Ahoy polloi (an island for the masses)

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Happy Thursday!
Looking forward to your next bag.
I probably have to buy a new desktop computer next. :panic:
(Luckily no MM sale at the moment that interests me.)
Happy Thursday, Ludmilla! :wave:

I’m not sure what’s going on with our computers/electronic devices this summer but it looks like my DH is going to need a new Fire tablet sometime soon. :pout:

As for my latest bag purchase, your four Theias played no small part in reminding me that you can never have too much of a good thing! :giggle:
 
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I was watching a luxury YouTuber who talked about “distraction bags”. Basically, you can’t yet afford the bag you really want, so instead you buy something more affordable that you like, but not as much, as a distraction. Or maybe it’s not an intentional distraction, but one nevertheless. I thought this was an interesting idea. I only want so many bags, as I don’t believe in having bags I don’t carry or even barely carry, and I can only carry so many. This means that even with my somewhat small group of bags, I already need to slow down and think out strategically what is missing and what I really want to fill the gaps. And avoid distraction bags.
 
I was watching a luxury YouTuber who talked about “distraction bags”. Basically, you can’t yet afford the bag you really want, so instead you buy something more affordable that you like, but not as much, as a distraction. Or maybe it’s not an intentional distraction, but one nevertheless. I thought this was an interesting idea. I only want so many bags, as I don’t believe in having bags I don’t carry or even barely carry, and I can only carry so many. This means that even with my somewhat small group of bags, I already need to slow down and think out strategically what is missing and what I really want to fill the gaps. And avoid distraction bags.
Rather than a distraction, an affordable attractive alternative can help you decide if the luxury designer bag you’re considering will work for you.

However if you already know that it will, then you are wise to wait.
 
I was watching a luxury YouTuber who talked about “distraction bags”. Basically, you can’t yet afford the bag you really want, so instead you buy something more affordable that you like, but not as much, as a distraction. Or maybe it’s not an intentional distraction, but one nevertheless. I thought this was an interesting idea. I only want so many bags, as I don’t believe in having bags I don’t carry or even barely carry, and I can only carry so many. This means that even with my somewhat small group of bags, I already need to slow down and think out strategically what is missing and what I really want to fill the gaps. And avoid distraction bags.
I found myself doing something similar this year. At first I wanted a Pochette Métis but then found I preferred the look of the YSL College bag instead. Both are more than I’d care to spend on a bag so I decided to shop around for a contemporary alternative. I happened to find two and I love them both, so I would consider myself successfully distracted. :biggrin:
 
I found myself doing something similar this year. At first I wanted a Pochette Métis but then found I preferred the look of the YSL College bag instead. Both are more than I’d care to spend on a bag so I decided to shop around for a contemporary alternative. I happened to find two and I love them both, so I would consider myself successfully distracted. :biggrin:
Not distracted as much as discerning, JVSXOXO. :ghi5:

All too often a luxury designer bag is the only thing anyone notices as opposed to an attractive contemporary alternative that draws the eye to your signature style. :ok:
 
Rather than a distraction, an affordable attractive alternative can help you decide if the luxury designer bag you’re considering will work for you.

However if you already know that it will, then you are wise to wait.
That's an interesting point. Have you done this? I have a bag in mind I'd like to have, but honestly I can't find a true affordable dupe. I can find something roughly the same size and sort of the same shape, but it doesn't look as good to me, nor do I think the quality is the same, so I'm not sure if getting it would help me decide one way or the other on the one I have my eye on. If you've done this, in what ways was the affordable bag similar and in what ways different? What characteristics are most important to be the same in doing this kind of trial?
 
I found myself doing something similar this year. At first I wanted a Pochette Métis but then found I preferred the look of the YSL College bag instead. Both are more than I’d care to spend on a bag so I decided to shop around for a contemporary alternative. I happened to find two and I love them both, so I would consider myself successfully distracted. :biggrin:
I'm glad you found bags you love! I'm sure they are super cute, without breaking the bank! Do you think you'll still get either the LV or YSL any time soon? Or maybe what I mean to ask is, do you still want those other bags, or have the more affordable bags filled the niche just fine?

I want a nice dining table. But when we got our cheap one, it was out of our price range (might still be), and our kids destroy everything anyway. Like this episode of Fresh Off The Boat, where they had bought a beautiful white sofa right before she found out she was pregnant (iirc) and just put it into storage until the kids were old enough that they thought it would be safe (spoiler: they finally took it out years later, only to have a kid spill chocolate ice cream on it). So, the table we have now I don't really consider a "distraction table" or anything, because we actually *need* a table. Unlike another bag, I definitely don't *need* another one of those. So we get the table that suits our situation right now, and maybe when the situation changes, I can have the table I really want. But when it comes to bags, since I don't actually need any more anyway, I now have to ask myself, "why am I buying it if it's not the one I really want?" I might be able to give myself a legit reason, like I just did with the Coach bag I just bought, lol. It's black, and fall is coming, and I don't have a black bag. Sounds legit, right, lol? And I like the bag, I honestly do. But the one I really want, I also want to get in black, so it is kind of like a distraction bag. And I'm not sure I want to keep buying in this way.

Though of course I know bag shopping and buying is fun, the more the merrier, a beautiful bag party! And more affordable bags let you have more of them, so I see the fun in that. Believe me, I see too much fun in it ...
 
That's an interesting point. Have you done this? I have a bag in mind I'd like to have, but honestly I can't find a true affordable dupe. I can find something roughly the same size and sort of the same shape, but it doesn't look as good to me, nor do I think the quality is the same, so I'm not sure if getting it would help me decide one way or the other on the one I have my eye on. If you've done this, in what ways was the affordable bag similar and in what ways different? What characteristics are most important to be the same in doing this kind of trial?
Probably my best example would be my vintage Botkier Crosstown Satchel.

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Actually predating the Lowe Puzzle bag, my Botkier Crosstown‘s quality, size, and design checks all the boxes for me at a price I could justify.*

(*full disclosure: as much as I admire luxury designer bags, my plebeian little soul cannot justify spending more on a bag than I have on some of the vehicles I’ve owned. :giggle: )

But perhaps more importantly, I am sufficiently enough of an egoist to have people compliment me for whatever bag I’m wearing rather than the designer. :rolleyes:
 
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