What price “Green”?
My recent post over at free!grechen got me thinking, how high is too high? How much is just too much to pay for vegan boots, or an organic cotton top? I’ve written extensively on this subject already, mainly in support of the idea that eco-friendly doesn’t necessarily mean wallet UN-friendly, but some of these ethical/”green” designers aren’t making this an easy position to hold!
Case in point…
These are handmade hemp fabric/faux leather shoes by Sui Generis, and exclusive line from UK Vegetarian shoes designer Beyond Skin, and are $619 at Endless.com.
Granted, these are handmade and limited run, so the price will reflect that. But only up to a point, in my opinion. Also, the exchange rate doesn’t work well in our (the US) favor at the moment, but I’m still thinking that $400 would even be too much for me to pay for these shoes.
The “regular” vegan shoe line by Beyond Skin is very reasonably priced though, these are $238.61 USD retail price (on sale now for $120 USD), and they’re also made from hemp fabric and faux leather. Is the fact that the other shoe is handmade worth nearly three times the price? I think these are pretty cute and much more versatile than the shoes above.
I’m not trying to compare apples to oranges, or deny designers the prerogative to set a certain value on their products; I understand economies of scale, and the premium placed on exclusive goods, but I have to draw the line somewhere. And more than $600 for fabric/faux leather shoes is about $300 over that line. Especially since I know there are lots of very cute vegan shoe options out there for that price range from Cri de Coeur, B Boheme, and Olsen Haus.
And believe me, I know from what I speak. Several years ago, I purchased two handbags for more than $1,000 and will not do it again. I loved the bags, but don’t think I’ll ever get more than $1,000 worth of value from them. I think my handbag price limit now is about $500 – I realize that’s very high for some, but to me, it’s reasonable (as long as it fits in my budget). And I have several bags in that price range of the highest quality – certainly on par with the quality of the $1,000+ bags. So, I know that I don’t need to spend more than $500 to get a very nice bag.
I’ve also have a pair of vegan Stella McCartney sandals that I purchased at full-price – which I think was a little over $300? So not worth it, it’s not even funny. They were nice, but I didn’t get a good cost-per-wear from them, and haven’t worn them in 2 years. (they’re in pristine condition actually, look for a giveaway this Spring!)
I can only speak for myself, and to the value that I place on things and therefore what I’m willing to spend on them. BUT…I do think that many designers recently, took advantage of the eco-friendly fashion movement to charge a little more for organic cotton, bamboo, or hemp clothing because of the perceived exclusivity, and feel-good factor. And we as consumers gave into that the last couple of years. I do think that now, because of market forces, items that are artificially inflated price-wise will either naturally come down in price, or disappear altogether in favor of more affordable & accessible options in the next year or so. Already, Stella McCartney’s Organic pieces I featured in a previous article are on sale at Barney’s for LESS THAN A QUARTER of their original retail price. I would argue, that is where the price needed to be in the first place…but Stella doesn’t listen to me 
So, what do you think? Would you pay more than $600 for a pair of vegan shoes? for ANY pair of shoes? How do you determine where your limit is? chime in please!!
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7 Responses to “What price “Green”?”
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I totally agree with you that vegan companies seem to be capitalizing on the “exclusivity” of their products. What’s funny is that, now that it’s a fashion statement, it should be seen as a more common thing, and prices should go down.
Back to your question: I’ve never spent more than $300 on any pair of shoes! I’m not sure what it is about this number, but it’s my threshold. I don’t own a single pair of vegan shoes, but if I did the same rule would apply.
Of course, I hope that someday I can save enough money to buy a pair of Christian Louboutin stilettos!
Anna, aka “ShoeSmitten”’s last blog post..Sorel “Pakua” Boot Review
i used to have a 10 dollar rule–everything, except shoes, had to cost 10 dollars or less. this meant lots of thrift/vintage shopping. so i have never understood the whole designer thing & paying serious money for clothes/accessories.
that said, i love creativity & craftiness. if something has an awesome design element, with features that are truly inventive–not something i could have recreated–i would pay for that. but stella mccartney’s overpriced puffy blouses don’t seem all that original and the eco fabrics cannot possibly be as expensive to warrant their original OR sale price tag! it does however, have her name on it. that must be what you’re paying for.
now with places like forever 21 ripping off designs, the kids can shop for designer duds at cheaper prices. sure, the stuff is what i call “disposabale clothing” , but they’re in fashion damn it, and that’s what is important…sigh.
the most i’ve paid for footwear is 150 USD. and it was a pair of boots, they were on sale. within a month, the ankle strap fell off. the company said i could send them back, but that style was no longer being produced. if their experts decided i deserved a new pair, they would send me something they deemed “equivalent”. i felt totally screwed.
my motto: $$$$ is not better.
lenny’s last blog post..designer series: pinng online invitations
I personally have never spent more than $100 on a pair of shoes. Not because I haven’t wanted to, but because I simply didn’t have that much disposable income in my budget. I would pay more than that for vegan shoes or shoes that are otherwise sustainably made, but I can’t see spending more than about $300, even if I was rich. That kind of excess is hard to justify with my eco-friendly ideals. The most expensive purse in my collection is the $250 Mat & Nat purse I won in your giveaway a few months ago, so I’ve never been an overspender in that department either. But I would pay more for a high-quality bag that would last me a lifetime assuming it was within my budget. But $500 or 600 is about as high as I would go.
As with anything, I understand that there are luxury and exclusive items. Personally, I’d rather spend a couple hundred dollars buying shoes or a purse from a small, independent shop that from Stella McCartney. But that’s just my opinion.
Jennae @ Green Your Decor’s last blog post..Simply Artistic: Wool Accent Pillows by modernwool
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I agree that designers are pricing out of range- eco friendly clothing will cost more because it is fair wage and higher priced fabrics, but to charge $600 for any pair of shoes is totally a rip off in my opinion. These shoes don’t cost near that much to manufacture and in the economical down turn, the designers will have to come down on rpice or nothing is going to be bought.
From experience of having an organic clothing store there are two factors in pricing I have seen discussed extensively – one bussiniess owners want to keep the price high in order to make customers think their product truely is organic & quality (this is not somethig i ever agreed with) … or, price below the suggested retail price so that people can actually afford it. I made a personal rule to not carry anything over $200 because I felt this is out of the range of most normal people’s budget and why sohuld anyone spend more then that on clothing? Organic & eco clothing is slightly higher priced, because of what goes into it – but I don’t think it’s cool for any reason to charge tons of money for one bag, shirt, or shoes.
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