Who wears Designer Ready to Wear?

[Anonymous]

Perhaps this falls under Money/Finance.

I have lots of money, and I like designer things, but I cannot bring myself to buy designer RTW that is so outrageously priced. I understand people buying shoes, handbags, watches, jewelry, belts and a couple sweaters or a special item, things that will last years. I have a few things myself. But who is out there buying all the constant collections from Louis Vuitton, Chanel, YSL, Ballenciaga, Botegga, Celine, Dior (all the stores at the Galleria) - where each piece is thousands of dollars. I just got an ad for Louis Vuitton's new winter shearling collection including designer Uggs and Neverfulls with fur on them. Who buys all this stuff - and how much is your income (and can you adopt me)? Even the Instagrammers and "RichTok Girlies" I follow seem weary of the skyhigh prices and constant new but tired collections out there lately. I don't see any DC workplaces where most of this would be normal. And this is the demure stuff, not the outlandish styles that might work in LA or somewhere tropical. Are the billionaires really spending $200,000+ a year at Chanel, because it doesn't seem like the regular HNW people are. Do yo know people who drop this much on designers?

[Anonymous]

I live in the Midwest.

We have an upscale mall that has a Neiman Marcus and a Saks.

Some hypotheses for you:

Wives of executives making in the $1M+ range

Pro athletes, their wives, girlfriends, and hangers on (piece by piece if necessary). This is who will buy the $900 Moncler toddler parka.

Splurge one-time outfit buyers...particularly for dresses priced at <$1,000.

[Anonymous]

This is oddly specific but every time I see a pic of Amy Baier (Bret's wife) in the parties section of Washingtonian, she's in noticeably designer clothes. So, I guess women like that, whose spouses make a shit ton of money but they don't work in a normal office.

[Anonymous]

I'm French. In Paris, women who buy their entire seasonal wardrobe exclusively at the haute couture designers like Dior and Chanel are often the wives and mistresses of Middle Eastern sheiks and magnates, the wives and girlfriends of Russian oligarchs, and the wives and mistresses of Asian billionaires. They wear them in their daily life, when having friends over, or getting-together with equally wealthy friends. It is a level of sartorial focus that a lot of billionaires of American and western European extraction just aren't interested in, even if they have the same level of wealth.

I assume it has something to do with patriarchal societies and how women in these locales perceive each other. They have higher beauty standards to maintain and must look their best at all times: their best also meaning a certain attention to cosmetic modifications, and runway and cultural trends. For the men, it manifests itself more in collecting the latest vehicles and electronic gadgets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm French. In Paris, women who buy their entire seasonal wardrobe exclusively at the haute couture designers like Dior and Chanel are often the wives and mistresses of Middle Eastern sheiks and magnates, the wives and girlfriends of Russian oligarchs, and the wives and mistresses of Asian billionaires. They wear them in their daily life, when having friends over, or getting-together with equally wealthy friends. It is a level of sartorial focus that a lot of billionaires of American and western European extraction just aren't interested in, even if they have the same level of wealth.

I assume it has something to do with patriarchal societies and how women in these locales perceive each other. They have higher beauty standards to maintain and must look their best at all times: their best also meaning a certain attention to cosmetic modifications, and runway and cultural trends. For the men, it manifests itself more in collecting the latest vehicles and electronic gadgets.

I have been in these circles and agree completely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm French. In Paris, women who buy their entire seasonal wardrobe exclusively at the haute couture designers like Dior and Chanel are often the wives and mistresses of Middle Eastern sheiks and magnates, the wives and girlfriends of Russian oligarchs, and the wives and mistresses of Asian billionaires. They wear them in their daily life, when having friends over, or getting-together with equally wealthy friends. It is a level of sartorial focus that a lot of billionaires of American and western European extraction just aren't interested in, even if they have the same level of wealth.

I assume it has something to do with patriarchal societies and how women in these locales perceive each other. They have higher beauty standards to maintain and must look their best at all times: their best also meaning a certain attention to cosmetic modifications, and runway and cultural trends. For the men, it manifests itself more in collecting the latest vehicles and electronic gadgets.

I have been in these circles and agree completely.

But that doesn't answer who is buying them in Northern Virginia.

I agree with the OP - i am fascinated by stores like these existing in areas like DC that don't really have that same vibe as Paris.

To the people saying "oh if your DH makes $1m as an exec, then that's who".

Because i'm a woman who makes well over $1m. And my husband makes another $1m. And I couldn't bring myself to buy stuff at that price point, and i'm not cheap. And i'm not going to events or even know of events in DC where stuff like this would make sense to own.

[Anonymous]

Anecdotally from being a habitual shopper in NYC, those designer flagship stores and the super-high-end floors of Bergdorf, Saks, etc. are empty. My guess is that they make most of their money from accessories that have broader appeal and only produce small batches of apparel (that they mark up insanely like the rest of it). I will splurge on a coat or dress here and there (and perhaps more pairs of shoes than I'd like to admit), but that's about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm French. In Paris, women who buy their entire seasonal wardrobe exclusively at the haute couture designers like Dior and Chanel are often the wives and mistresses of Middle Eastern sheiks and magnates, the wives and girlfriends of Russian oligarchs, and the wives and mistresses of Asian billionaires. They wear them in their daily life, when having friends over, or getting-together with equally wealthy friends. It is a level of sartorial focus that a lot of billionaires of American and western European extraction just aren't interested in, even if they have the same level of wealth.

I assume it has something to do with patriarchal societies and how women in these locales perceive each other. They have higher beauty standards to maintain and must look their best at all times: their best also meaning a certain attention to cosmetic modifications, and runway and cultural trends. For the men, it manifests itself more in collecting the latest vehicles and electronic gadgets.

Lots at asian and middle eastern wealthy families in Potomac, Great Falls, the huge homes out river road, etc. Plus women who shop at Tyson’s II, etc when traveling to dc if their home cities abroad don’t provide as easy access. I think it’s just a different cultural aesthetic and modes of displaying wealth.

I have been in these circles and agree completely.

But that doesn't answer who is buying them in Northern Virginia.

I agree with the OP - i am fascinated by stores like these existing in areas like DC that don't really have that same vibe as Paris.

To the people saying "oh if your DH makes $1m as an exec, then that's who".

Because i'm a woman who makes well over $1m. And my husband makes another $1m. And I couldn't bring myself to buy stuff at that price point, and i'm not cheap. And i'm not going to events or even know of events in DC where stuff like this would make sense to own.

[Anonymous]

2 points- Jacob Elordi was complimented on his bag collection, and he was like, I could never afford this, or buy it in my own- they send this stuff to me!! So yeah I think it's mistresses of oligarchs/ Middle eastern Russian and Chinese oligarchs and their families.

its not people who "earn" money who are buying this stuff and the entertainers that you see get it for free. that is why they wear Rag and bone etc.. b/c that is what they actually pay for. The stores are all loss leaders- they are part of their advertising and the people who buy this stuff dont actually have any style- they need advertisements and someone to tell them what to buy, they dont have stylists etc.. normally. like the Arab kids at Georgetown/hopkins- they want to buy a pair of pants- someone like us will be like ill go to j crew- they will automatically go to a designer store, someone lower down on the SE scale will be like I'll go to target. but even then, the store don't make any money- they are there as ads and to keep the brands in the public eye. People who are into "fashion" buy small labels mixed with some major work by design houses run by real talent who come up with something fresh once in a while.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm French. In Paris, women who buy their entire seasonal wardrobe exclusively at the haute couture designers like Dior and Chanel are often the wives and mistresses of Middle Eastern sheiks and magnates, the wives and girlfriends of Russian oligarchs, and the wives and mistresses of Asian billionaires. They wear them in their daily life, when having friends over, or getting-together with equally wealthy friends. It is a level of sartorial focus that a lot of billionaires of American and western European extraction just aren't interested in, even if they have the same level of wealth.

I assume it has something to do with patriarchal societies and how women in these locales perceive each other. They have higher beauty standards to maintain and must look their best at all times: their best also meaning a certain attention to cosmetic modifications, and runway and cultural trends. For the men, it manifests itself more in collecting the latest vehicles and electronic gadgets.

I have been in these circles and agree completely.

+1. You see this stark contrast in places like Naples FL. The foreign $ is dressed in full coordinating designer all the time whereas the American WASP $ is borderline frump.

[Anonymous]

I went shopping last month with a good friend of mine. We don't talk fashion at all and had not been shopping together in years (we usually work out together so Lululemon type gear) and she casually spent thousands and thousands on a bag and shoes in a couple hours. I had NO idea she 1. had all this money 2. spent it on expensive items (the shoes were around 900/pair!!) She's not someone showy and the items did not have big labels on them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in the Midwest.

We have an upscale mall that has a Neiman Marcus and a Saks.

Some hypotheses for you:

Wives of executives making in the $1M+ range

Pro athletes, their wives, girlfriends, and hangers on (piece by piece if necessary). This is who will buy the $900 Moncler toddler parka.

Splurge one-time outfit buyers...particularly for dresses priced at <$1,000.

This is not a forum for the midwest. Bye.

$1m is not rich here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in the Midwest.

We have an upscale mall that has a Neiman Marcus and a Saks.

Some hypotheses for you:

Wives of executives making in the $1M+ range

Pro athletes, their wives, girlfriends, and hangers on (piece by piece if necessary). This is who will buy the $900 Moncler toddler parka.

Splurge one-time outfit buyers...particularly for dresses priced at <$1,000.

This is not a forum for the midwest. Bye.

😫

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of rich middle eastern people in NOVA, even visitors will go shopping and buy some branded stuff. A friend of mine had a wealthy visitor from the middle east and she went out and bought absurdly expensive stuff and felt she got a steal because it would be even more expensive or hard to find in the middle east.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went shopping last month with a good friend of mine. We don't talk fashion at all and had not been shopping together in years (we usually work out together so Lululemon type gear) and she casually spent thousands and thousands on a bag and shoes in a couple hours. I had NO idea she 1. had all this money 2. spent it on expensive items (the shoes were around 900/pair!!) She's not someone showy and the items did not have big labels on them.

Probably family $ or spouse is in an illicit field so they can’t be showy with the house & stuff the IRS monitors.