I never feel embarrassed exactly, but maybe a little defensive. I never care what strangers think of the bags I chose to carry, and most of my friends and acquaintances either don't say much, but if they do comment it's to compliment the bags. The people I feel defensive with over my bags are oddly enough my family members! Every time I get a new bag, my sister gets online and finds out how much I paid for it and immediately runs to my mother to "rat me out". Very immature, I know...especially considering the fact that she herself enjoys buying lots of designer goods. She just doesn't tell our mom how much SHE spends for her bags, shoes, sunglasses, etc. I suppose I could return the favor, but I refuse to stoop to her level.
Both my mom and my sister give me a hard time for spending so much money on my LV collection. I don't really understand it, either. They both have what they like and I don't give them a hard time about it. Neither one of them is really a big fan of LV, though and I think that might be a part of their issue. They don't understand why I would chose to have so many bags and spend so much money on a brand that they consider to be unattractive. Most of the time these days I choose to use a bag of a different brand when I'm going to be around them. I know that's me wimping out, but it's easier than endlessly explaining my choices to people who will never see my POV.
I just wear the bags I like and also like having the versatility in my bags to change out daily or for the seasons.
