You are so right if only I knew how to upload my collection; I think it is really unbelieveavle that I have so many bags. But come to think of I reaaaaaalllllllllly love COACH!!!!!

·We start a weeding process of our collection, upgrading and refining our tastes as we are educated in the brand. Apply the vocab lessons learned about and knowledge learned from fellow Coachies in the internet world.
·We start buying more expensive pieces, perhaps becoming quite fickle in the process. Yesterday’s beloved find is sacrificed for the love of the new today.

THIS IS RIGHT WHERE I AM NOW. LOL

OMG, I love this! Great read...and soooo true!

Originally Posted by lizmil

... ... ·We have reached Coach adult hood.

• and just when u think you are content with your collections and made a list to hunt for just the classic pieces, coach comes up with new designs, new collections, new colours.. making you rush to the nearest boutique to buy it as soon as the PCE arrived!

jelita,

why did you have to tell me that, it rings too true!!

^^ bwahaha

yeah liz.. everything is sooo true..
i was about to start looking at legacy pieces.. and then, bam! tribeca, hailey, and brooke appeared!

Originally Posted by lizmil

I've noticed in my own experience & in discussions with a few other Coachies that we seem to follow certain growth pattern, I wonder if this is generally true. ·We start out with a first visit or several early visits often & in my case to a Coach Factory store. We are a bit overwhelmed by all we see & maybe have some sticker shock. ·We buy one or two things, usually lower priced, after much deliberation. We are amazed by the women (usually not men) we see buying things by the multiples & think, we will never be like that. ·We continue with further visits and start to branch out into more expensive items and a higher quantity. Maybe we surf the internet & see intriguing pieces on e-bay or Coach.com. ·If we entered the Coach maze recently we get hung up in a confusing worlds of coupon versus no coupon period which often results in a “buy-return –re-buy” pattern to take advantage of price reductions. ·We start to get educated on the lingo & abbreviations of the land: “siggy” or signature, legacy, legacy lining, MFF, FP, inlaid , sateen , op art, embossed, pebbled, patent, tattersall, vachetta, fob, "deletes" and become budding experts on the care of leather products. ·We speak of “apple-ing” something as a verb, and know what that means. ·We start to notice we are tossing around our newfound vocabulary with friends and at the Coach stores often to the amazements of those particular SAs who know less about the product than we do. Seasoned SAs recognize the tell tale signs of a budding addict & take it in stride. ·We find ourselves stalking stores, either Factory or FP for the latest & newest & get our names on lists for the same. We begin to be one of those women we vowed we would never become, flying around Factory stores with armfuls of purchases or potential purchase. ·We drive long distances in search of our coveted finds, whereas before we would never have dreamed of doing such a thing for a purse, wallet or scarf. ·We start to amass a “collection” & at some point begin to wonder if we will live long enough to use all our pretty things. During this phase we realize we have amassed a stockpile of receipts we must never lose or throw away, lest we wish to return an item. ·We receive our credit card bills and again hit sticker shock. Did I really spend that much? But our purchases were 20 % off with half-off of that and then 20% off of that? Corollary: we become math whizzes at taking percentages off of things in our heads. Who needs those little calculators anyway? ·We start a weeding process of our collection, upgrading and refining our tastes as we are educated in the brand. Apply the vocab lessons learned about and knowledge learned from fellow Coachies in the internet world. ·We start buying more expensive pieces, perhaps becoming quite fickle in the process. Yesterday’s beloved find is sacrificed for the love of the new today. We marvel at the marketing brilliance of the Coach return policy which liberally lets us return items purchased long ago as long as they have tags and receipts and are unused. We begin to wonder if there is an end to the cycle? ·We see a calming place in sight on the horizon. We have thinned our collections and hope to truly enjoy them, getting off the acquisition merry go round; buying only an occasional piece here or there. ·We have reached Coach adult hood.

The bold part pertains to me!^^ I've definitely wondered if my bags will outlive me! They certainly are in better shape right now! But it's a fun addiction, and though I'm much more careful, I still think Coach is a GREAT brand. It's priced right for me to find gorgeous boutique bags at the outlets. I love all the variety. Although I think Balenciaga, some LV, and Chanel have lovely things, I will never pay that much for a bag. (Hmm...I at one time thought I would never spend the money that a Coach bag costs...ruh roh!)

I have wondered if my bags will outlive me too. I have thought about making sure to tell my dh or put it in my will about who I want to have all my beauties. LOL. I don't have a daughter and my mom has lots of Coach plus I think we have different tastes at times (though we did both get a black Zoe, hers medium and mine large patent and then she bought both of us a black signature Zoe in large). I don't have a lot, but I want them to go to a good home when I am gone so they can be loved and well taken care of still.

I knew it was normal behavior!! Now I have proof. It isnt just me!!!!

Thank you for posting the Coach Life Cycle. I think I have fulfilled all stages of this cycle.

My addiction started in March 2008. It started slowly but once I saw a few bags that caught my attention, there was no stopping. I found tPF Coach subforum and it was relentless. I started collecting bags, then wallets, then other accessories.

Strangely, when the Madison line came out in the Fall of 2008, my addiction flatlined. I was definitely there for the Great Zoe Sales and grabbed a few beauties but I stopped buying anymore new Coach. I have quite an impressive collection ranging from 2006-(early) 2009 and love everything I own.

I was surprised by the overtake of Sabrina lovers that I tried to embrace this style. I found I could not and went in the direction of Louis Vuitton and got myself a LV Speedy. I have collected a few from that line for the past few months of 2009 and I am pretty much finished altogether. I am not an adult LV/Coachie.

I love my Coach handbags and accessories and wear (especially the silver jewelry) everyday if I can. I just have no interest in the new stuff.

I love this! A husband and three kids didn't make me feel like an adult, but NOW after reading the Coach Life Cycle I realize I have become an adult. !

Originally Posted by lizmil

I've noticed in my own experience & in discussions with a few other Coachies that we seem to follow certain growth pattern, I wonder if this is generally true. ·We start out with a first visit or several early visits often & in my case to a Coach Factory store. We are a bit overwhelmed by all we see & maybe have some sticker shock. ·We buy one or two things, usually lower priced, after much deliberation. We are amazed by the women (usually not men) we see buying things by the multiples & think, we will never be like that. ·We continue with further visits and start to branch out into more expensive items and a higher quantity. Maybe we surf the internet & see intriguing pieces on e-bay or Coach.com. ·If we entered the Coach maze recently we get hung up in a confusing worlds of coupon versus no coupon period which often results in a “buy-return –re-buy” pattern to take advantage of price reductions. ·We start to get educated on the lingo & abbreviations of the land: “siggy” or signature, legacy, legacy lining, MFF, FP, inlaid , sateen , op art, embossed, pebbled, patent, tattersall, vachetta, fob, "deletes" and become budding experts on the care of leather products. ·We speak of “apple-ing” something as a verb, and know what that means. ·We start to notice we are tossing around our newfound vocabulary with friends and at the Coach stores often to the amazements of those particular SAs who know less about the product than we do. Seasoned SAs recognize the tell tale signs of a budding addict & take it in stride. ·We find ourselves stalking stores, either Factory or FP for the latest & newest & get our names on lists for the same. We begin to be one of those women we vowed we would never become, flying around Factory stores with armfuls of purchases or potential purchase. ·We drive long distances in search of our coveted finds, whereas before we would never have dreamed of doing such a thing for a purse, wallet or scarf. ·We start to amass a “collection” & at some point begin to wonder if we will live long enough to use all our pretty things. During this phase we realize we have amassed a stockpile of receipts we must never lose or throw away, lest we wish to return an item. ·We receive our credit card bills and again hit sticker shock. Did I really spend that much? But our purchases were 20 % off with half-off of that and then 20% off of that? Corollary: we become math whizzes at taking percentages off of things in our heads. Who needs those little calculators anyway? ·We start a weeding process of our collection, upgrading and refining our tastes as we are educated in the brand. Apply the vocab lessons learned about and knowledge learned from fellow Coachies in the internet world. ·We start buying more expensive pieces, perhaps becoming quite fickle in the process. Yesterday’s beloved find is sacrificed for the love of the new today. We marvel at the marketing brilliance of the Coach return policy which liberally lets us return items purchased long ago as long as they have tags and receipts and are unused. We begin to wonder if there is an end to the cycle? ·We see a calming place in sight on the horizon. We have thinned our collections and hope to truly enjoy them, getting off the acquisition merry go round; buying only an occasional piece here or there. ·We have reached Coach adult hood.

LMAO this is great! I am SO happy that I've finally reached this step. Time to downsize from a ridiculous amount of bags that I'll never use! I'm no longer interested in the newest/hottest things & probably won't purchase again for a while unless something truly special comes along. I've gone from 1 or more outlet trips a week to maybe 1 a month. Thanks so much for sharing this

sissabelle it's a great place to be!

^

My bank account & credit cards agree!

We start to amass a "collection" totally guilty