How did you get the EXPENSIVE BAG MENTALITY?

[redney]

it is so funny to hear "it all started out with...(kate spade, coach, etc.)
reminds me of when people talk about how they got addicted to drugs... one thing really does lead to another. well that is totally how it is w/ me at least. i feel like i'll stop after i get the bag that i'm lusting over and then i get it and some time goes by and there is another must have bag. damn those designers!! hehe.

Haute to Trot, I couldn't agree more !!! It is totally like getting addicted!!

I started my bag ~obsession~ with a Coach purchase in graduate school in the early 90s. I remember wanting to be taken "seriously" and loved my business-y looking leather bag. This led to different Coach bags, then onto Kate Spade, Prada, LV, Marc Jacobs, Paul Smith, a Chloe Paddington and hopefully a new ink B-bag (soon!). Most of these purchases I made as gifts to myself - for my birthday, a new job/promotion/raise, etc.

But my obsession isn't limited to the expensive stuff (although sometimes the weight, quality and ooomph! of a well-designed expensive bag just totally does it for me), my bag collection also includes unique bags that might not be super-duper expensive. Right now, two of my favorite bags are a beautiful embroidered cloth hobo from a little store in Singapore (bought it for ~ US$70) and a really groovy pleated leather bag by Lupo (Barcelona company) that I bought on a recent trip to Tokyo, where Lupo has its only store outside Spain.

But I'm always on the lookout for other beautiful bags to add to my collection, enjoyment and use!

 

[mos]

For me, it started with coach a few years ago. My first was a coach bag that cost 100 dollars. I had won an award and got a 1500 check. So, I thought I will "splurge" on a coach bag! Then, I graduated from grad school and bought myself another expensive bag, a gucci 600 dollar hobo. Then I started actually started noticing these bags on celeberties, in the street..etc. Then it got worse!
It was only then that I found out my mom wears Fendi and has Gucci bags! I didn't know what they were before!!! My Mom's reasoning is that she has been working for the last 30 years and she deserves to have the "finer" things in life since she works so hard to get them.
Now that I work, I agree. But I would never put myself into debt to satisfy this epxensive habit. If I don't have the money, I save up or wait.

 

[jbelle]

I got bitten by a vampire named PRADA.

It happened in Italy while I was travelling - I was just outta school, no care in the world - wandered into a boutique for fun and BAM.

I was attacked by a Prada bowler and it wouldn't let me go til I took it home. It sucked away much of my travelling money, but I didn't care... it was so gorgeous.

So now - designer bags remind me of a sun-drenched, adventure-filled summer spent in countries along the Mediterranean... chasing after hot men and drinking too much wine. There's a lot of romanticism involved.

It isn't muc different now - I just do it in California

 

[fendigal]

I just gradually got used to the fact that what I wanted was going to cost a lot. Thus far the record is $2675. I also have small sequin non-designer bags that are only $15.
I think it is more about the collection than the actual carrying of the bags for me.

 

[snowwhite]

My husband bought my first expensive bag--it was a Chloe bag--an older design I don't know the name of. I fell in love with it, and he said he thought we should get it. I almost passed out!!! Money had been tight for us for a long time, and my husband had just finally finished school.

And so it began...

It took weeks for me to use that bag--I felt so guilty! Once I got over (most of) the guilt, I found I loved, loved, loved that bag! And I started looking at other ones....then I discovered this forum...and now I'm obsessed!!!

 

[mharvey816]

For me it was a slow process, at first I thought Coach was way expensive, then I worked my way up. It is the same with houses, the first one I bought seemed soooo expensive but by today's standards was super cheap!

This is also how I got started. Believe it or not, I had never spent over $100 on a bag until just about 7 years ago (when I was well into my 30s). Then I got my first Coach bag (black leather Station bag, which I still own and use), and got bitten hard by the handbag bug. My husband still rues that day when he said "if you want that Coach bag so bad, go ahead and buy it!"

Coach is definitely the "gateway drug" to the harder "drugs" of expensive designer bags!

 

[winternight]

I started with Gucci, my parents got me one in junior high - maybe 7th or 8th grade? I've always loved fashion and I really wanted one. (So I was a little spoiled ) I don't have that purse, but I do have a Gucci that I bought in high school and it still looks pretty good - its the coated canvas. I don't really buy super pricey bags and I tend to buy things that aren't trendy. I tend to prefer jewerly over a pricy bag as a gift too.

 

[cate22]

Coach was the stepping stone for me, too. Then, I discovered this forum and the enthusiasm for nice, quality, (and expensive) bags was just too infectious! I have to admit I'm influenced pretty easily, and the fact that I was already handbag-obsessed probably didn't help my cause! :shame:
Several bags later, I'm still wondering how in the world I've managed to spend so much money on them. :blink:

 

[sandysaya]

1) A few people I knew (metrosexual males) suggested I should buy a nice vuitton purse, seven jeans, etc because the work I do and the many tips I get (modeling, car/model events, cocktailing & my regular job). They said I'd look extra nice in this "transformation". I was like "whatever, I don't care."
2) My female friend (who splurges on expensive things) and I went shopping @ hollywood blvd and she told me there's this cute tupac/ notorious BIG mini dress by House of Fields I should really get. It was $250 +tax. I loved it so bad and bought it. That was the first expensive item and how it all got started! Blame my friend.
3) Being around my cousin's influence: She's into LV
4) Designer clothes and shoes
5) From coach to BCBG to Juicy purses, then I got tired of them and totally jumped to an LV purse and versace. Back then I thought prices on expensive purses were RIDICULOUS! And here I am, haha.
6) Purseblog.com: Thankyou for your great influences!

 

[Baggaholic]

I grew up watching my mother shower herself with designer goods. It kind of stuck to me.

 

[Daniellejp]

It all started with Coach for me. Then Prada. And now it's mostly LV! I always wanted to carry a showcase handbag with good quality and craftsmanship, and of course, I liked the fact that it was a status symbol.

 

[sarahcantiik]

I blame my mom for my addiction. I used to borrowed her bags before she finally offered me to buy my own. Can't really remember my 1st designer bag, but it's really b/w Loewe, Gucci, and Prada. I started out with those first before moving on to LV and finally Hermes. I owned a few Coach and Luellas too.

 

[SuzyZ]

I bought a couple of big ticket items shortly before I discovered this blog ( a Be&D Crawford Cruise and a Dior Street" both just over $1000.00). Then I found the blog and things escalated pretty fast, although I have never spent more than $1200.00 on a bag and never fell for the Paddy or the Balenciaga craze. I'd like to stay in the ballpark i'm in - lately though I have added to my collection at a very fast pace.

 

[alexandrainparis]

I just think it is the first time you allow yourself to own one...you realize that it is not just a look...it is the feel, the smell, the quality! Try to carry a "normal" bag after, and it just feels "icky"...unless, of couse, it is your 40 dollar good deal beauty (those are the exception to the rule! ) When you carry a good bag, you feel spectacular inside which translates to the outside...a good bag has the power to transform...maybe I am truly lost....maybe it is too late for me?

 

[SuzyZ]

I just think it is the first time you allow yourself to own one...you realize that it is not just a look...it is the feel, the smell, the quality! Try to carry a "normal" bag after, and it just feels "icky"...unless, of couse, it is your 40 dollar good deal beauty (those are the exception to the rule! ) When you carry a good bag, you feel spectacular inside which translates to the outside...a good bag has the power to transform...maybe I am truly lost....maybe it is too late for me?

All true, for me as well!