• Fri, Aug 3 - 4:22 pm ET

Nina Garcia Very Drastically Overestimates What ‘A Few Weeks’ Salary’ Means For Most People

Stop the presses! Someone has out-GOOP-ed Gwyneth! And it was Nina Garcia!

By “GOOPing” (a verb I just made up), I of course mean “advising one’s followers to buy something that only someone with your exorbitant salary (i.e. not many of them) can afford, and presenting it as common sense, girl-to-girl lifestyle advice.” (Depending on how naive you are willing to believe she is, it might also be interpreted as a tasteless #humblebrag.)

Here’s what I’m talking about:

The Birkin bag in question costs $26,000. As in, more than some people make in a year.

Garcia’s followers were quick to point out her miscalculation:

She has yet to respond to this criticism in any way.

Doing a little bit of math, someone would need to make about $450,000/year to earn $26,000 in three weeks. The average household income in America (all breadwinners combined) is somewhere around $50,000. I don’t know the average annual income of someone who follows Nina Garcia on twitter, but I’m guessing it’s not $450,000.

Believe it or not, I’m not criticizing Nina Garcia for being rich or buying expensive things. I’m criticizing her for being so out of touch with her readership that she’d sincerely recommend they buy a handbag that costs more than a year of tuition at Columbia. I know Nina Garcia was born wealthy, but she did work as a regular fashion journalist for a while before ascending to her current role as Marie Claire editor-at-large/Project Runway judge/”Style Voice and fashion collection curator” to J.C. Penney, so she should have at least some idea what her core demographic makes.

Or even if she’s always made six figures (must be nice!), Garcia is educated enough to have at least read the newspaper sometime in the past few years, no? Is this woman just incredibly naive, or what? Does she really believe that only rich ladies read fashion blogs? Or maybe she’s trolling for outrage, in which case, congrats, I guess? What do you think?

(Via The Cut)

Photo: WENN.com

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  • rozy roan

    “several”? try a few years Nina Garcia … that’s if i even want it lol

  • Cassandra

    LOL it must be nice to live in Nina’s world…

  • Tobi

    Another way to think about it?

    That bag costs the same as a new car might.

    There’s no way I could spend that much on a bag.

    • Lisa

      At least with a new car you have the options to take out a loan and pay off the cost of the car in installments.

      I’m hoping that no one would allow anyone to take out a loan for a purse.

    • Tobi

      I know, that’s insane.

  • Sam

    Nina Garcia replied to my tweet (which was “Are you that remarkably oblivious to the economy? Or was your fashion tip purely out of insensitivity?”) with: “Sam, It was a Tweet taken out of context (if you look at the sale there were bags for 3k). Hope you are having a lovely day”

    Er, unfortunately I still don’t make $3000 every few weeks but I guess that’s…a little better? Is it weird that I still resent her? But she’s at least sweet…

    • Goldie

      $1000/week is about $50K/year, so not terribly off average. HOWEVER she is still passing off the idea of spending nearly a MONTH’S pay on a goddamn purse as practical advice.

  • Elisa

    I love bags. But anyone who spends 26,000 on one bag SHOULD feel guilty, even if they are rich. You buy something that can support a small family for several months, if you have any decency left you will feel guilty.

  • Melissa

    The reality is, most of us are only window shopping when we follow fashion blogs. I’d never actually buy any of it.

  • sugar sugar

    you’d have to make closer to a million for $26,000 to be 3 weeks’ salary. that calculation doesn’t figure in taxes. i mean, it’s ridiculous regardless, but if you make $450k, in NYC you’re going to take home more like $300k.

  • tay

    so totally disappointed in nina garcia, who clearly doesn’t know shit when it comes to reality. and to think she works on a show where she picks which designer (who spends their life working on their craft) to give money to support.

  • Avodah

    I am not annoyed that someone would spend a huge amount of money ($3,000 OR $26,000) on a handbag. Some people can afford expensive stuff.

    I am, however, deeply annoyed that she seems to think that spending this amount on a handbag is akin to , say, a $25 manicure (Oh, LOL, little splurge!).

    Please correct me if I am mistaken, but I think much over $200 on a high-quality handbag is really pushing it for most people.

  • Haley

    Nina wasn’t trying to be mean! I think she was just trying to connect more to the general population. It’s still kind of offensive because it comes across as her being like “loook, even you poor, normal citizens can afford this bag!”
    http://www.hayinmybandeau.blogspot.com