Become a Member
Life

Affordable arm candy

November 9, 2011 10:53

ByJan Shure, Jan Shure

2 min read

If you are the accessories editor of In-Style or Vogue, or the handbag buyer for Browns or Net-a-Porter, you will, I concede, be instantly able to identify every "It" bag on the planet - from an Anya Hindmarch to a Zagliani, and everything in between.

For the rest of us, however, the proliferation of "It" bags over the last decade has made it impossible to know whether that glossy, tan baby hooked on the arm of the very stylish woman in Miller Harris in Bruton Street cost the same as a small Korean-made car or merely a couple of hundred quid in Reiss (or even less in River Island or Zara).

Which is really good news because, with the price of designer bags having now reached totally bonkers levels, there is a need for most of us in the real world (especially those of us who are not celebs being "gifted" the latest designer bag so that we can be photographed carrying it), to find stylish, beautiful alternatives that do not instantly announce themselves as cheap copies.

If you haven't noticed how prices have gone skyward, let me remind you: while a hefty £650 bagged you 2007's hottest piece of arm candy, the going rate in 2011 is a ruinous £1,500 to £2,000, with even diffusion (i.e. designers' "cheaper") ranges now hitting the £600 mark