afford it. :confused:

If you're blowing a paycheck on any type of luxury item you're not too smart actually.

I'm big on buying what you can afford (no fakes though). There are people who think you're nuts to spend over $20 on any handbag so it's all subjective imo.

TTT...How I spent my Black Friday looking at Goachs
 

I was in Atlanta for the Thanksgiving holiday. My mother, who has developed a love for Goachs, wanted to go to a warehouse/flea market place to find some Goachs and other fake bags. This is one of the places her secretary (the one who hooked her up with the Goach in the first place) goes and gets her bags.

We went down to Metropolitan Avenue to the first place. They had a lot of people selling Goachs and other fake bags. Some of they were trying to sell them for $25-$35. I did have a eye on a fake LV, but it was the wrong color and decided against buying it. Most of the bags I saw were obviously fake. We left empty handed.

Then we went to another store near Greenbriar Mall, but they didn't have that many bags. They did have some Goach boots. My mother tried them on (and they were in her size) and they did not fit. I tried not to laugh.

I can kind of understand if someone has a fake LV, Chanel, etc. BUT THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR A FAKE COACH OR DOONEY. You can always find them a a decent price, if you look hard enough. My mother kept saying she wanted to go to see the Goachs, but I told her we can go to Lenox Square and get the real ones.

/\/\ Mama NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :(

On another note...

I have one more bag to purchase and then ...(holds back tears) I am putting myself on a handbag ban. I have bought wayyyy to many bags this year and I need to rethink my collection and get rid of some. So until I get down to the essentials, its no more bags for me. :(

You can send some to me! :D

Send some to me too!!!!

This reminds me that I may need to get my mom a COACH for Christmas.

If you have a Dillard's in your area, Coach purses are 30% off - they're not discounted online, but they are in the store!