Louis Vuitton, WTF?

Yeah, I've seen fake LV bags being sold in Taiwan for hella cheap. I've never actually seen teens or anyone in their twentys carry them around, however middle-aged women and their mothers love 'em.

Actually, my wife (born in Korea, but luckily atypical Korean) assures me that most LV bags you see being worn by 20 something girls in Seoul are the real product. Fakes are so ubiquitous that everyone knows how to spot one, and therefore they wouldn't dare to own a fake. Instead they'll save for months to buy one. This is fine, because the custom is to live with your parents and not to own a car, or have any other costs, so all money can go on fashion and cosmetic surgery.

Originally Posted by indesertum

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Well I talked to one vietnamese woman and she said her bag was bought at some LV boutique in hong kong. Her husband is some bossman.

But I guess most of it's fake. I dunno it's just almost incomprehensible that some LV monogram automatically makes people feel that their status is higher. -_-; I wonder if there's some studies out there about LV bags.

depends where you are if it's fake. obviously the further away from saigon you are it's fake. where you at?

either way, hit up m@t on this fourm for a great time. dude showed me a ******* great time when my friends and I were in saigon this summer. birthday party with models everywhere, FREE DRINKS ALL AROUND, ******* balla.

Originally Posted by hypnos123

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Are you one of those idealistic premeds?

lol......

Do you buy polos and the like with logos? If you do, would you buy the same polo if it didn't have the logo? If no, then you see why the ladies want the LV bags.

There are bags of better/equal quality to LV, though most either haven't a conspicuous logo, or the logo isn't as readily identifiable by one's spectators ('Valentino' for example) which is why such bags aren't as popular among the wanna-be rich.

You can easily tell whether the bearer of an LV bag could actually afford it.. If her bag is LV and her jeans say 'Kirkland Signature', well... Suffice it to say the bearer has outdone herself! XD

lol who the **** here buys things for logos?

The funniest part is that you can pretty much guess the reason he bought APC jeans, despite his justifications. I've been thinking about the poverty thing and I think it might be.. 1) Something to feel good about owning, knowing that it is one of the most sought after, well made and prestigous items out there, it can make someone happy in the midst of troubled times. 2) As they are poor, it may be a way for them to pretend they are better off than they are not necesserally for the sake of their peers but to avoid the bitter truth of their state of being 3) Like men drink to temporarily alleviate themselves of the burdens of life, women may sometimes shop for the same reason, so whilst not the rule, an LV bag could occasionally be the manifest of someone shopping for relief.

lol who the **** here buys things for logos?

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I have T-shirts I bought because I liked the arrangement of their logos. *shrugs*

I don't avoid logos, neither do I try to show them off; their presence is neither here nor there.

Impossible to rely on a logo as an assertion of wealth, anyway - esp. considering how easily one can buy high-end clothing at thrift stores and EBAY (and here for that matter) for much less than retail. Yeah, that's a nice Brooks Brothers polo.. Looks just like the one I bought at a yard sale for $1. lol

As far as the bags go, again, the ladies buy them as an assertion/a pretense of status. Thing is, if everyone and his dog has an LV bag, what then represents the next step up? And if you bought it, would it matter?

lol. what a clusterfuck.

I've already said why I buy what clothes I buy. I like APCs because they're cheaper in the long run and they fit better (I used to buy GAP jeans every 4, 5 months or so because of crotch blow out, knee blow out, and so forth). I have a pair of repros that I bought because again I like items that are made by people who really put time and passion and knowledge into their products. I would buy more things made in the same mentality, but they tend to be really expensive. I try to buy items that I know the people who make it aren't treated like ****.

I'm sorry if I sounded offensive and if I offended people (will try and tone the language down and I guess I came off as hypocritical and self righteous), but I was kind of pissed off after seeing LV bags at a alum reunion dinner (at a balling ass hotel) a few hours after I witnessed what happened to the little girl. $2000 was the amount the clinic paid some family for their son's surgery and the family kept asking for more as it still wasn't enough. I've been thinking of ways to maybe fundraise to help the clinic out (they've been using this oldass Panasonic handicam hooked up to a gastric endoscope to take pictures and it went kaput a few days ago. They don't even have enough budget to afford another). Really like what Fok has been doing with the occasional fundraisers and I think it's a great idea.

I really like the mood and attitude on this board towards clothing and I think it's great how there's been a few startups based on this forum these past few years based on that attitude (Ande Whall, MJK, TOJ, Kent Wang, etc.).

It's not so much the high price of the items, it's what I thought was the unjustified high price of the items just for the sole sake of status (aka logo). I don't know if the bags I've seen are real, but I know a few women who "casually" slip how much they pay for it at the legit stores. I don't think repro denim and Vass shoes (I dunno about PS) are unjustified because I've seen how much work and thought goes into those products.

I will admit I turned out to be wrong thinking they were badly manufactured bags highly priced just for the logo and thank you for all the schooling.

I do travel as much as my budget allows me, many of my closest friends are girls, probably am an idealist, will read Road to Wigan Pire when I get back, haven't worn a polo since junior year high school, and thank you polyrock for the rec, but I'm at the other end of the country (I think) and I didn't leave time enough for a lot of travelling (basically just hanoi, maybe halong bay). Did not know m@t was in vietnam.

Had some of the best pho I've ever tasted (what in the world is tai nam) for $1.50 today. Really really good.

and thank you Tarmac for pointing that out. will do

The existence of Louis Vuitton carrying middle aged ladies who probably earn a fraction of what we here do comes down to a combination of living beyond their means and conspicuous consumption. Simply put, they buy the bags because they can't afford any other means of presenting themselves as successful. In China, South Korea, Japan et al only the well-off can afford a car let alone anything like a BMW (which is nominally upper-middle class in developed countries). Remember that these are just girls who want to look like they're more wealthy than they actually are, just like guys with entry-level Rolexes. These are after all, mostly war-torn nations that have just recently thrown off the shackles of immense poverty.

Originally Posted by indesertum

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I post on Styleforvm because a lot of people here have really good taste and I have a lot to learn. I come from this mentality that any item I buy should be worth its price in the production of the item itself.

I'm saying I can understand why Vicuna coats costs so much (high cost of manufacturing), but I had previously thought that it was merely the monogramming of the bag that allows LV to price their bags so highly. There's buying expensive things that have reason to be expensive and then there's buying expensive things just because they're expensive.

I don't know if you noticed, but in SF people would buy a Vicuna coat because they feel that the fabric is luxurious enough in hand and feel to warrant a cop. Not because it says BALLER all over it. I highly doubt most people would even that it's Vicuna or even that it's really expensive. Perhaps just that it looks really good on the person and fabric feels wonderfully soft.

This whole thread is a big

For a doctor-to-be (I'm assuming, maybe you are just bored tagging along in a third world medical clinic) you sure are dense.

Have you not heard of aspirational brands? People who are poor want to emulate the rich, it's always been that way.

The Asian culture is also much much more status-symbol oriented. It's as simple as that. Don't need to get your mind all warped trying to figure this out.

Give it a rest and go help the poor edematous peasant. Perhaps you can convice daddy to sponsor her or adopt her?

Originally Posted by Listi

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I don't care, it's fine, I've heard most of LV's stuff is pretty good quality and they have marketed their brand properly for the price etc. etc. it's nothing new or special.

What I do hate though is seeing someone walking down the street with expensive accessories and dressed in crap clothes.

Yeah your $2000 LV bag sure makes you look classy in dem sweatpants and crocs.

That may be YOUR interpretation.

I see it as "I'm so friggin rich that I can lounge around in sweatpants and still carry my iPhone in my LV bag, going to check out the latest LV offering"

While you poor soul/middle class white collar worker have to be in a suit/uniform.

Do you mean to say that's how they see it or is that how you really see it?

People in Korea and Vietnam can't afford Louis Vuitton bags and are carrying around fakes?

The bags most of these women (and men) are carrying around are coated PVC that costs somewhere between $600-800. Want to make a comparison? Check out the prices on some of the deeply discounted handbags produced by other luxury brand and designer labels: http://www.bluefly.com/Designer-Hand...nav-_-Category

Now of course the majority of the handbags at the link are made out of leather, and Louis Vuitton's leather bags go up into the $1500+ range, as well. But to think that a number of people in Seoul (I don't know where the hell aeglus lives) and wealthier areas in Vietnam can't drop the equivalent of $700 on an everyday, durable handbag that also carries a hefty status symbol would be flat out wrong. Hell, most of the gals whose parents own property in Gangnam have probably already sold off their limited edition Marc Jacobs x Louis Vuitton collab bag, and moved on to a Goyard shopper (traditional black and tan, as well as a pink one for summer) just for lounging around in Starbucks pretending to study for the iBT. For more special occasions (such as meeting dating mates), they bust out the Bottega Venetta and Chanel purses.

So for the idealistic med school student who one day will buy himself an SL-550 that'll be washed, waxed, and buffed by people who live ten to a one-room apartment in a part of the city he doesn't even know exists, please stop ******* whining, and go out and buy yourself a $650 pair of cordo Alden boots, so that next time you see a local girl in Vietnam with an LV Speedy bag, you can tell her how much of a baller YOU are.