Bethenny Frankel is once again speaking out on her viral debacle with Chanel – and the real reason why it made her so upset in the first place.
In May, Frankel, 53, visited the designer’s store in Chicago while dressed in casual clothing, only to be turned away because she didn’t have an appointment.
She slammed the store as ‘elitist’ and later took to TikTok to make a number of videos about the experience before then joking about the matter – including one clip where she hilariously got a fake tattoo of the brand’s logo.
But in a new video posted this week, Frankel dove further into what she thinks of Chanel nowadays, explaining that she was being interviewed for a New York Magazine piece about appointment shopping.
‘I did speak on the fact that it is an emotional experience,’ the former Real Housewives of New York City star explained.
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Bethenny Frankel is once again speaking out on her viral debacle with Chanel – and the real reason why it made her so upset in the first place
‘99.9 per cent of the people can’t afford to buy a Chanel bag or piece of clothing, so they’re going in there and buying the lip gloss, or buying the entry point thing, and that those were the exact people that this incident alienated,’ she continued.
The Skinnygirl mogul emphasized that it wasn’t the fact that she wasn’t let in during that one day in May that bothered her, but it was the way that she was spoken to that was troubling.
She said that it’s supposed to feel exciting to walk into a store, but you then feel like a ‘fool’ once you’re turned away.
Plus, the BStrong philanthropist admitted that she’s not the only person who has had this experience while shopping – she said that many people have since come up to her to say that they’ve faced the same issue.
‘So, for a big multimillion dollar brand that does twenty billion a year, to make you feel like a schmuck for daring to want to walk inside and gaze at their thing when you’ve bought a lip gloss or a fragrance for someone, now you lost me,’ Frankel lamented.
However, she admitted that she does still wear Chanel, but is a bit over it.
‘I do still wear Chanel, I own it, I can troll them all they want, I paid for it with my own money,’ she said.
‘Chanel, I’m done with it,’ Frankel admitted at the end of the clip, quoting a catchphrase from comedian Lisa Marie Riley.
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She said that it’s supposed to feel exciting to walk into a store, but you then feel like a ‘fool’ once you’re turned away
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However, the former Real Housewives of New York star admitted that she does still wear Chanel, but is a bit over it
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‘I do still wear Chanel, I own it, I can troll them all they want, I paid for it with my own money,’ she said
In the comments section of Frankel’s video, many of her viewers seemed to agree with her assessment of the situation.
‘Spot on as always! Anyone should be able to go browse. People that have money don’t brag about it or necessarily always dress the part so who are they to judge. Love who you are!’ one person wrote.
Another pointed out, ‘The joke is “after shopping at Chanel, you send THEM a thank you card, for allowing you to shop there.”‘
Others also shared their own stories of being turned away from various stores.
‘Thank you for being our voice! This happened to me in a bridal store. Left me feeling so embarrassed and tearful. Really took the shine off my dress buying,’ someone else commented.
‘Happened to me in Dallas store, I was let in and even picked out purse and manager came out and said no I couldn’t buy it. Me and my daughter looked at each other like WTF?’ one viewer claimed.
This isn’t the first time that Frankel has spoken out about designer brands, as she revealed in a June video that she felt like the luxury space was ‘exploiting women’ due to its exorbitant prices.
‘Exploiting the insecurities of women where they’re gonna feel whole or secure if they can flex a shopping bag that contains something that costs $50, maximum to make, that costs tens of thousands of dollars,’ she said at the time.
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In the comments section of Frankel’s video, many of her viewers seemed to agree with her assessment of the situation
Instead, the former reality star urged people to buy what they want and wear what they like with pride.
Frankel said that she wore brands like Vince Camuto and Steve Madden, and even showed viewers a pair of beige braided sandals she had bought that were dupes of a pair by designer Bottega Veneta.
‘A brand that increases their prices from $5,000 to $10,000 in a matter of years when the bag costs $50 to make, all bets are off with you wanting to wear any knockoff you want,’ the former reality star said.
‘Because they’re taking advantage of you and they’re insulting your intelligence, as a consumer and a woman.’