2022 Resolution: Shopping my own bag and SLG collection. Anyone else?

[Katinahat]

2 Aug - brand showcase: A-F
4 Sept - brand showcase: G-L
11 Sept - brand showcase: M-R
18 Sept - brand showcase: S-Z
25 Sept - totes
2 Oct - satchels
9 Oct - crossbodies inc WOCS
16 Oct - shoulder bags
23 Oct - bucket bags
30 Oct - clutches
6 Nov - backpacks
13 Nov - bags that don’t count
20 Nov - pairing bags with shoes
27 Nov - pairing bags with other accessories
4 Dec - bag storage
11 Dec - SLGs
18 Dec - charms

Challenges:
Sept - bags in different locations
Oct - Halloween: wear orange or black bags
Nov - International Merlot Day: wear wine coloured bags or pair bags with wine.
Dec - use the bag.

 

[Katinahat]

Wow, I absolutely love your garden.

I love my garden too but I'm not as dedicated.

Thanks PT. The dedication comes and goes!

Thank you for your kind compliment!

I love your garden of roses! So beautiful!

Your sweet dog looks so relaxed and happy there!

Thank you! Yes, the dog loves the garden. She’s big now and needs room to run.

Beautiful gardens and an adorable puppy!

Thanks, that was the summer of 2020 with nothing to do but gardening! Puppy was 2 years old last week.

What a beautiful garden!
I might never leave it! We added to our landscaping in 2020 and it has become a haven for me - I sit on the patio and just look at all the green. Yesterday, I planted a few flowers (literally I planted 16 vinca ), and they’ve added a pretty pop of pink.
(only a few because I forget to water them, and the squirrels and/or rabbits eat them, so I only plant a few)

What a beauty PT!

Thank you. The photographs don’t show the massively over grown weedy bits. The back third of our garden is basically an over grown woodland. Sounds like you’ve been busy - planting beautiful flowers is good for the soul.

Gorgeous! I love roses too. DH doesn't. He hates that they have to be pruned so often. I put a rose bush in my front yard that I bought specifically for the smell. Both my daughter and I think it smells divine. DH can't smell it but he can smell other roses. Isn't that odd? I love the smell of orange blossoms too - we live in an orange growing area so the smell is here a lot - but DH says they smell good at first, then get overwhelming. I never feel they get overwhelming.

We used to have more rose bushes than we do now. Several of them didn't survive. Part of it is that I have a "bulldozer" (really a giant tortoise) in my yard that walks through things instead of around them. He broke many sprinklers around the roses until we got the bright idea to make them popups. He loves to eat the roses but he never eats them off the bushes. He only eats them when I cut them for him.

I can only dream of orange blossom. Our climate is way too cold and rainy. Although it nurtures and makes things grow too. Your tortoise is not dissimilar to that puppy. She uproots and chews up entire shrubs given half the chance.

We have private fenced gardens outside of two of our bathrooms. In October, I redid the one outside the master bath with all new plants and a new fence. There are a lot of flowers. I'm impatient for the time when it becomes more lush and all the plants are bigger.

That sounds really beautiful!

 

[whateve]

Did he come with the property? Did he adopt you? Did you adopt him?
Not many people have their own giant tortoise.

He didn't come with the property. There was a time when I was obsessed with pets. I blame it on my parents not letting me have any. I went to the pet store nearly every weekend. One time they had baby tortoises. They were about the size of a quarter. So tiny and perfect looking, so I had to bring one home. I knew he was going to get giant. He is now 23 years old.

 

[papertiger]

He didn't come with the property. There was a time when I was obsessed with pets. I blame it on my parents not letting me have any. I went to the pet store nearly every weekend. One time they had baby tortoises. They were about the size of a quarter. So tiny and perfect looking, so I had to bring one home. I knew he was going to get giant. He is now 23 years old.View attachment 5409284

View attachment 5409286

OMG, he is magnificent, beautiful, impressive and wonderful.

Thank you for showing us, what an amazing friend.

 

[Katinahat]

Enjoy that feeling ! I rarely feel that and for me it never lasts long.

Hah, probably won’t for me either.

In the US, when the government did the first lockdown, lots of people couldn't pay their rent or buy food because they had no savings. Our congress voted to send every single American a payment of $1,200. Our income was not impacted, but my husband and I both got checks (slightly less than $1,200 each as they were income adjusted). The covid checks were great for those who could not work, but the knowledge workers could work from home and were still working, as were the essential workers. It was the restaurant workers who were hit really hard.

Over the course of the pandemic, they sent eligible people two more checks. People could get unemployment payments that were higher than normal. Social service agencies paid rent for people. There was so much money rolling in, people were reluctant to go back to work. All that extra money sloshing around in our economy is a major factor in the bout of high inflation that the US is currently dealing with. People who were still working and who got covid checks spent them on new furniture, TVs, and probably purse addicts spent it on purses. Lot's of demand for goods due to free money from the government, and not enough goods due to supply chain problems.

Here are the US covid payments. These are per person, not per household.

• $1,200 in April 2020
• $600 in December 2020/January 2021
• $1,400 in March 2021

On a different topic, I love your stone walls.

Very informative, we had a different system in the U.K. and financal support only went to those whose jobs were furloughed or on welfare support. Keyworkers with jobs like mine still went to work everyday.

I edited your quote down to the parts I relate to most. For me the answer is mostly yes on the "less interested" question. About half of my collection is small date bags. I used to say that the date bags were like peanuts. There is always room for one more. (I was wrong. My last small bag purchase was one too many). The answer is definitely yes on the "less interested" issue for my medium and large bags. Not only do I feel less interested as I get more, I feel overwhelmed by them because I am not using them enough.

I have a magic number. I want to cap my collection at 18 bags. Currently I have 22 plus 4 that I don't count (2 from long ago past and two travel bags that don't really work). There is no logical reason for 18. My body relaxes thinking about 18. My body tenses when I think 22. Plus I am still searching for the perfect travel bag, so I would go to 23. Yikes.

Yesterday I thought about selling my 4 least favorites. The idea made me happy. Only 18 bags. Yeah. Then I went to my bag armoire and looked at the 4. My reaction was "they are wonderful. They are works of art. Look at that leather. Look at that craftsmanship. What? Am I nuts? I was think of letting those go????"

My conclusion was I should keep them all, and leave one on the couch at all times to pet. I don't have to carry them. I can just cuddle them and enjoy them. DH thought this whole struggle was hilarious. I think what will happen is I will probably sell one of the four per year over the next four years. After I cuddle them a while, I can set my least favorites free.

I could try to carry them more, but I am not good at rotating. (The ladies who rotate easily are my heroes.) I have considered putting two or three per week on or in the buffet by the front door to make switching in and out easier. As I deep clean our house over the summer, my goal is to move our tax records to storage to make room for bags in the buffet.

My short answer is I am going to try to give all my bags more cuddle time and make it easier rotate them more.

You’ve thought this through. Cuddles for bags sounds good.

Very interesting question! Thanks @Katinahat for making it a discussion topic after @lill_canele mentioned it.

I don’t think having more bags makes me less interested in some of them. Instead I think my moods change and my style changes/evolves and that’s what dictates my bag interests. My response to this makes me think of something @880 spoke about a few pages back that I wanted to respond to, but just hadn’t had the time yet, so I’ll bring it up here because they’re related. Someone (@coffee2go maybe?) brought up the topic of price increases and how they might impact our shopping habits. In her reply, @880 spoke of how she buys investment pieces and I believe mentioned in that post, plus a couple more since, how some of her RTW dates back to the 90’s. I’m super impressed! I’m curious to know if others are like that?

I maintain a style for about five years, so investment dressing has never worked for me, although I wish it would. Sometimes my style changes are dictated by changes in my body (weight fluctuations, aging), sometimes they’re dictated by current fashion and sometimes I just want to try something new (nothing too drastic, but a definite shift). I’ve kept most of my designer bags over the years (although I’ve purged contemporary brands because they don’t seem as timeless to me) and tend to reach for those styles that mesh with whatever my current fashion style might be. I’ve thought about letting go of bags that are not getting much love, but then I find a renewed passion for them a few years later when my style inevitably changes again and am glad I held onto them - especially with all the crazy price increases and the insane resale market, since letting go and buying back would make for an expensive decision!

I’m about to head into that transition phase again; I can feel it. Thinking back, it’s been five years since the last one, which happened soon after I had my hysterectomy and lost some weight/inches as a result. It must be a mood shift this time since my weight has been fairly stable and there is nothing specific on the fashion front that seems to be driving the itch. Maybe it’s some kind of mid-life crisis, since I turn 50 in a few months. It will be interesting to see where my fashion style heads this time. The funny thing is I’ve had nearly the same hair style for about 20 years and have no desire to change it. Go figure!

Also very informative! I agree. It’s a shame to get rid of something and then want it back.

Interesting that you asked that question now, since I just took a bunch of bags (at least 12) for consignment yesterday, including my orange Picotin 18. It was just a tiny bit too small in that I did not like how the bag looked when I put my essentials in it. I would consider a 22, but prices on pre-loved Picos have gotten insane and new supply stinks. I may be able to net as much as a $1000 profit off my bag, which is welcome but insane. I also pared down my LV and Gucci collections, along with my other bags. I had some bags I bought because they fit criteria and were excellent buys, but were not what I really wanted. They were “good enough.” I am not going to do that anymore. I will pay more (within reason) to get what I want, not just close enough to it. I am going to get an orange bag (brand undecided but would love another H) to replace the orange Pico and still need a red bag (which may be a Italy purchase.) I am also replacing 2 brown mono Guccis with one in a style that is more me. The other Gucci (Bardot) may or may not get replaced. The 2 LVs and Prada will not get replaced, nor will the other bags of mixed brands. I will take a loss on a few, but will make enough on others to make up for it. I want to only have bags I will enthusiastically wear and love the idea of getting more wear from the bags that I have. I have a few more to consign in the fall (browns and dark reds) and some SLGs I want to take. I will still have bags that will not be worn every day, like the Kelly, but the rest? They need and deserve to be used. And the more I use them, the less they cost.

Sounds like you’ve thought this through before consigning items. Hope you find what you want!

 

[Katinahat]

He didn't come with the property. There was a time when I was obsessed with pets. I blame it on my parents not letting me have any. I went to the pet store nearly every weekend. One time they had baby tortoises. They were about the size of a quarter. So tiny and perfect looking, so I had to bring one home. I knew he was going to get giant. He is now 23 years old.View attachment 5409284

View attachment 5409286

Wow! He’s lovely! So tiny to so big! What an incredible animal.

 

[Katinahat]

Still trying to catch up and realized this was another post that caught my attention. I am not a medical professional of any sort, so please bear that in mind, but I agree with what @Cordeliere writes. Coping mechanisms can been constructive in many ways; it’s why we teach them to our children beginning when they are infants. If scrolling through tPF, or online browsing, takes your mind off your triggers and allows you some peace, then I would think that’s a good thing for your mental health. If scrolling through tPF is keeping you from being functional (e.g., impacting your work, your family), then it might have moved into problematic territory. I feel the same can be said for alcohol, food, shopping and other behaviors.

if you have concerns, perhaps discuss them with your therapist, or another health care provider? For me, wine is a coping mechanism; I like a glass, or two, with dinner as a way to relax and wind down. However, there are seemingly weekly articles in U.S. newspapers about alcohol consumption and these always have me concerned, so I make this a yearly discussion topic when I see my general practitioner for a checkup. As long as he’s not seeing anything in my lab work that causes him concerns from a physical health standpoint and as long as my wine consumption isn’t destructive (e.g., excessive drinking, drunk driving), then he’s not worried. I feel like this helps me to keep things like this that I worry about in check.

YMMV and it would be best to check with a medical professional if you have concerns, but we all need ways to (constructively) cope/escape. The fact that you stop to even question whether your behaviors are healthy is very a good sign, since it tells me you are self-aware. You might just need some professional permission, if you will, to allow yourself the room to enjoy them. (That’s how I feel about my yearly discussion with the GP.) Again, I’m not a medical professional, but thought my experience could be helpful as you work through this. Hugs!

Thank you for this. I have an additional session with my therapist next week to get support for my trigger which has definitely caused a bit of an PTSD episode. I will get passed this blip.

You are absolutely right that some coping mechanisms are a good thing and you have made excellent points on trying to see if something has moved from an effective strategy to being too much and stealing time from family, work etc. I definitely need the distraction. It’s an approved part of distress tolerance in DBT. Probably why I’m posting so much today (sorry!). I’m a little distant with my family but that’s the dissociation which is also a symptom of PTSD. We’ve spent a family Saturday night watching films which has been good.

I’ve been looking at the straps @whateve suggested as a distraction. I think I like the straight patterns best. I’m going to keep looking because it’s cheaper than looking at bags or clothes if I do make a purchase!

 

[dcooney4]

He didn't come with the property. There was a time when I was obsessed with pets. I blame it on my parents not letting me have any. I went to the pet store nearly every weekend. One time they had baby tortoises. They were about the size of a quarter. So tiny and perfect looking, so I had to bring one home. I knew he was going to get giant. He is now 23 years old.View attachment 5409284

View attachment 5409286

Love him!

 

[Cordeliere]

He didn't come with the property. There was a time when I was obsessed with pets. I blame it on my parents not letting me have any. I went to the pet store nearly every weekend. One time they had baby tortoises. They were about the size of a quarter. So tiny and perfect looking, so I had to bring one home. I knew he was going to get giant. He is now 23 years old.View attachment 5409284

View attachment 5409286

He is a big boy! What is the expected life span and size? What is his name?

 

[cowgirlsboots]

Wow, I absolutely love your garden.

I love my garden too but I'm not as dedicated.

...and I´m a snob who says: of course you have to have a garden, but I´m not going to do anything in it... My Mum was a passionate gardener and DH is always full of landscaping ideas.

 

[cowgirlsboots]

Back on bags! Interesting point for discussion raised by @lill_canele
I've realized that the more bags I buy, the less interested I am in them. This may be partially due to the fact I don't like having a lot of stuff and I like using my items; so if I don't see something being used, it gets sold or donated relatively quickly.

Does having more bags make you less interested in some of them? What do you do about that?

For me having more bags does mean I carry others less. I love having a choice of bag to match my outfit, purpose or simply mood. Like little pops of art when I open my cupboards and see them there, they do brighten my life and bring me joy. I expect we are all the same in this regard or we wouldn’t be here.

I have bags lurking I use less than I might wish. Probably mostly event/evening bags. My tearose dinky. It’s beautiful but I hardly use it now I have 4 other chain bags.
View attachment 5408926
And work bags. I stick more to the practical Bays Tote so the Seaton and Bays get used less. Both are heavier and I only drive once a week so rarely switch to them.
View attachment 5408927View attachment 5408928
And my pink Coach bags. Not often summery here!
View attachment 5408930View attachment 5408932

For now, I won’t let any of them go. I enjoy owning them and, even if it is currently more limited, I can see when they might match with my pupose and style, now or in the future. I have gifted a few I couldn’t say that about.

I also feel satisfied with my collection for the time being and have no urge to buy anything else. Let’s see how long that lasts!

Sometimes when I fall into the rabbit hole of buying vintage bags on a whim I lose interest very quickly. Either my purchases are love at first sight when they arrive or random... in this case I try to sell them on very quickly.

 

[cowgirlsboots]

Agree! Having said that there is a venue small size dior numbered couture? Dress and matching coat on UK eBay for £399 or so. I told my dior SA if I remotely thought I could make it work on me, I would consider buying it. (Have not vetted the seller or done any due diligence)

Authentic Christian Dior Boutique Vintage 60s Dress & Jacket - Numbered pieces

Oh wow! I looked the listing up! That´s glorious! Will it fit you? The imperial measurements don´t tell me anything (converting measurements from inches to cms is a left/right thing and this takes my head in.)
From what I see at first sight I´d say this could work for your bodytype- not much chest, no pronounced waist and it flares from there... if there is some decent seam allowance in the side seams which I would expect from a piece like this it might be able to be made bigger, too. The shoulders of the coat must be wide enough. The rest can be changed I´d say.
If this was a no-name vintage item at 10% of the price I´d buy it without even attempting to convert the measurements...

 

[whateve]

He is a big boy! What is the expected life span and size? What is his name?

He is about 30 inches long. His name is Charlie. They can live virtually forever as long as they don't get sick or injured. He is probably still growing. I hope one of my children will want him when we are gone. Right now only my son is in a position to take him but I don't know if he would.

 

[cowgirlsboots]

so long as I can slim down enough to fit into it

...or just have a big wardrobe with size choices!

Atm I seem to be rather slim. Well, I still look substantial. But I noticed that a dress I altered 2 weeks ago was big on me today. Back to the sewing table it went, but I will keep it loose fit.
It had some other issues too... I noticed though it was rather well altered there were more professional ways to try. So I unpicked, tried and am now very happy with the new, more professional solution. Now to tackle its matching jacket again...

I think you are a tailor! I can hardly hem trousers myself.

Thank-you very much! My Mum was a very good sewist with lots of knowledge, accuracy and patience. She taught me so much. Unfortunately I am not patient and not necessarily accurate. What I do I do "organically"- see, feel, follow the material. I absolutely can´t measure, but I can eyeball and amazingly my lines turn out symmetric most of the time. DH has measured many times while scrutinizing my work...
Hemming trousers is serious work and depending on the cut and material can be quite complicated. Fortunately there are lots of tutorials for all possible scenarios on youtube.

 

[cowgirlsboots]

Hi everybody! I hope you're doing well.

I just wanted to give a quick little review about my recent amarante vernis Alma BB purchase.

Pros: I feel like a pretty little lady wearing it. I'm enamoured by the deep,rich red and how it sparkles in the sunlight. The dome satchel is such a classic piece. I like that it's structured as my belongings stay in one place. The BB size is perfect for my necessities. Honestly it's the perfect milestone present - a bit flashy and decadent but oh so deserved. It's sitting next to me right now. I have a crush on it. Pass it on.

CONS: From what I've gathered, people do not like the finger-prints. They can be noticeable upon closer inspection but you know what bothers me more? Vernis gathers dust... literally. Dust clings to it. That isn't a huge issue but it barely goes mentioned. I noticed that the long strap tends to unclip when carried too. The safest option of carry is either handheld or through the crook of your arm.

All in all I'm really happy with it. Everything has its faults.

It makes me very happy to hear you are happy with your milestone present to yourself!

I haven worn my Alma pm in epi yet, only given it some tlc, stroked and admired it. And made a bag organizer that fits perfectly. This size certainly needs an organizer.

 

[whateve]

...or just have a big wardrobe with size choices!

Atm I seem to be rather slim. Well, I still look substantial. But I noticed that a dress I altered 2 weeks ago was big on me today. Back to the sewing table it went, but I will keep it loose fit.
It had some other issues too... I noticed though it was rather well altered there were more professional ways to try. So I unpicked, tried and am now very happy with the new, more professional solution. Now to tackle its matching jacket again...



Thank-you very much! My Mum was a very good sewist with lots of knowledge, accuracy and patience. She taught me so much. Unfortunately I am not patient and not necessarily accurate. What I do I do "organically"- see, feel, follow the material. I absolutely can´t measure, but I can eyeball and amazingly my lines turn out symmetric most of the time. DH has measured many times while scrutinizing my work...
Hemming trousers is serious work and depending on the cut and material can be quite complicated. Fortunately there are lots of tutorials for all possible scenarios on youtube.

I have zero patience these days to do alterations or to sew. If I have something that needs altering, it probably won't ever get done. I don't know what happened to me. When I was younger, I sewed a lot.