I was browsing through captions on various news sites when one headline caught my eye.
Dutch: “Ottelien (22) koopt liever Louis Vuitton-tas van duizend euro dan dat ze op vakantie gaat: peperdure luxe is hype onder jongeren.”
English: “Ottelien (22) prefers buying a thousand-euro Louis Vuitton bag over going on vacation: overpriced luxury is the latest hype among young people.”
Yes, you read that correctly. Today’s generation would rather burn their money on overpriced handbags, flashy watches, and other useless status junk than spend it on something that actually matters.
Hey, don’t get me wrong. We live in a free country, and what you buy with your own hard-earned money is entirely up to you. But that also means I get to have an opinion about it. Same rules apply.
Delusional?
To quote the famous Dr. Phil: “Are you delusional? Do you suffer from a mental illness? Do you think you have a mental illness?”
Seriously. A €1,000 handbag — which probably cost no more than €30 to produce in the first place. The rest? Pure logo inflation, topped off by the marketing department’s magic touch.
And guess what — they’re laughing their socks off, cashing in bonuses because they did their jobs right.
But here’s the real kicker: young adults fall for it. The very same generation struggling to pay rent, scraping by in a broken housing market, somehow convinced that an overpriced bag or watch is a must-have. Not because they actually need it, but because everyone else in their social feed has one.
Smoking
Designer bags are the new cigarettes
And yes, you read that correctly.
And that’s where the comparison with smoking hits home. Back in the day, cigarettes were sold as “cool.” Movie stars smoked, magazines ran glossy ads, and kids lit up to fit in. Nobody started smoking for rational reasons — it was social contagion.
Fast-forward to today: luxury handbags, watches, and sneakers are the new pack of smokes. They don’t improve your life, they don’t create real value. They’re just an expensive ticket into a fake club. A quick hit of status, a couple of likes, and then back to reality — still broke, still locked out of the housing market, still wondering where the money went.
At least smoking has been regulated.
Seriously?
Again: your money, your choice.
But still…
Seriously?
Why not spend that hard-earned cash on a holiday with friends, creating memories that actually last? Or save it, invest it in something defensive, and watch it grow instead of vanish into a logo.
Don’t believe me? Do a quick image search on AliExpress. You’ll find bags that look almost identical for a fraction of the price. A second-hand “Prada bowling bag” will set you back over €1,700 (second-hand! holy crap). An almost identical version on Ali? $48.
And let’s be real: 99% of people won’t notice the difference when you post a photo with that bag in the background.
That’s €1,650 saved!
And it’s not just the bags. The same madness happens with smartphones. Especially Apple fans — new iPhone drops, and they have to get it. Never mind that the old one still works perfectly fine. The social pressure kicks in, and suddenly it’s a “must.”
That pressure doesn’t just make young people broke, it pushes them straight into debt. Add in the magic of “buy now, pay later” tricks like Afterpay and Klarna, and you’ve got a whole generation financing status symbols they can’t actually afford.
And FYI: my smartphone (Samsung) is 5 years old — still works fine, no upgrade planned. My workstation is 3+ years old — still running smoothly.. My 42″ TV — Over 12 years old and still does the job.
Bottom line: I don’t need to buy crap to feel happy.
If you’re stuck in this rat race, step out. Save your money and see what happens in a few years — when you can actually afford a house and furnish it — while your peers are left with 20 useless handbags they can’t live in.
Please use your brain! (no pun intended :P)
Brain out.