There are some good reasons to invest in good shoes and bags, although I'd rather wander my life around in flip flops and hiking boots.
While these things are expensive, a good purse will never lose its style and can be kept for 10 or more years, or at least put away, and brought out again. You can throw on a chocolate milk-stained white tee, saggy-assed jeans, and look like sh*t... but top them off with a hermes scarf, a pair of jimmy choos, and prada bag, and you suddenly look like you meant it. My motto is, it's a mistake to spend all your money on clothes that will last a year on the fashion charts, when you can spend it on accessories that last way longer. In the long run, it's a case of saving money, not spending it.