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.

 

[cowgirlsboots]

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.

I think there were help payments people/ companies could apply for in Germany. For parents there was a single general (I think) payment of 300€ to cover the cost of homeschooling. This should have covered the mountain of printer cartridges we went through...

 

[DME]

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!

You’re welcome! Again, I’m not a medical professional, but I would hate to see you toss out some coping strategies that seem to be working for you because you feel they might be… I’m not even sure what word to use here. And please don’t apologize. If we can help support you through the tough times, then I am sure I can speak for so many here that were happy to do that. I’m glad you enjoyed your Saturday film night! Anything you can recommend? Keep us posted as you ponder straps!

 

[cowgirlsboots]

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.

Normal "household alterations" like shortening DH´s jeans or repairs/ mending drive me crazy too. Altering my vintage clothes is more like a game, a challenge... can I do it?

 

[Jereni]

Thanks @whateve! That is such a good idea! I’ve been looking up straps online since I read it. So many options with a hint of pink and more if I were to add ones with no pink
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All under £20 and all with GHW to match the Alexa. All are crossbody straps but the style I think would completely adjust to half the length for shoulder carry - do you have experience of that? I’m quite short!

I like these straps! I think the pink, green, and orange striped one is my favorite.

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.
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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.
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And my pink Coach bags. Not often summery here!
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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!

For me the answer is probably yes, I seem to have an upper number that I don’t like going past. Although admittedly that number used to be 30 and I’m higher than that now.

 

[Cordeliere]

For me the answer is probably yes, I seem to have an upper number that I don’t like going past. Although admittedly that number used to be 30 and I’m higher than that now.

You do such a good job of rotating your bags, you can manage a high number,

 

[cowgirlsboots]

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...

@880 I had another, closer look at the listing and converted the measurements. This dress is tinier than it looks. I´d say it´s a small German size 36. Still, given there are suffient seam allowances, it certainly could be taken out. Everything can! It really depends on the shoulders of both the dress and coat whether it will have a chance to fit. The sleeves of the coat might be problematic too as long as you don´t intend to add some other fabric (which would feel a bit of a blasphemy to me given this is true vintage designer not homemade.)

 

[880]

@880 I had another, closer look at the listing and converted the measurements. This dress is tinier than it looks. I´d say it´s a small German size 36. Still, given there are suffient seam allowances, it certainly could be taken out. Everything can! It really depends on the shoulders of both the dress and coat whether it will have a chance to fit. The sleeves of the coat might be problematic too as long as you don´t intend to add some other fabric (which would feel a bit of a blasphemy to me given this is true vintage designer not homemade.)

This will absolutely never ever fit me. I don’t even think it would fit half of me. But I flagged it in case some lovely petite lady here might be interested.

 

[essiedub]

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.

That is just a delightful image!

 

[Cordeliere]

This will absolutely never ever fit me. I don’t even think it would fit half of me. But I flagged it in case some lovely petite lady here might be interested.

I think it might fit one of my legs.

 

[Katinahat]

@880 I had another, closer look at the listing and converted the measurements. This dress is tinier than it looks. I´d say it´s a small German size 36. Still, given there are suffient seam allowances, it certainly could be taken out. Everything can! It really depends on the shoulders of both the dress and coat whether it will have a chance to fit. The sleeves of the coat might be problematic too as long as you don´t intend to add some other fabric (which would feel a bit of a blasphemy to me given this is true vintage designer not homemade.)

This will absolutely never ever fit me. I don’t even think it would fit half of me. But I flagged it in case some lovely petite lady here might be interested.

I’ve found it. What a stunning piece. I can see you in it from your styling pics @880. Shame it wouldn’t fit. I do not consider myself petite but with its fit and flare it’s made for a pear like me (or DD1). It would all depend on the flare of the skirt.

Great alterations advice @cowgirlboots. You are so clever.

 

[Katinahat]

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.

He is amazing! I’ve only ever seen them in a group in a zoo. A lovely big country park gardens one where they had ample space. What a lifespan he has. It’s horrible to have to think like that but I’ve heard that some people write pets into their wills to ensure they are looked after.

...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.

Even a tutorial can’t help me sometimes! Hand stitching if it’s simple or, more often, pay an alterations service. It makes a lot of purchases more expensive!

I think there were help payments people/ companies could apply for in Germany. For parents there was a single general (I think) payment of 300€ to cover the cost of homeschooling. This should have covered the mountain of printer cartridges we went through...

That’s good. There was no such thing here. Instantly had to spend £1000 on two laptops for the DDs!

You’re welcome! Again, I’m not a medical professional, but I would hate to see you toss out some coping strategies that seem to be working for you because you feel they might be… I’m not even sure what word to use here. And please don’t apologize. If we can help support you through the tough times, then I am sure I can speak for so many here that were happy to do that. I’m glad you enjoyed your Saturday film night! Anything you can recommend? Keep us posted as you ponder straps!

Thank you! I think I have a tendency to over analyse at times. The film was “Suffragettes” which was great but also had some triggering scenes. Unprompted, DH reached out and silently took my hand which kept me grounded.

I like these straps! I think the pink, green, and orange striped one is my favorite.



For me the answer is probably yes, I seem to have an upper number that I don’t like going past. Although admittedly that number used to be 30 and I’m higher than that now.

I think that’s my favourite too! You have some truly beautiful bags!

You do such a good job of rotating your bags, you can manage a high number,

I totally agree! You rotate them very well and seen to carry everything from contemporary to luxury designers with purpose and style!

 

[Katinahat]

The bag I bought for my sister arrived yesterday. It’s a Ted Baker camera bag. What do you think?

It’s colour is cinnamon so a sort of tan/orange mix. It’s croc leather. We don’t buy expensive gifts as an extended family so it’s more than I would usually spend (despite 30% off all stock) but I wanted to treat her as she never treats herself. She carries the Radley shoulder bag she owns all the time. I don’t carry any TB bags but they are lovely designs. No dust bag or anything so no luxury feel which is a shame as I hoped for that.

It’s so hard to chose for someone else, especially when price is a factor. I think this is a simple, small but fun evening bag for holidays and we are going on holiday together in the summer. Do you think this little bag fits that brief?

When DH buys me a bag it’s usually one I’ve dropped hints about for months so he can’t go wrong. I did once have friends but me a little Radley for my 30th when I was Radley obsessed and I was delighted back then. I’m not so sure how I’d feel now. Grateful yes but my taste is more honed.

So my new question for today:
Does your passion for bags ever lead you to purchase them for other people and do you like other people purchasing for you?

 

[880]

The bag I bought for my sister arrived yesterday. It’s a Ted Baker camera bag. What do you think?
View attachment 5409615
It’s colour is cinnamon so a sort of tan/orange mix. It’s croc leather. We don’t buy expensive gifts as an extended family so it’s more than I would usually spend (despite 30% off all stock) but I wanted to treat her as she never treats herself. She carries the Radley shoulder bag she owns all the time. I don’t carry any TB bags but they are lovely designs. No dust bag or anything so no luxury feel which is a shame as I hoped for that.

It’s so hard to chose for someone else, especially when price is a factor. I think this is a simple, small but fun evening bag for holidays and we are going on holiday together in the summer. Do you think this little bag fits that brief?

When DH buys me a bag it’s usually one I’ve dropped hints about for months so he can’t go wrong. I did one have friends but me a little Radley for my 30th when I was Radley obsessed and I was delighted back then. I’m not so sure how I’d feel now. Grateful yes but my taste is more honed.

So my new question for today:
Does your passion for bags ever lead you to purchase them for other people and do you like other people purchasing for you?

Love this. It’s perfect for the purpose. I’m not keen on dust bags. You can wrap it in a vintage fabric or decorative paper

i also adore Radley. I had a tiny cross body navy messenger bag. My girlfriend loved it, so I gave it to her. I also love the little blue dog charm

i purchase bags for other people all the time. Or, more accurately, I buy stuff for myself that end up with others lol. Mainly family members. However, I really don’t want other people to give me stuff; they invariably choose things that don’t work. my mom is somewhat my size, so if I want something of hers, I just ask if I can have something or borrow it. Her normal response is sure, if I can find it. Lol.

 

[coffee2go]

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.

I don’t have an exact magic number for bags, but I think I’m pretty much arrived to having enough:
- 3 Celine bags
- 2 Valextra
- 1 Fendi
- 2 Chloe
- 2 Alaia
- 1 YSL
- 2 Maxmara + 1 Weekend Maxmara
- 1 DKNY
- 1 Lululemon
- 1 Marc Jacobs
- 1 Furla
- 1 Longchamp (even if it’s Filet bag, so not a proper bag, but I’ll count it this time)
- 1 Lanvin

So it’s 20 bags if I haven’t forgot about some bag and it’s more than enough! I see why you put your max at 18, as if I don’t count Lululemon and Longchamp, I’ll arrive to 18 bags and some of these I barely use. I can’t imagine having 30 bags, if I barely use all the 20 bags I already have Also I don’t understand when people get the same bag in different colors, like multiple Chanel or Hermes bags, same model but in different colors. I would have a hard time of choosing which one to wear, and one bag would end up being “more favorite” than the other, it would broke my heart to see I like one color more than the other. So no multiples of the same bag for me, I’d rather get another style in same colors, but not the opposite.

 

[dcooney4]

The bag I bought for my sister arrived yesterday. It’s a Ted Baker camera bag. What do you think?
View attachment 5409615
It’s colour is cinnamon so a sort of tan/orange mix. It’s croc leather. We don’t buy expensive gifts as an extended family so it’s more than I would usually spend (despite 30% off all stock) but I wanted to treat her as she never treats herself. She carries the Radley shoulder bag she owns all the time. I don’t carry any TB bags but they are lovely designs. No dust bag or anything so no luxury feel which is a shame as I hoped for that.

It’s so hard to chose for someone else, especially when price is a factor. I think this is a simple, small but fun evening bag for holidays and we are going on holiday together in the summer. Do you think this little bag fits that brief?

When DH buys me a bag it’s usually one I’ve dropped hints about for months so he can’t go wrong. I did once have friends but me a little Radley for my 30th when I was Radley obsessed and I was delighted back then. I’m not so sure how I’d feel now. Grateful yes but my taste is more honed.

So my new question for today:
Does your passion for bags ever lead you to purchase them for other people and do you like other people purchasing for you?

Sometimes for the question. I think your she is going to love it .