“PEOPLE KNOW HOW TO BUY LABELS, BUT THEY DO NOT KNOW HOW TO BUY LUXURY”

  This will be short and sweet: people… DO NOT buy fakes! I mean really the number of times I have come across people wearing fake bags, shoes, watches and more, I have always thought to myself what the purpose of this, is. I have time and time again alluded to the fact that luxury is about comfort, and without it, it does not exist. Well luxury is also about reality, and without it, it does not exist. Now, one of the main objectives of my starting Lifestylepop was to break down the barriers of the luxury lifestyle that has somehow become a commodity which sells a fake perspective and appeal to the raw reality. So, of course, when it comes to actual physical products, a fake to me is not only a waste of money and time but is truthfully degrading for the consumer themselves.

Now, the fake products and the seller (which is what most media outlets focus on) do not interest me. The buyer is my main concern. If there was no market for something, there wouldn’t really be a product. Of course, there may be (and is) a mother of 5 out there working as a housekeeper (or other pink-collar job), who does not know the first thing about fashion or brands, nor their logos, who purchased a fake LV bag at a bazaar without even realizing it is a fake ‘anything’. This category of buyers is not the ones I am after. It is the hot young girls and boys who live a perfectly comfortable life (at least comfortable enough to have time for instagram), running around restaurants ordering a coffee and sitting there for hours just to add the location to their post – yes this is faking too but there might be somewhat understandable motive including meeting new people, or being seen at a certain location – networking – if you will. You know the whole ‘fake it till you make it’ – that I can wrap my head around. What I don’t for the life of me understand is the plastic Birkin planted on the chair next to the given person, or worse an acrylic Audemars Piguet watch on the wrist of another. And the worst – the looks they will shoot at people walking past glancing at the given item (the Birkin/AP) or goodness me, a waiter spills something on that fake piece – the reaction will immediately be “do you know what that cost?!!” – well not much.

This is not a ‘hate’ article. I genuinely cannot understand the purpose of a fake product and more over, want to elaborate on the fact that contrary to what many will have you believe it does not give status to the user; most people worthwhile enough, that anybody would want to score “brownie points” with wearing that fake exclusive item, will not even notice it, or give it little attention.

 When buying an expensive item normally one is paying for the quality. So, purchasing a fake Chanel 2.55 or Hermes Kelly bag (especially a cheap fake) is hardly a well-crafted piece. Now, if unable to purchase a bag that retails for 7-9k (oh the shame…), is it not a better and I might add a smarter investment to purchase a piece that is cheaper, at whatever price range one can afford yet still possess the quality of a well-crafted designer item?? Now, that is buying luxury. Even if it is not carrying an uber luxury brand name, it is made at the standard of a medium level luxury brand or even a contemporary brand. For example, if unable to purchase a Prada or Balenciaga bag, is it not worthwhile to go for a Mulberry bag for the simple reason that it is still of a similar standard but with a lighter price tag? Or other alternatives at prices one can afford. Fuck it, go for a smaller brand with 200euros a pop!  But purchasing a fake Chanel bag or other big fashion brand for the simple reason of appearing, as if you can afford it, is baffling as it doesn’t give you anything more than just that. It is not even an item you can potentially sell, if need be, without breaking the law.

  Even if everyone around thinks you are wearing Dior or Hermes, you know that you aren’t, you haven’t bought luxury, what does it give the buyer? One of the big issues is people know how to buy labels, but they do not know how to buy luxury. It’s like that saying, “you can take the boy out of the village, but you cannot take the village out of the boy”, the same way you can have money, but it doesn’t mean you know how to spend it.

  Learning to buy luxury is not as simple as having money, first you must have a certain standard. This applies to all the sectors of the luxury commodities, whether it is food or travel or beauty and of course fashion. Quality does not always go with the highest price tag, in fact often you can find high standard services and products for affordable prices. The concept may be hard to understand for some, but luxury does not mean staying at the most expensive or the ‘best’ hotel or eating at the hottest and most popular restaurant. It is about the quality you are receiving for the money you are spending. And when it comes to FASHION, this is of utmost importance. Would you go to Cipriani and eat a rat dish that looks like chicken just for the appearance that you ate at Cipriani? Of course, not… you would go to a cheaper restaurant and eat chicken for half the price of that at Cipriani… well it is pretty similar to wearing a fake Birkin bag. Even if nobody knows the meat in your plate is rat, you still ate a rat. Even if nobody notices your bag is fake, you’re still wearing a fake. The most unfortunate twist in all this, is that most people (especially the ones you are trying to impress) don’t care. A woman with a massive collection of Chanel bags is not going to think any more of you just because you are wearing a 2.55, the same way a man with an impressive watch collection is not going to think any higher of another guy wearing a Richard Mille, but what would impress him or her is a less “expensive” but unique piece that you may even know a thing or two about.

  This is not an article to bash anyone, and the allure of owning certain items is even more so amplified by certain publications (the one you are currently reading included), and numerous Instagram pages publicizing unattainable goods for the 99.9% of the population. But the entire point of Lifestylepop is not to create demand and desire for the items you see on here, but to give genuine opinions, ideas and truthful (to our knowledge) information and even alternatives on what we are very well acquainted with. Luxury lifestyle. Trust me, it does not begin with luxury goods or items.