A hefty price tag increases the aspirational value of a product, no doubt, but how justifiable are the prices in all cases?

Louis Vuitton Trunks

While vintage trunks may look beautiful in a period drama set in Victorian England, lugging around a hefty trunk in days of fast-paced lifestyle and light travel may not be a smart choice for a globetrotter. Also, with a price tag that runs into several digits, wouldn’t you want to keep it at home it as a prized possession rather than subject it to the rigours of travel?

iPhone X

As the whole world waits with baited breath for the launch of the much-hyped iPhone X this November, please take a step back and think. Yes, it has a bigger screen, flexible display panels, Face ID bio-metric security solution and tons of other features. But does it justify the thousand US dollar tag? Only time will tell. So before jumping into the bandwagon and pre-ordering the iPhone X, please wait and watch and reevaluate if it is really the phone you need.

Clé de Peau Beauté Synactif Intensive Cream

With most ingredients of this cream available in common drugstores, one can’t help but wonder if the Synactif Intensive Cream, which is priced at a whopping thousand US dollars, secretly contains the hidden elixir of youth! While it promises to do the routine work offered by most other creams like reduce dullness, eliminate dark spots, etc., we couldn’t find the one thing that sets it apart from the rest, except its staggering price.

Christopher Kane Cable Ties

Willing to shell out 30 US dollars for mundane cable ties? Apparently a lot of people are! When fashion designer Christopher Kane used cable ties as accessories on his models in one of his fashion shows, it immediately caught the fancy of the fashion world and catapulted to the status of fashion must-haves. While the colourful cable ties looked quirky and cool on the runway models, sporting them on the streets may not have the same effect. Also, cable ties can present their own set of challenges – tie them too hard and scissors will be your only escape strategy!

GUCCI Plain Cotton T-shirt

For those tempted to buy a plain white t-shirt from Gucci for over 400 US dollars, we’d advise wearing it inside out, so that at least the brand logo is visible! Even after taking into account the fact that it’s made in Italy, is 100% cotton and unbelievably soft, there are, for sure, a thousand other brands which offer the exact safe level of comfort without digging a hole in your pocket. It leaves us wondering how much profit the big brands make in the name of brand value.

Text: Suchetana Mukhopadhyay