Handbagista

Urban Outfitters is a prestigious name in retailing, but it wasn’t until last month that I learned about Anthropologie. If you haven’t heard, seen, or been in an Anthropologie store, you are missing an experience, I kid you not.

After visiting the store, I dug up some figures that shocked me. Here’s one that really left an impression: the typical Anthropologie shopper spends eighty minutes in the store per trip. Eighty — that’s 1 hour, 20 minutes on each visit. Can you guess how much time the typical shopper spends with other retailers? Fifteen minutes. That’s an incredible figure that should convey loads about the feel of the stores.

Anthropologie was founded to profit from patrons of the Urban Outfitters chain who outgrew UA’s fashions. As such, the target market for Anthropologie clothing is a 30 to 40′ish sophisticated woman with high discretionary income. Not a bad niche to target!

Ask ten women how they feel about Anthropologie and you’ll probably get . . . one opinion! Almost unanimously, people love the store, but aren’t crazy about the prices. Granted, they are steep, but for good reason. Anthropologie is very selective and exclusive with their fashion lines, and just about everything you find in a retail location is limited edition. Heck, they even have a good selection of one-of-a-kind items!

These items tend to fly off of the shelves, leaving mismatched items scattered about, but that leads to an opportunity for buyers: namely, sales racks. There are quite a few discounted items if you’re not against searching, which I’m sure contributes to the long shopping visits.

What I like most about Anthropologie clothes is the distinctive styling. Their clothes include a lot of floral prints, appliques, and velvets, but look elegant and sophisticated at the same time. The feeling that I get is that it’s a clothing line for confident women who aren’t compelled to reveal half of their bodies to look attractive. Touchdown, I’d say.

For anyone really looking for a bargain, you can find discount Anthropologie clothing online – not through the Anthropologie store, but through other retailers. I can’t imagine that these items are wholesale, and with the high turnover in clothing, I would doubt it’s made up of last season’s items either, but the price is right!

Bottom line: if you haven’t yet shopped in an Anthropologie store, determine if there’s one near you. It really is a great shopping experience. But beware of the prices!

written by Guest Writer

It is becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish authentic Gucci handbags from the forgeries, in part thanks to the fact that there are not as many distinguishing factors of authenticity. Forged Gucci purses and handbags are many times so good that one needs an authentic bag for comparison.

Protect yourself! It is easy to purchase discount Gucci bags that are actually authentic. Continue reading below for some general characteristics for comparison, and also some specific telltale signs that counterfeiters will use.

Dead Giveaways of Forged Gucci Handbags

1) One obvious sign (and an all-too-common one) is an inaccurate emblem on the face of the bag. Things to look out for are incorrect font sizes and letter spacing, (both as they relate to each other and to the entire tag), incorrectly spelled words, and capitalization mistakes. They do happen!

2) On monogrammed bags, look at the G’s. You’re looking for overall shape and symbol clarity. Fakes can have fatter G’s that begin to run like old tattoos.

3) Examine the colours on any potential purchase. Some fakes will have less vibrant, or even distressed hues, especially with the green and red webbing or lining.

4) Look at the durability of the materials. Like most handbags Italian, Gucci uses only the best Italian leather, fabric, and hardware in their items. Any bags with chipped, distressed, or flimsy-looking components are possibly counterfeit.

5) Examine the construction and overall craftsmanship of the bag. Stitching should be tight, neat, and even.

6) Many ads for counterfeits will still contain the word “authentic” somewhere, but almost ALL authentic ads will contain the word authentic. If “authentic” is missing, don’t purchase.

7) “Gucci Made in Italy” must be embossed in gold on some part of the handbag or strap. It could also say “Gucci Parfums.”

For Gucci wallets, the stripes MUST BE red and blue on a blue “GG” wallet, NOT red and green; and the type must be readable and straight, not running together or crooked.

9) The handbag handles on some counterfeits appear much thinner and longer than authentic Gucci purses.

10) Satchel bags come in brown and blue logo vinyl, trimmed with matching leather. They will always have a twill racing stripe somewhere on the satchel. Either down the middle and up the back, or as ribbons on each end of the handles. There will be a green and red stripe on the brown Gucci Accessory Collection bags and a blue and red stripe on the navy blue doctor bags in the G.A. Collection.

11) On current Gucci’s, if the tag is completely sqaured off at the bottom, it is a forgery. Gucci rounds the bottom two corners ever so slightly.

Keep this in mind: If it looks too good to be true, it probably is. But you can still find fashion handbags wholesale by connecting directly with sellers. Just know how to spot the fakes and always buy with your credit card!

written by Guest Writer