2023 Resolution: Shopping my Own Bags and SLG Collection

[Vintage Leather]

A long standing tradition in this thread is to remind ourselves of how wonderful our own collections are by showcasing them. We can see how far we have come, collection wise, and we reminded that we have all (or most of) what we need making it easier to shop our own closets.



• New theme weeks start each Sunday

• Don’t jump ahead but, if you miss a week, please do show your bags “late”.

• Show bags individually or in a group

• You do NOT have to wear the bags that week

• For added fun, show old pictures from previous years to demonstrate how you have curated it over time.

• This is completely voluntary. There is no pressure to post at any time.





So what are the showcases? In the Fall, we group our bags by makers! Feel free to show bags, small leather goods, or however it is easiest to organize!

August 13 - Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta

August 20 - Burberry, Celine

August 27 - Coach, Chanel

September 3 - Chloe, Dior

September 10 - Dooney & Bourke, Fendi

September 17 - Ferragamo, Givenchy

September 24 - Goyard, Gucci

October 1 - Hermes, Kate Spade

October 8 - Loewe, Longchamp

October 15 - Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs

October 22 - Michael Kors, Miu Miu

October 29 - Mulberry, Prada

November 5 - Proenza Schouler, Rebecca Minkoff

November 12 - Saint Laurent, Tods

November 19 - Tory Burch, Valentino

November 26 - Bags by Jewelers: Bulgari, Cartier, Tiffany Co, Van Cleef & Arpels. Alternatively, the pillboxes, compacts and other lovelies made by jewelers that fit in your bag.

December 3 - independent artisans and custom bags.

 

[Cordeliere]

This seems to be missing religion/heritage. Depending on the region, if you aren't a member of the dominant church or ethnic group, you can be marginalized. As a Jewish person, I'm well aware of it.

I remember that you faced that with your sorority.

 

[whateve]

I remember that you faced that with your sorority.

I had issues in high school with a few teachers and I wasn't allowed into the local girl scout troop. I don't look typically Jewish but when some people learned I was Jewish, they said they could always tell.

It's funny how things have changed in the US. I can remember when Italian Americans and Irish Americans were discriminated in the US by other whites, the ones we called WASPs.

 

[Cordeliere]

There is also the age thing. My husband was in high end tech sales. He started facing age discrimination as the assumption was that he was no longer high energy.

I did a career change at 50 and switched from being a clinical psychologist to being a CPA. As most entry level CPAs are in their 20s, I got a lot of marginalization from my coworkers. I didn't participate in the getting drunk together after work. The partners liked me but the worker bees and the managers hated me. I still made it to the top of the heap. At the top, the partners switched from liking me to being threatened. I was hated by some of the partners because they were threatened.

Isn't everyone marginalized over something? I hit the advantaged group in every category except being male. I don't feel privileged. I feel very blessed but I also feel like I worked my arse off for everything I have. At 73, I still work my arse off doing manual labor.

I still believe in effort as the path. And I believe in family assistance. My mother helped me pay for a lot of education and she helped me into my first house. I think those thing contributed to my life success more than being thin or white.

 

[DME]

I work in tech/manufacturing. If a person shows up in a suit, people will ask if they are dressed for a funeral or an interview.

Or the head honcho of wherever you work. We do this, too! I’m in STEM. We don’t dress up.

 

[DME]

Absolutely! I started with privilege but it crossed over into racism and then unconscious bias. Each topic touches in the venn diagram but all have their own complexities.

I love, love, love that you know what a Venn diagram is and used the term correctly. One of my favorite terms, actually. Yes, I’m letting my inner nerd show!

 

[whateve]

There is also the age thing. My husband was in high end sales. He started facing age discrimination as the assumption was that he was no longer high energy.

I did a career change at 50 and switched from being a clinical psychologist to being a CPA. As most entry level CPAs are in their 20s, I got a lot of marginalization from my coworkers. I didn't participate in the getting drunk together after work. The partners liked me but the worker bees and the managers hated me. I still made it to the top of the heap. At the top, the partners switched from liking me to being threatened. I was hated by some of the partners because they were threatened.

Isn't everyone marginalized over something? I hit the advantaged group in every category except being male. I don't feel privileged. I feel very blessed but I also feel like I worked my arse off for everything I have. At 73, I still work my arse off doing manual labor.

I still believe in effort as the path. And I believe in family assistance. My mother helped me pay for a lot of education and she helped me into my first house. I think those thing contributed to my life success more than being thin or white.

I agree! I retired early and before that I was the owner of the company so I didn't really experience age discrimination in the workplace, except perhaps on the other end, when I was first starting, having my opinions ignored because I was too young. There was a point in my life when I realized that people no longer considered myself relevant due to my age. I would go shopping with my teenage daughters and they would get better service than me even though I was paying the bills. Now I feel invisible often when I'm in public.

My sister felt it in her job when she was older than most of the other people in the office.

 

[Bag peace]

Yes, I’m letting my inner nerd show!

Now I feel invisible often when I'm in public.

That makes me really sad. My mum feels like this, especially back home, and I know I will soon start experiencing the same. There's a general disregard and disrespect for the older population in England* and it's absolutely horrible. It's like those people don't realise they're going to age themselves.
* I dislike making general, sweeping statements like this because not everyone is like that, but this attitude of "the OAPs are just a nuisance" certainly is extremely noticeable in some parts of England. It breaks my heart.

I had issues in high school with a few teachers and I wasn't allowed into the local girl scout troop. I don't look typically Jewish but when some people learned I was Jewish, they said they could always tell.

That's awful! So sorry you experienced this, but honestly not surprised. In some ways, society hasn't progressed at all. The target just shifts from one group to another over time.

 

[Vintage Leather]

Privilege doesn’t mean life is easy - it just means that you have less to overcome.

I am the first to recognize that I am very privileged in this world.
I’m ridiculously over educated, I’m healthy, and my ancestors are German, French and Irish. My parents were married and stayed married my entire life. I look 30ish, have since I was 18, and probably will until I hit 60.

On the other hand, I’m what the us medical system calls obese. I’m 5’10” and wear a Euro 50. I joke that I resemble my sturdy hausfrau ancestors - when I lose below 170lbs, my ribs jut out dramatically and I look like an ad for starvation.

I had lung cancer two years ago (benign, thank god) and my primary care doctor tried to treat it with phentermine. “If you just lost weight…” it took me three months to find a doctor who would actually order a biopsy. And don’t get me started on the whole diabetes thing.

Weirdly enough, as a middle-aged plus-sized woman - it’s not all negative. While there are many people who call plus sized bodies as “undisciplined” and “disgusting” (I’ve heard both, personally) people also tend to see me as maternal, trustworthy, and self sacrificing. I joke it’s the Disney servant syndrome.

In short, privilege is like having a tail wind when you’re at a track meet. It’s impossible to measure the actual impact of it - but it’s much nicer to have it than to not.

 

[More bags]

I don't think this wheel holds up, it seems written from the POV of privilege. It's not so useful to people who don't have privilege, if you don't have privilege you already know it. It's also very specifically geological.

It's almost a crime to be poor in the UK. The police definitely have unconscious bias against those that live in less salubrious neighbourhoods where people renti by the room (multiple occupancy) or flats, people from diverse backgrounds, don't speak English or dress differently. Where I used to live in London for a few years, the police didn't take crime seriously, if a victim (of a crime) reported that crime, it would just be an inconvenience. Hence why my bags were carried in larger plastic bags until I got on my way. That is not the same as my experience reporting incidents in other areas.

I agree, the drawing was created by someone North American based. It is specific to that geographic lens. I forgot to mention that when I posted it.

Agree on every single one. I'll add a personal pet peeve: "You look like a doll!"

Not sure if it's the internalized misogyny or what with that statement, but it makes me immediately hate whatever the item is.


Agreed, to an extent. The most obvious flaw in that wheel that stands out to me is the skin colour category. I remember the assumption being made on the H&M thread that to be racist, one must first be white. It's absolutely incorrect because it depends on the context. In places like South Africa, there are communities where the white are marginalized, for one example. One can be "othered" with any skin tone; it just requires being in the minority and having some cultural prejudice against said minority.
Context is so important and often missing in discussions like this one (and tools like the wheel). As you rightly pointed out, this is written from a place of privilege and a very specific point of view, at that.

Having said that, I think tools like this can be incredibly useful for a straightforward way to point out privileges that may not be so obvious to us. We all know that being male and rich is a privilege, but how often do people note that being neuro-typical is? It can help people realize there are many, many layers of privilege and that as soon as they walk out the door to go to work in the morning, they already have a pocket full of privileges above others (housing, employment, income... just from this one example of walking out the door to start your commute).
I quite like tools such as this for that purpose and as a reminder of just how many ways one can be perceived as being privileged beyond the obvious.

This is so true, but unfortunately, I'd have to expand it to other countries as well. There's always this undercurrent of mistrust if you're in the "wrong" part of town or don't look or speak a certain way. It's incredibly frustrating in this day and age.

You make some good points, especially about context being important. I missed noting that this was created by someone based in North America.

This seems to be missing religion/heritage. Depending on the region, if you aren't a member of the dominant church or ethnic group, you can be marginalized. As a Jewish person, I'm well aware of it.

This is an insightful example of another category where you can be marginalized.

 

[nyeredzi]

Privilege doesn’t mean life is easy - it just means that you have less to overcome.

Thank you for saying this. These days, I prefer to stay out of some conversations, in some environments, for ... reasons. But I do appreciate you saying this. I'm sorry your doctors did not take you seriously and just told you to 'lose weight'

 

[baghabitz34]

Back to bags…

Last year, Bloomingdale’s had their 150th Anniversary. To celebrate, they had different designers make black & white items. I bought this bag

I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well it pairs with my wardrobe. I think this will be on my most used list for this spring/summer.

 

[Bag peace]

I had lung cancer two years ago (benign, thank god) and my primary care doctor tried to treat it with phentermine. “If you just lost weight…” it took me three months to find a doctor who would actually order a biopsy. And don’t get me started on the whole diabetes thing.

I hate that you had to struggle to be heard by your primary care doc, but am so relieved to hear you finally got a doc who actually did the needful.

While there are many people who call plus sized bodies as “undisciplined” and “disgusting” (I’ve heard both, personally)

Not to focus on the negative, especially since put a positive spin on it, but it blows my mind how easily people will body shame. It's absolutely abhorrent behaviour and I'm truly sorry you've had such awful experiences.

Thank you for saying this. These days, I prefer to stay out of some conversations, in some environments, for ... reasons. But I do appreciate you saying this.

I'm sorry if this was one of the places where you felt uncomfortable conversing. The topic was intended for friendly discourse, and it came about from my own attempt at self-assessment. There was no judgement behind it- none of us choose the circumstances we're born into, after all. I'll be more careful in the future and hope there are no hard feelings.

 

[nyeredzi]

I hate that you had to struggle to be heard by your primary care doc, but am so relieved to hear you finally got a doc who actually did the needful.


Not to focus on the negative, especially since put a positive spin on it, but it blows my mind how easily people will body shame. It's absolutely abhorrent behaviour and I'm truly sorry you've had such awful experiences.


I'm sorry if this was one of the places where you felt uncomfortable conversing. The topic was intended for friendly discourse, and it came about from my own attempt at self-assessment. There was no judgement behind it- none of us choose the circumstances we're born into, after all. I'll be more careful in the future and hope there are no hard feelings.

No hard feelings at all, at least not from me! I did not intend to suggest you limit your conversation! You did nothing wrong as far as I’m concerned. Only that I generally abstain from these conversations in certain environments, and TPF is going to be one of those places for me.

 

[BowieFan1971]

Back to bags…

Last year, Bloomingdale’s had their 150th Anniversary. To celebrate, they had different designers make black & white items. I bought this bag
View attachment 5770594
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well it pairs with my wardrobe. I think this will be on my most used list for this spring/summer.

I think I like it even more in the two tone! Very cute!

 

[whateve]

Privilege doesn’t mean life is easy - it just means that you have less to overcome.

I am the first to recognize that I am very privileged in this world.
I’m ridiculously over educated, I’m healthy, and my ancestors are German, French and Irish. My parents were married and stayed married my entire life. I look 30ish, have since I was 18, and probably will until I hit 60.

On the other hand, I’m what the us medical system calls obese. I’m 5’10” and wear a Euro 50. I joke that I resemble my sturdy hausfrau ancestors - when I lose below 170lbs, my ribs jut out dramatically and I look like an ad for starvation.

I had lung cancer two years ago (benign, thank god) and my primary care doctor tried to treat it with phentermine. “If you just lost weight…” it took me three months to find a doctor who would actually order a biopsy. And don’t get me started on the whole diabetes thing.

Weirdly enough, as a middle-aged plus-sized woman - it’s not all negative. While there are many people who call plus sized bodies as “undisciplined” and “disgusting” (I’ve heard both, personally) people also tend to see me as maternal, trustworthy, and self sacrificing. I joke it’s the Disney servant syndrome.

In short, privilege is like having a tail wind when you’re at a track meet. It’s impossible to measure the actual impact of it - but it’s much nicer to have it than to not.

I'm sorry you had to deal with that. My mother's family were German and had a stocky build. My sister inherited it and there is no way she will ever be skinny. You're right in that people tend to assume things about people based on their looks. People with large eyes are assumed to be more honest than people with small eyes, for example. That's why Disney makes their cute characters have large eyes and the villains have small eyes.

In our society, good looking people automatically get treated better.