Question:
I buy a mixture of designer clothes and chainstore clothes. I only fork out the $$$ if i feel i will be able to wear the peice for many many seasons (i love classic stuff). Plus you can still sell it later if you dont like it. I agree with the fact that designer clothes aren't neccesarily the best quality. i dont spend so much on trend items.
I prefer to spend money on handbags! (my downfall ) I save up for ages and buy beautiful peices that go with many items in my closet.
As for what i think about designer handbags. Well why would you buy a blatant copy??
I hope i dont offend anyone but
if it is to look cool/ to fit in with the crowd - then fakes usually make people look like fashion faux pas/ wannabes (and i'm quite surprised at how many girls and even guys - who don't buy designer stuff- can tell the difference between the fake)
If it is to look rich - well buying a fake doesnt really help with that...
If it is for quality- again... the real thing is sooo much better (and you can tell by the touch the feel, the strong thick stitching, the hardware, the leather, the smell). In fact when i wear my chloe down the street i get girls staring at it, because there is actually a HUGE difference (which i didn't even realise till i bought it) between the fakes and the real thing.
If it is because you just like the design - well i agree with blackroseinbloom why don't you buy an inspired one from witchery etc (which doesn't blatantly have someone elses brand across it). There's nothing wrong with that - it will still be of good quality and last a few years instead of falling apart. Plus you won't end up looking like a faux pas!
I can't understand why some girls spend $200 and upto $600 on fake items. Don't they realise that they can still get very very beautiful peices of clothing/handbags/shoes which may not be designer, but which are of very good quality and will last ages.

Answer:
Speaking of prices/quality I found these shoes for $40 yesterday and the exact SAME pair for $120 at another 'higher market shop" not designer, but I was so shocked!
Re; designer, I only buy it if it's high quality, unique and I can afford it. Otherwise, if it's around everywhere I will buy the fake.

Answer:
^^ I so agree with you Erdeva.
I buy designers for many reasons:
- Quality of fit, cut and fabric
- I'm very small and most chain stores in Australia don't sell my size in clothes or shoes
- I keep my clothes for a long time and expect them to last (I have shoes from the late 80s I still wear and clothes from the late 80s early 90s that I'm wearing again)
- I can't bear cheap fabrics, especially those cheap jersey knits that go bobbly after a couple of wearings.
- I'm a real believer in quality not quantity

Answer:
If i could find peices that are original (i.e. not the same as what every other store stocks) and beautiful and stocked in chain stores i would buy them, but I find it hard to. I also like nice/good fabric and I would never buy, i.e. Alice McCall, because I don't think the fabric/workmanship justifies the price.
And I can never find good copies...

Answer:
The closest I've come to buying designer is stuff by Alice McCall and Zimmermann etc, so I can't really answer this question with "I buy it for quality"
When I go out shopping I don't have a "I'm going to buy something designer" attitude. If it jumps out at me I'll buy it, regardless of the brand. That being said, I tend to spend more on dresses and jeans because I live in these items. With things like tops, I get sick of them very, very quickly so I baulk at the thought of spending more than $40 on them.

Answer:
I know mine is real...and usually i can tell.
I don't really buy things for myself in the hopes that other people will be in awe. You'll find designer brands are better quality, too eg. gucci always double stitches.
I take of my expensive stuff, too which is good dicipline. Like i haven't replaced my wallet in so long because i no longer load it up with discount cards...
I agree that if i do buy copies they not like...LV bags from hong kong its more like the same design of shoe but from a different label. Eg i bought my christian louboutin copies from shoo biz and another pair by tony bianco. They're still good quality, good materials, but i didnt fork out a whole lot for them!

Answer:
I love designer and chain stores...
My work wear is mostly from cue, seduce and witchery due to their fabrics and longetivity (<---might be spelled wrong) of their clothes
Basic t-shirts etc I will go to target or kmart supre etc
Shoes and bags I don't mind to spend money on designer as I buy timeless pieces that I can wear for years

Answer:
i admit it - i only buy designer stuff for the label.

Answer:
ive only recently started going for designer piececs.... i never used to even think twice about going to those sections in myer, david jones etc, mainly cause of money and i figured i could get three or four things at sportsgirl instead. NOw (sorry if i offend) but i really don't like sportsgirl, bardot,just jeans and places along those lines - they all have the same things and i see so many girls wearing the pieces.
Since i've been more on vogue i've started looking more online and realised the choice of georgous designer wear out there! the past few weeks i've got myself two beautiful dresses, one from scanlan and theodore and the other from Valorie Talosca - these don't even compare to anything i've seen in chain stores,,, the cut, fabric and overall design of the dresses! i love them! and they are classic pieces i will hopefully wear for years

Answer:
I don't own many clothes but I like to buy something with great fit, cut, material and unique... also most of the time I buy clothes that I know I will still want to wear at least 5 years down the road... I buy sensible pieces and colours... some trend based pieces I will still buy if they reflect my personality... such as 60s shaped dresses (because I love that era not just the fashion but everything else, so I know that I will still wear them even when they're not "in" anymore)...
I don't snub chainstores at all... I get a lot of basic staples from Country Road, Target, Zara, etc... but for special pieces I usually would rather not buy the copies if I can afford the real thing because of quality and fit... some designers like Alice McCall or Arabella Ramsay I don't think they're worth the price so really I don't think it matters whether you buy the copies or the real thing...