I'm not a huge fashion aficionado, but I like nice things and often times the things I like happen to be designer product. When the opportunity arises, I will from time to time splurge on something I think is well made and absolutely stunning. In other words, I'm not someone who buys a product just because of a brand name. A while back I decided to spend around $300 on a Michael Kors wallet. I never thought that this wallet was "worth" that much, but it was honestly one of the only wallets that I found and liked because it had all of the key components that I was looking for. Looking the other way, I slid my credit card and never looked back. I was thrilled with my investment....for about a week. Within a week the "silver" plating on the front of the wallet began chipping which made it obvious that this was nothing more than scraps spray painted to look like Sterling Silver. I was outraged when I realized that he can't even spend probably 50 cents more to put a higher quality metal on the front of the wallet, which by the way has his name ironically engraved into it. Although I was upset, I decided that maybe it was a fluke and continued to appreciate Kors as a designer, but to a far less degree. One day I stumbled upon some of his shoes that I fell "in love" with. I bought them because they were greatly reduced so I thought I'd give him a second chance. I was wrong to do so. After wearing the shoes one night, I noticed that the inner lining was peeling off before my eyes and from then on it would be very difficult and slippery to walk in those shoes. It was then I began to suspect that beautiful designs and terrible craftsmanship were the norm for Mr. Kors, and haven't bought a single product of his since. 

In life you are taught to generally expect to "get what you pay for." This rule applies in most situations, and with designer product I expect quality because ESPECIALLY in times when a customer spends so much on a product that clearly is marked up far beyond its face value without the label, I would think said designers would use only the best methods and products to create their merchandise. Slapping 'Michael Kors' on a product should not make something valuable, and I would have liked to think that he stood behind his products more than he apparently does. I'm not naming myself blameless for buying the shoes, though. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.