A note to Q, I am a grown woman.

[holmca]

Somebody has just tweeted that they have 2300 kiplings - I dont believe it! How could anyone possibly have that amount, really !!!
Lots of hilarity this evening (10pm hour) with a monkey called Derek!!! Oh dear!

I use to be a member of the Kip Com group on FB, but there was so much bitching about other members that I left. Also there seemed to be a lot of competition on who has the most bags. Ms S (not sure if I can mention people's names on here) had the most and is probably around 1000 now, but I think other people message in with huge numbers and they may not be telling the truth. As Ms S was the biggest collector Kipling named a monkey after her (normally its just the members of staff) and I think this is why there is competition.

I could say I have 10,000 bags, but who is going to arrive at my house to count them and prove me wrong?

 

[Ballerina]

Not a fan of Kipling because of the monkeys. I am not keen on monkeys, they have always creeped me out but I don't know why. I wouldn't want to hurt one but I steer clear of them. I know it takes all sorts to make this world go round and I keep pet rats which really freaks plenty of people I know out but I adore them!

The naming of the monkeys on the bags is all OTT and sometimes they put far too much emphasis on the monkey than the bag quality. I had a peek at some Kipling in Macy's last year and bought one for my best friend who is a fan, I noticed her bag was getting tired, so as it was December I got her one as a Xmas gift. They look practical (lots of zip compartments which I like) but I really prefer nice leather bags, so I didn't buy one. Plus I didn't want a monkey!

Inge x

 

[Weathergirl]

Not too fussed with the monkeys on the bags, used to remove them and sell them but now keep them on. I have one as a keyring that has my daughter's name. The bag is long gone but I loved the name when I saw it.....and yes It was on the monkey on the bag I was carrying at the time!!!! My son loves monkeys but ever since a visit to Longleat me and hubby not too keen as bits of our car were "removed".

 

[spartacus]

I always remove the monkeys, I'm not into any kind of 'charm' or keyring on a bag. I find it a little odd to see an older person out and about with a fluffy monkey dangling off their bag; I can't even offload them on my young niece anymore, as a teen she's outgrown them. Personally I'd rather Kipling offered the monkeys as an optional extra paid for by those that want them.

 

[Sazza]

I use to be a member of the Kip Com group on FB, but there was so much bitching about other members that I left. Also there seemed to be a lot of competition on who has the most bags. Ms S (not sure if I can mention people's names on here) had the most and is probably around 1000 now, but I think other people message in with huge numbers and they may not be telling the truth. As Ms S was the biggest collector Kipling named a monkey after her (normally its just the members of staff) and I think this is why there is competition.

I could say I have 10,000 bags, but who is going to arrive at my house to count them and prove me wrong?

It is over 900 bags now and over 1000 when you add in the accessories etc..think I heard it mentioned in yesterday's show if wasn't then it was previous show.

 

[louise66]

How many bags.....

......does one girl need? I find it incredulous, that there are kipling connoisseurs out there, in possession of between 1 and 2 thousand pieces! If you take £40 as the average cost per piece (considering bags and purses), this would buy a small house. No way could you use them all or, at least, it would take you so long that, when new styles come out, the real kipling addicts will buy those, and the ones already owned will go to the back of the wardrobe! It would grieve me, adding up just how much I had spent on bags; I think LG is overpriced but, because of that, you are not going to have a thousand of them. Whilst I can understand people who like to have the latest LG offering, they won't buy every one she brings out.
I feel with kipling - I have 4, I believe - many are enamoured by the cute little monkey; perhaps the name is relevant. Then there are those who remove it. I remember when I was breeding boxers, one of them got hold of a monkey, and chewed it!
I bet when the presenters read these tweets out about how many bags people have, they are thinking the same : have these idiots got nothing better to do with their money? Buying more than one needs, just because, is understandable - one can spend one's cash how one pleases - but purchasing bags which will never be used is plain stupid. Do these people live inn mansions, and are known to the hoi polloi by their first name alone? I don't think they would consider it a privilege or 'a la me' to have kipling.
Kipling and QVC must be rubbing their greasy little hands together. BUt, realistically, why shouldn't they profit from people who have money to burn, or just don't know the value of money, or how to budget?

 

[thatu]

I feel sorry for these people. Okay, get various colours if you like spicing up your wardrobe with accessories, but 1,000? You have a problem - and don't QVC and Kipling just know how to feed off it. I know business is business and all that, but there's something immoral about flogging to an addict, whatever the addiction.

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

I would be the first to admit I like my handbags, although not big into Kipling as I only have 2 and not that fussed really, but the other day they were selling Decleor 8 piece mask which would be £52 every 8 weeks and of course that was on top of all other makeup and creams etc and I thought gosh that would end up an expensive regime' and I know Decleor is not the most expensive brand by a long chalk

.maybe the big Kipling collectors do not spend much on beauty. If it is your own money and you are not keeping anyone short spend it as you like I say. Mind you whether on not I would actually want a conversation with a mega collector is another matter!!

 

[holmca]

Collecting Kiplings is a hobby, like collecting stamps, beer mats etc. If it gives people pleasure, where is the harm?

 

[Snowstorm]

It really is up to folks how they spend their money. Seems a tad patronising to say you feel 'sorry' for people that spend their money as they wish. I am a Kipling fan. I don't have hundreds but have a fair few in different colours and shapes. They are fabulous and very practical. I don't think I am sad. Horses for courses!

 

[thatu]

I've got a dozen or so but I've had a few more that I've sold because they sat in the cupboard without being used, so were a pointless buy except that like a lot of others, I enjoyed owning them at the time, could afford to buy and nobody starved in the process, and it was my money. But I do feel sorry for people who are sucked in by the sales patter into buying hundreds of any one item, not just Kipling bags, whether they can afford them or not, and there may well be those that can't afford them but still buy. QVC and Kipling don't discriminate about whether anyone can afford to buy or not till the cheque bounces* - they're there to sell, sell, sell. I just don't like the selling tactic of getting people to phone in to say how many hundreds they have and encouraging compulsive purchasing. Discouraging addictive shopping isn't being patronizing.
*figure of speech

 

[Snowstorm]

Sales patter is everywhere. Folks make their choices. Whether they choose to buy lots to add to a collection or just buy on a whim is their choice. Therefore making assumptions about people and what they chose to buy as 'sad' comes across to me as patronising. However, I recognise that this is indeed, my opinion.

 

[Caroleanne]

I use to be a member of the Kip Com group on FB, but there was so much bitching about other members that I left. Also there seemed to be a lot of competition on who has the most bags. Ms S (not sure if I can mention people's names on here) had the most and is probably around 1000 now, but I think other people message in with huge numbers and they may not be telling the truth. As Ms S was the biggest collector Kipling named a monkey after her (normally its just the members of staff) and I think this is why there is competition.

I could say I have 10,000 bags, but who is going to arrive at my house to count them and prove me wrong?

I`m sure on a recent show they said someone phoned in and said they had 950 ...they must have big houses that`s all I can say , I wouldn`t have room for them!! ..or the occasions to use them all !!

 

[Weathergirl]

I love kipling bags and own 8 (but 4 of them are Defea's). I have 1 Fossil, 1 Mulberry and 1 Tignanello plus my everyday M & S slouchy manmade one. I don't buy them for the names or the monkeys, it's the utilitarian organisation I like. I tend to go for neutral or sludgy colours rather than bright. I do think that having hundreds of kipling bags (or indeed hundreds of anything) is an obscene waste, for something that is made from cheap nylon.

 

[thatu]

Therefore making assumptions about people and what they chose to buy as 'sad' comes across to me as patronising. However, I recognise that this is indeed, my opinion.

You've completely misunderstood what I'm talking about. What people choose to buy isn't sad. People make their own choices and that is right. What is sad is being so gullible as to be conned into thinking that you need to keep up with people who have bought x hundred unnecessary (in terms of use and in terms of money) items of whatever nature. QVC are feeding off people who are susceptible to the sort of sales patter that extols the number of items you want. I've said that I have several Kipling bags but I've had more and on some of those items I was sucked in by the sales patter. That was sad. Thankfully I'm over that now and buy only in moderation and not from QVC.

 

[louise66]

Collecting Kiplings is a hobby, like collecting stamps, beer mats etc. If it gives people pleasure, where is the harm?

I agree, holmca, if you can accept spending over the top on handbags, but not to the extent of a couple of thousand pieces. And, of course, as long as it is not to the detriment of the wellbeing of others, or deprivation of said parties.
Personally, and I am in the finance sector, I could not justify spending huge amounts of money on fashion. I always recall, when my fiancé and I bought our first house, any spare cash we had went into home improvement/upgrading, in preference to holidays; As we bred boxers, that was no hardship, as we would never put them in kennels.
As I have said before, the bottom line is, we earn our money and can, therefore, spend it in whatever way we deem suitable for us. People's priorities are different. Life needs to be lived; to enjoy life, one needs to be happy. If buying handbags, or tablets, or digital cameras fills a gap, and allows us to feel happier and more fulfilled, then that's the path to take.
Strokes and folks, methinks.

 

[jaydeen]

I'm inclined to disagree with you on that one. l doubt if 'younger' people would be seen dead in qvc fashion - and I don't think Nina Leonard would quite cut the mustard with them. I wonder how many of the younger production staff behind the camera actually wear qvc fashion ????

I am 41 and I wouldn't wear anything I have seen on qvc. The only thing I got close to that is a pair of birkinstocks but never clothes. I think qvc seem to think as soon as a woman hits 40 she must want to dress in flowery dresses or frumpy tops. No offence to anyone who likes those things. I don't try and dress like a teenager either, but the clothes on qvc seem a little old fashioned to me. I am sure they can't all be like that, but the ones I have seen were. Not to mention, they are so overpriced. I am sure the presenters and models only wear the clothes on air for sales, I bet they don't wear them off air in their own free time.

 

[holmca]

I am 41 and I wouldn't wear anything I have seen on qvc. The only thing I got close to that is a pair of birkinstocks but never clothes. I think qvc seem to think as soon as a woman hits 40 she must want to dress in flowery dresses or frumpy tops. No offence to anyone who likes those things. I don't try and dress like a teenager either, but the clothes on qvc seem a little old fashioned to me. I am sure they can't all be like that, but the ones I have seen were. Not to mention, they are so overpriced. I am sure the presenters and models only wear the clothes on air for sales, I bet they don't wear them off air in their own free time.

Well its all to do with individual taste. I am close to 60 and wouldn't ever be seen dead in Birkinstocks, (Granny sandles - no insult to Grannies) but love Kim & Co. clothes and Diane Gilman Jeans. I have never worn a frumpy top in my life. If you are wondering why I buy, well here is the reason. Firstly its a good 2 hour drive for me to get to any decent shops (Nice), so if I bought something and didn't like it, thats 8 hours driving in total to take it back. Secondly the Latin people are small, especially the women and as I am 5'8" with long arms and legs its virtually impossible to find something that I like and fits as well. Women's shoes over a size 40 (7) don't exist here (my mother is 5'4" and takes a 7.5). So for me the "C" is the most important thing with QVC.

I love bright colours which is why I love Kim & Co, and if I manage to find a bright coloured top here it quickly fades in the sun. When I peg my washing out on the line in the Summer I have to make sure that it is all inside out as after a few times it will fade. With Kim's clothes the colour doesn't fade and I have tops over 3 years old.

Keep an open mind, you might just surprise yourself.

 

[Snowstorm]

Funny thread thread this has turned out to be. I have Diane G jeans, ronni dresses, some of the older Tiana B dresses (not as keen on her newer stuff) oh and a couple of Kim wrap tops which are fab. I don't dress like a teen but I don't dress like an oap either. Having said that what's considered old and frumpy these days? I have no idea! I also have no idea what a 30, 40 or 50 something is supposed to dress like either these days. The boundaries have changed which I think is great!

 

[jaydeen]

Well its all to do with individual taste. I am close to 60 and wouldn't ever be seen dead in Birkinstocks, (Granny sandles - no insult to Grannies) but love Kim & Co. clothes and Diane Gilman Jeans. I have never worn a frumpy top in my life. If you are wondering why I buy, well here is the reason. Firstly its a good 2 hour drive for me to get to any decent shops (Nice), so if I bought something and didn't like it, thats 8 hours driving in total to take it back. Secondly the Latin people are small, especially the women and as I am 5'8" with long arms and legs its virtually impossible to find something that I like and fits as well. Women's shoes over a size 40 (7) don't exist here (my mother is 5'4" and takes a 7.5). So for me the "C" is the most important thing with QVC.

I love bright colours which is why I love Kim & Co, and if I manage to find a bright coloured top here it quickly fades in the sun. When I peg my washing out on the line in the Summer I have to make sure that it is all inside out as after a few times it will fade. With Kim's clothes the colour doesn't fade and I have tops over 3 years old.

Keep an open mind, you might just surprise yourself.

Each to their own. I feel the same way about Kim and Co has you do about Birkenstocks.