Label Much?

Are you the kind of girl/ guy who put labels first? Do you think having the most expensive item is better than a cheaper range of almost-similar goods? I can't deny that i DO look at brands first, at times. So today, i was shopping around for anything. I didn't go out with a mission to find the perfect wallet for myself, but it was more like.. 'whatever comes my way'. So I went to Jaspal, Roxy, Guess?, and Paris Hilton, just to name a few. I also had Liz Claiborne wallets in my head. The prices are pretty reasonable, you see. My aunty got one from Liz Claiborne recently and she thinks it isn't very good just because the wallet comes with many compartments, but when you fill them up with cards, it gets rather hard to close. So I looked at other places. Oh yes, I went to Coach to check out their prices (you can get them way cheaper in the US!). Every store I went to, I saw something that caught my eye. I went to Guess?, i saw this pretty wallet that's moderately big and it has a pretty bow on it. That one's about RM179. Then I went to Jaspal (they're having sale), I saw a pretty denim-materialed purse with purple lining, priced at about RM 120. I went to Roxy, I saw pretty wallets too. They are cheaper if compared to others. And having a member card won't kill you, it'll save your cheap butts! I thought about it, then moved on. Then I decided to just walk into Paris Hilton. The purses look a lot like Guess?, cheaper-looking version. If you asked me, I think one third of what the store has to offer are pretty. The others should be reconsidered because they are overpriced for such looking goods. So they were having a SALE, and tell me, who doesn't enjoy the sale season? I saw some latest wallets and one which wasn't too bad, but it's rather old. I decided to give it a thought. And at the end, I bought one of the wallets. Good price? I don't know. RM 140. You tell me :) But what's done is done. I can't regret buying it, can I?

Brings us back to the main question, and the main point of this post. Do we look at brands FIRST? You see, I could've gotten a cheaper wallet from Roxy, but no, just because Paris Hilton sounds better and exclusive, I got it there. Should this be the way? Share your opinions and thoughts, and don't be shy.