By changing handbags often, do we miss out?

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#121
Wow, best thread I've read in a long time! I'm so glad it got bumped because I never saw it originally.

It was great to read through the beautiful memories of moms & grandmas, and the psychology of why we love our handbags so much. I think maybe men should have to read through this to understand why we're willing to blow so much cash on these things :smile1:

I'm sort of a minimalist so I only have a few bags that I use constantly. I was on a non-optional ban for a long time due to finances so I'm just now getting around to upgrading & re-evaluating my collection. I've had 3 LV bags for the last 9 years. One was my everyday purse, one was my "rainy" everyday purse, and one was for going out at night. I bought them all when I was 18-19 and I'm turning 27 soon so my needs have changed. The 2 daily bags are top handles and I need crossbody bags, so I've just purchased a Chanel which can be worn either crossbody or on the shoulder. It will be my everyday black bag and you bet I'm going to bond and use the living heck out of it! I plan on it being my signature purse for at least the next 10-15 years. Next year I plan to buy one other nice versatile bag in red, and then I'll sell one of the LV to compensate. I don't ever want multiples of the same color or function bags.
 
#122
Oh how I wish I could go back in the days with my two small children. All I carried was my LV Speedy 25. That bag carried everything even diapers! I had to sell it, being a SAHM I was always broke. I still wish I could go back in time. I really loved that bag :)
 
#124
Like others have stated this is an interesting and thought provoking thread. I am one of those people who doesn't bond with a bag (use it for more than a month) and as a result many of my bags go unused throughout the year. So, I've enjoyed reading the posts. Perhaps there are those select few (1-3) handbags that are known as ones signature style and you rotate in other bags as the mood or outfit dictates. I think I will try this method to see if I can let the majority my bags see the light of day throughout the year.
 
#125
I think as far as purses and perfume go I'm a serial monogamous girl. I've carried the same handbag, a Dooney Moss Domed Florentine for a couple weeks shy of a year and the same perfume, Este Lauder Sensous Nude, since last summer. I have a small black Kate Spade I use for a fancy night out, which is very rare, and a huge MBMJ bag I used for a long trip where I had to carry a lot of files around.

Having been apart from the Dooney pretty rarely I got very attached and it headed a little bit toward Grandma's purse status. I think the mobile home feel takes years longer, but the thought is very appealing to me.

I love purses and often look at what's new on the market, more to soak in the designs then to shop for a new one. Almost always I see a purse and find some little thing that just isn't as good as the one I've bonded with and move on with no desire to switch. I never look back and think I should get a purse I saw.

Then I met her. I don't know why, she's pretty non descript, not a look at my purse purse at all, but for the last month she's filled my thoughts. I look at my purse and I see the signs of wear and faults I never saw before. Her raggedy looking handles and color that and clash with an outfit if you're not careful now seem to really bother me.

I don't know if this other bag, is just THE bag for me, the one I'm destined to grow old with, and the Dooney is the equivelent of my high school sweetie I married way too young or if I've just hit the purse equivalent of the 7 year itch.

I have free time this afternoon and am thinking of taking yet another look at her.
 
#127
I never knew my grandmothers on both my parents side as both passed away before I was born as I am the youngest in my family. My late mother always carried a small purse everywhere and when I bought her a larger bag, she complained that it was too large for her. She passed away 9 years ago and I have been regretting not buying her nicer bags, but when I looked back, I was only addicted to buying bags since the last 6 years or so. Before that I use only one bag at a time and will only get a new one once it becomes torn or something like that. Now I own more than 20 bags, most of it being gifts from DH and I try to rotate them depending on what I wear and the occasion. My latest addition is a LV Speedy B mono and a Chanel jumbo Black caviar which I consider the ultimate bag for now and I have put myself on a two year bag ban.
 
#128
I cannot imagine using just one bag but I love the thought of just needing one bag and nothing else.

Times have changed and with today's fast fashion, one bag no longer works for all our outfits. I can see myself using just one bag for day and one for night if I lived in a time where we darn our good clothes and buying new ones were an annual thing like before Christmas or for the new year and maybe birthdays. Same for shoes.
 
#130
I have to agree that reading this thread was thought provoking. The question of what I really need and why is interesting. Often I want to have different options in every situation and the thought of not having a choice is not nice. Still I think it is something in our time that there needs to be options options options.

I usually use one everyday bag for quite some time and then change for another one when I feel like its time to change it, it varies how long the season is. Then I also have smaller bags for evening wear but usually am quite "monogamous" for a season, but could not imagine being that for the rest of my life with one single bag.
 
#131
I love this thread. I have thought of this same thing too! I love using the same bag for months at a time. Why not? Jennifer Aniston carrys the same bag for months at a time - maybe even almost a year - her Tom Fords, BV. Jackie Kennedy carried her same cream & tan leather Hermes hobo for most of her life - please correct me if I am wrong - but I believe it is Hermes. I have a book where she is seen carrying it in the 70's & again, the same bag, but of course worn & loved looking, in the few years before she died in the early 90's. It is a bag that I would carry - a classic of course!

I can see carrying my Chloe Marcie & my black RM MAM the most in my life. Both bags are classic & quality & I love those bags.

My grandmother had the same bag forever too It was a cream colored satchel that she wore on her arm. She probably bought it from Macys, but she carried it for so many years. I guess things were different years ago. They also did not have TPF to help enable!!;)
 
#132
LisaAR said:
The color block tartine satchel from J Crew. http://www.jcrew.com/womens_category/handbags/PRDOVR~53166/53166.jsp

It's not an oh wow purse, but for some reason it really rang with me. I actually picked it up and am settled into to it. There's a little guilt going on about leaving my old bag, but hey that's what therapy is for :smile1:
Click to expand...

OMG that bag is TDF!! I was in line a few days ago making a return at J Crew & did not bring my wallet, so did not see the need to shop. Anyway, I could see the handbag section while waiting in line & that is one bag that absolutely stood out. What a gorgeous bag, great price & classic style! I could not stop staring at it! Glad I did not bring my wallet:p

Oh well, maybe I can wait for a 30% off sale....
 
#133
beachgirl38 said:
OMG that bag is TDF!! I was in line a few days ago making a return at J Crew & did not bring my wallet, so did not see the need to shop. Anyway, I could see the handbag section while waiting in line & that is one bag that absolutely stood out. What a gorgeous bag, great price & classic style! I could not stop staring at it! Glad I did not bring my wallet:p

Oh well, maybe I can wait for a 30% off sale....
Click to expand...
Thanks. Good luck, I hope you find a sale one.
 
#134
katarine said:
I have to agree that reading this thread was thought provoking. The question of what I really need and why is interesting. Often I want to have different options in every situation and the thought of not having a choice is not nice. Still I think it is something in our time that there needs to be options options options.

I usually use one everyday bag for quite some time and then change for another one when I feel like its time to change it, it varies how long the season is. Then I also have smaller bags for evening wear but usually am quite "monogamous" for a season, but could not imagine being that for the rest of my life with one single bag.
Click to expand...


I recently read about a study that someone did about # of choices and satisfaction level. They concluded that the more choices there are, the less satisfied that people are with what they choose. (Actually, now that I think about it, I think it was in Atlantic Monthly, and the article was, strangely enough, about online dating. LOL.)

I thought of this old thread, after so long, because I really struggle with wanting to be simple in how I approach handbags. Part of me craves to just have a Speedy and a Chanel Flap and a Neverfull. But part of me just sees bags and wants bags and buys bags. (And that is the part that has won out, mostly.)

I think I need to decide whether I am really serious about this simplicity longing, or if I'm just nostalgic for simplicity in general for my life. Something I really love about having handbags as a hobby is that I am really forced to think deeply.
 
#135
I miss my time when I only have a few bags, too. Now that I have too many bags, I have to rotate to justify them. It's exhausted. And those that don't get used look kinda sad. :( I really think I'm missing out on all the fun of having simplified collection.
 
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