As a fashion girl who loves all things clothing, shoes, bags, jewelry, fragrance, skin care, and makeup, I have a hefty appreciation for luxury, regardless of if it’s out of the reach of my budget or not. Luxury fashion items command my attention just as much as more affordable quality fashion pieces. If its well-made and beautiful, I love and appreciate it. My fondness and draw to mid to high end luxury pieces is never deterred based on price nor whether if fits within my personal style. High quality materials being crafted to form a fashion piece is an artform to me and the bonus is to be able to wear that work of art.
Knowing the point of view that I have concerning luxury fashion, you know that I have a wishlist. There are many things that I could put on this list, but I do not want that list to look like a CVS receipt, so I have thought about what most makes my fashion senses tingle. I would say that this wishlist is made up of what I am most passionate about and have the greatest desire for.
My luxury wish list begins with a highly beloved fashion item, shoes! I wish that luxury designer brands were more size inclusive with their shoes. When I shop sales, preloved and at outlets there always seems to be several size 5, 5.5 & 6 available. When I see this, I always wonder why the brand doesn’t recognize and decide that the unsold small sized shoes could best mitigated by making more size US 11 and larger shoes. The customer that would buy these sized shoes do exist. We are here and waiting with our credit cards.
I wish that the toe box of these shoes was a bit wider or that a few more half sizes are produced to accommodate those with a wider foot. We come in so many different sizes as people and it would serve customers well to have less shoes that hurt. Shoe width is often the real culprit the higher the heel, when it comes to comfortability.
The lack of uniformity within a brand from shoe style to the next with regards to sizing is frustrating as well. I wish that there was better quality control at the manufacturing level to assure that if I am a US 11.5 in a boot that I would absolutely be able to fit a US 11.5 sling back from the same designer brand.
Next up on my wish list is handbags. Handbags made of canvas materials didn’t used to cost as much and certainly not more than those made of quality leather. This practice is no more and steering away from reasonably priced fashion is offensive and downright inconsiderate. The ramped use of low-quality leather as opposed to full grain and top grain leathers is seen time and time again. The prices of the same pieces have only unwarrantedly risen year after year. Gold plating has been replaced by just using brass or a treated metal. Brands that previously used solid or hollowed gold for their hardware fabrication have also regressed to using 14k gold plating but have significantly increased their handbag prices. Brands are essentially creating dups of their own handbags with high end prices attached. This practice has in turn increased demand for vintage handbags to new heights.
We have seen many high end fashion brands brough up in legal filings and negative press coverage that have highlighted and exposed quality not matching up with price increases by margin. I wish this wasn’t so because it tells me that profits are being put far above brand validity and customer loyalty. If luxury brands continue down this path, will they lose credibility over time at a level that they may not be able to effectively correct? If the luxury brands continue to see the profits they aim for, is the customer an accomplice to their own disrespect? Will the prices of fast fashion and affordable brands follow suit and throw brand integrity aside to be purely for capitalism? Clearly, I have questions, and it looks like that only time has the answers.
Let’s talk clothing, with the invasion of quiet luxury and with many influencers and celebrities that boarded this train, fashion got a bit boring. Creativity was lacking and innovation was scarce this past year. For me, fashion is a form of expression and wearable art. Building an outfit is like gathering and arranging media used to create artwork and when they come together a completed painting or sculpture is the result. But with fashion the complete artwork is wearable and makes you feel and look good. I love fashion for the permeability to express personal style. Everyone has their own point of view and creative minds that can be expressed using fashion pieces to present their personality or to emote a feeling.
As with shoes, uniformity in sizing of a garment is an issue within luxury brands. I have come across this issue many times with affordable brands and fast fashion pieces, but I do not expect such an issue among a luxury brand considering the manufactures that these brands have access to. The cut of garments at the manufacturing level is lacking and can make shopping tiresome when it should be an enjoyable experience.
Quality fabrics and fabrication techniques season to season are not indicative of the price tag attached. Polyurethane garments shouldn’t cost $400 and more ever. It will peel and crack with the temperature changes from season to season is just throwing away money. This practice is done openly under the title of vegan leather and alleged environmental friendliness. Marketing is everything is it not!?
Slighting on fabric types, fabrication techniques and the lack of uniformity in sizing doesn’t separate a luxury designer brand from the fast fashion brands by much at all. Fast fashion carries a stigma of being environmentally unfit, and many turn their nose up at affordable fashion brands as they are considered lacking in quality. Yet luxury designer brands are stocking their flagship stores with massive amounts of garments when years ago there were only a limited range of styles and sizes carried in store. That is no more.
The last item on my luxury wish list is designer jewelry. There are countless gold-plated brass jewelry pieces sold at upwards of $1500 is diabolical. Plated brass is the very definition of costume jewelry, and I am still trying to understand how so many fall prey to this or maybe they have the money to burn. I will never understand intentionally wasting money because there are so many quality jewelry pieces to buy, which can be passed down within your family.
The lack of creativity in luxury jewelry is enough to lull a person to sleep right after waking up from the slumber quiet luxury will send you into. I love a good statement piece because it is an expression of the designer’s creative mind and a showcase of the fabricator’s craftsmanship. Statement pieces fit well with in my personal style as I tend to gravitate towards mixing the expected with the unexpected. This balance of the two is a direct representation of my personality and who I am. A jewelry piece should be worth the price tag if I am going to invest in something that will be used to express who I am and emote my feelings.
In summation, luxury has always been something marketed to the elite consumer group because designers want their pieces in the right rooms and pictured in the right publications for brand validity and association. The right association adds to the brand’s identity and creates demand with a targeted audience which usually is devoid of diversity. The downside of the long-standing practice is the exclusion of smaller demographics that still could fit within the target audience thus blocking the expansion of that elite consumer group through diversity. I am all for moving away from this executionary practice but with sustained quality throughout the life of the brand. Since the price tags no longer match the quality of an item, these exclusionary practices are of minute. They only server as is a direct slap to the face of a brands loyal customers. So, the last question that I am seeking answers to would be, will this downward trend on quality coupled with the upward leaps in pricing eventually kill luxury or will luxury just take on a cheapened meaning?
