I got the coat!! When I first tried it on a couple of months ago, the saleslady said it would definitely sell at full price. Well, I waited her out and got it for 30% off. I feel good about the purchase and expect the coat to last me for the rest of my life.

F.

PICS! PICS!

Good for you, ENJOY!

Whooo hooo!! I'd also love to see!

Good Deal! Been wondering what you decided about that coat . . .

How is everything else going?

Wow! Do you earn a million dollars per year? Or have a spouse who does?

F.

Thanks for asking. Our **big drama** has settled down. Now it's just a question of waiting for a resolution. (The timing's out of our control.) Otherwise, things are going well.

F.

Funny thing is, I have a similar answer to Oneten (re: how much I would pay), but my criteria are very different, because I have a distaste for designer labels. I don't mind buying designer, but I specifically avoid things with the designer's name all over them.

I am willing to pay a lot for quality, even if it means saving up for half a year. So if I fell in love with a coat, and it was, say, a really nice full-grain leather that I knew would last generations, I would pay a lot for it. $1000 wouldn't make me bat an eye (although it might take me a year to save it, and granted, by then the coat might be gone unless they did layaway).

I'm currently saving up for these linen sheets for that exact reason. I want sheets that will last forever, and always keep me cool and comfortable.

This is because I like permanent solutions to problems. And in the long run, it's usually a lot cheaper to solve problems permanently even if the up-front cost is high.

That said, I'm not fashion-focussed at all. So if you're someone who wants to have lots of coat choices in your closet, instead of one really amazing coat, then you'd probably be better off having ten $80 coats rather than one $800 coat.

I'm a techno-Neanderthal (don't own a smart phone) and my hubby's smart phone recently died, so it may be a while before I can post pics.

F.

To me, quality and designer are not the same thing. Some of the highest quality items I own are not designer at all (the sheets I'm saving for are a prime example), and some designer items are not high quality.

Mind you, you could argue what "designer" means. I assumed you were talking about high-end name-brand stuff that sells based on the name on the tag, not based on its inherent worth. The examples you gave (Burberry and Givenchy) are both iconic name brands which sell for prices far higher than the exact same quality item would if sold by a lesser known brand.

Yes, you get what you pay for, but that becomes less and less true as the prices jump higher and higher. I'm not spending $30,000 on a handbag, personally. The quality is simply not that much higher.

Actually, I came up with a better example:

I'm probably having a suit custom tailored (bespoke) for my husband next year. This will not only be to our exact specifications with high quality materials and workmanship, and perfectly fitted to his body by someone who's been tailoring suits for decades - it will also cost significantly less than if we purchased a suit of similar quality from a designer brand, and had it fitted to him (which I believe they do "free of charge").

So, there's an example of quality that's not designer... and costs far less.

As a side note, I don't mean to say there's anything wrong with liking designer things. I'm just explaining how I define my preferences differently. I have no problem with designer items and usually they're high quality. Often they're worth the price to me. All I meant to say was that the label doesn't have an effect on me, personally. I'm not trendy, for starters! You probably look a lot sharper than me when you go out, Oneten.

Wow faoira, posting links to products is dangerous. I've been so tired of our sheets for various reasons, but spent a while yesterday looking at those linen ones and decided to place an order!

freelancemomma, try to get us a pic soon

Uh oh.... am I officially a bad influence now?
I'll be jealously following up to ask how you like them.