How does your family feel about your love for Chanel!

[Annabella4]

Hi girls,
Just curious, hoe do your families or loved ones respond to you love for Chanel? Are they enablers or perhaps judge you for it? I sometimes feel close relatives do not approve of my love for luxury handbags, resulting in them mocking me or commenting in a way that is not exactly positive.
My sister always laughs when I tell her about a purchase or she sees it on my arm. But not in a nice way, but more to ridicule me. Even though I can comfortably afford them and don’t use credit to buy or anything. My husband is a total enabler though, and my kids are just looking forward to the time they can borrow my bags. But still I sometimes find myself being reluctant to share my enthusiasm with my close family. They just don’t get my love for bags. They totally could afford them if they wanted, so that is not the issue. And I really do not care about strangers opinions at all, but find that the ones from my family sometimes get to me......

 

[clarabellaZ]

My sisters are kind of supportive...They think my Chanel collection is lovely, but they thought one or two was plenty. They don’t understand the need for 7 or 8. My mother thinks I’m insane and/or throwing money away. Sometimes I kinda think she could be right. But Ive worked hard at my career for over 20 years. I completely understand not being able to share your enthusiasm with family. While I’m sure Family means well...Family can be quite frank and judgmental. I’ve found that sometimes friends/acquaintances are a bit Less judgmental.

 

[happy27]

Don’t share your love for bags with people who won’t understand, especially family and friends.
Without knowing your family history, I would say that you should try to tell your sister to stop, have a serious conversation with her and if it doesn’t, reduce contact with her because she sounds toxic

 

[papertiger]

That behaviour says more about your sister, and she knows how to push your buttons. I wouldn't have a chat with her because I think she enjoys winding you up. Ignore her.

If you can't ignore such infantile behaviour, my advice is either don't carry your Chanel's around your family or just the same 'old' ones they've seen.

 

[DutchGirl007]

My husband loves how happy it makes me, he loves the look, small and quality. So as long as I can afford it, it’s okay with him.

My Mother encourages me, life is short!

My three sis in laws.. forget it, they don’t like me anyway. I never wear my Chanel’s around them, sad but true. I prefer to keep the gossip

Do what you love and screw what others think, life IS too short!

. Happy shopping!

 

[ChanelCanuck]

My mom thinks it's too extravagant but will go along with me if I buy a bag while we're traveling together. (She'll never encourage me to do it, but she knows I will anyway!) My little brother uses this "extravagance" as a reason I should keep paying his phone bill and for all family dinners. I'm currently single so no boyfriend/husband to consider. My mom's sisters (my aunts) are particularly catty and petty - I'm not close to them nor my cousins (we all grew up/live in different cities), and the sisters are all very competitive and that includes their kids/my cousins and me (all in our 20s and 30s). They're all married and/or buying houses (or saving their money to buy a house). They don't know my financial situation or my savings, yet they pass a lot of judgment on a chubby, single, seemingly-irresponsible renter who owns enough handbags to put a down payment on a house. It doesn't matter that I run my own business or spoil my mother financially.

This most recently manifested itself when my mom showed one of her sisters my new bag closet a couple of weeks ago while they were on FaceTime - the sister was unimpressed and commented on one of my "ugly" Chanel bags (the purple "hula hoop" one). That sister told another sister about the closet, and she messaged me out of the blue to send her a picture of it - "Just to take a look!" My mom and I are quite convinced they want to mock it behind my back. I don't buy bags for anyone except myself, but it's still a bummer when family can be such *******s about things that bring us joy instead of being happy (or at least non-judgmental)!

 

[Annabella4]

You all are right, it is toxic behavior, but it just takes all the fun out of it! I don’t flaunt my bags in front of them or anything, this I s really about them and not me. I don’t do anything to provoke this behavior. So I’m going to to continue enjoying my bags, regardless of what they say. Just not bringing them to family gatherings
Thanks for sharing you points of view! I feel better already!

 

[ChanelCanuck]

You all are right, it is toxic behavior, but it just takes all the fun out of it! I don’t flaunt my bags in front of them or anything, this I s really about them and not me. I don’t do anything to provoke this behavior. So I’m going to to continue enjoying my bags, regardless of what they say. Just not bringing them to family gatherings
Thanks for sharing you points of view! I feel better already!

Bring them to family gatherings! If you enjoy them, wear them - it's a manner of self-expression. My guess is your sister is jealous.

 

[tenyongie]

Nah, it's 2019 and we're not having any of this petty energy alright?! You do you and you go love your bags as much as you do without caring about what others think!! As some people have commented, family can be quite judgmental but the thing is, who's to tell you how to spend your money? or question your love for things? everyone has their own ****...some people like bags, some like watches, some like toys, everyone has SOMETHING that they will splurge on for a collection!!!

I don't really care for my family's opinions so i dont see any point in sharing any information with them but for the few times that they've seen my bags on me they're very neutral about it and couldnt care more/less LOL! They just look and say "oh new one?" like it's nothing out of the ordinary hahaha whereas my boyfriend likes to nag and caution me against spending too much but at the end of the day he is super supportive and coos all over the bag with me!! Once i carried my vintage chanel out and he couldnt stop playing with the turnlock and telling me how pretty it looked! He ended up learning about vintage chanels from me that evening

So yeah long story short, dont let the negative vibes get to you!!! Just bask in the positive energy with those who can share your vibe

 

[mspaul]

nor my family or friends really grasp the real price of designer bags, so they are impressed in a curious way. i just never answer how much they are worth, which i find a pretty silly question anyway. overall they're not the ones paying for it so i just find none of their opinions matter.

 

[whiteswan1010]

I have found it best to keep it to myself in regards to my Chanel bags whether it be friends or family.

I come here to TPF when I feel the need for some chat, no judgment, love and mutual adoration.

 

[rose60610]

My family likes nice clothes, not so much into designer bags. On the other hand, they have their own individual interests/hobbies that cost more than Chanel bags--horses, cars, other stuff. So if they were to criticize, they wouldn't have a lot of room to talk. They realize everybody has their thing and don't care.

 

[gagabag]

I have 2 sisters and we all got our bag obsession from our mum. Our group messenger chats mostly centre on which bag is more beautiful or which next bag to wear or does this look good on me kind of convos. My mum just shakes her head as she sees herself in us when she was younger.

 

[antschulina]

Many people from my family, and a couple friends have a similar reaction to the OP's sister's reaction. I think it is jealousy. They belittle you because they have no passion for bags, they would not be able to afford them, and they might have a negative or toxic attitude overall.
Some people who are real friends, would say "you do right when you buy those bags. they are important for you and life is short. you need to treat yourself".
Here's two toxic-people-anecdotes from couple years ago:
- A former neighbour/friend saw me once with a Michael Kors purse. And with a very stupid face expression she asked me "and what happened to your Chanel? How come you are not wearing a Chanel today? What happened to you?". And it was for me reason enough to never meet her again and "never have time for coffee or dinners".
- Another neighbourhood "friend" found out that I got a well-paid job and she asked me if I was planning to buy bags. Back in the days I was saving for my Birkin and told her that I put my name on the Hermes list for a Birkin. She said "your social status won't match your bag. Bags are like cars, you have to be rich to owe luxury bags. And you are not in the rich league". A very rude comment too, from a person who doesn't know much about how I buy bags and how comfortable my financial situation really is. It says more about them than about you in the end.

 

[ChanelCanuck]

Another neighbourhood "friend" found out that I got a well-paid job and she asked me if I was planning to buy bags. Back in the days I was saving for my Birkin and told her that I put my name on the Hermes list for a Birkin. She said "your social status won't match your bag. Bags are like cars, you have to be rich to owe luxury bags. And you are not in the rich league". A very rude comment too, from a person who doesn't know much about how I buy bags and how comfortable my financial situation really is. It says more about them than about you in the end.

How did her face recover when you punched her for that rude comment??