Cost per wear? Do you care?

[GoStanford]

Since I'm a new mom NONE of my bags get used. If I'm ever without my daughter to run to the store or something I'll take a purse but that's MAYBE 1-3 times a month. It's starting to drive me crazy because my purses were my babies before her....but carrying 2 bags and a baby is just too much. So I'm thinking of investing in a speedy 35/40 bandoliere to act as a purse and diaper bag, but we'll see..

I think this is a losing battle, in the sense that while many here advocate to use designer bags when possible, the reality is that I'm not going to be happy about getting crumbs and spills inside a nice bag. I saw a mom of 3 at our school dealing with a water bottle spill inside her Celine bag at a basketball game. The toddler had somehow gotten hold of a loosely capped water bottle and poured out the contents into the inside of her bag. That was a little extreme, but you know, it could happen.

 

[bam253]

I think this is a losing battle, in the sense that while many here advocate to use designer bags when possible, the reality is that I'm not going to be happy about getting crumbs and spills inside a nice bag. I saw a mom of 3 at our school dealing with a water bottle spill inside her Celine bag at a basketball game. The toddler had somehow gotten hold of a loosely capped water bottle and poured out the contents into the inside of her bag. That was a little extreme, but you know, it could happen.

[emoji37][emoji33] yea, I can't imagine dealing with that lol I figure a speedy would be a good work horse, but not sure how I would feel if a bottle of water would spill in it because of my child.

 

[HopelessBagGirl]

Since I'm a new mom NONE of my bags get used. If I'm ever without my daughter to run to the store or something I'll take a purse but that's MAYBE 1-3 times a month. It's starting to drive me crazy because my purses were my babies before her....but carrying 2 bags and a baby is just too much. So I'm thinking of investing in a speedy 35/40 bandoliere to act as a purse and diaper bag, but we'll see..

I hear you and with one baby you might be able to swing a larger, somewhat ergonomical-carry designer bag as a diaper bag and purse but if and when you have more kids then you are just multitasking too much to take care of an expensive bag while caring for littles. Not to mention the functionality that starts to get prized that didn't matter as much before wearing a baby and holding the hand of a 2 year old securely in a parking lot....rummaging for keys drove me batty so now I wear them on a lanyard. The insulated side pockets for sippy cups to give cold water to a sweaty kid becomes very nice, and when a fruit pouch explodes in a bag pocket, it's nice if it's a wipe clean nylon material.
I have several large leather purses in my closet sitting on shelves for a pretty display but they are waiting years for me because I have 4 kids and I'm carrying a jujube be right back diaper backpack regularly and only use my smallest leather lovelies on rare date nights. I do get a lot of use of huge zip around wallet/clutches that have detachable long straps, that I drop in my diaper bag (backpack) and then if I run into a store quickly I just take that with me and my phone fits in and zips fine. So I have a collection of those that make me happy in lieu of using my bag collection.

 

[Summerfriend]

Adding another voice to the chorus that just can't find it practical to use any kind of designer bag as a diaper bag. I vote for using something sturdy, nylon, and strictly utilitarian (i.e., lots of pockets and compartments specifically designed for cups and gross, wet, sticky, crumbly things) until they're a bit older, then reward yourself for getting through the baby years with a fabulous dream bag! LVs are practical, and yes, they're workhorses, but a baby bag takes "workhorse" to an entirely new level. After 5 years of hard use, my diaper bag was ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING. Now that my kids are a bit older (well, 2.5 and 5, so we're not ENTIRELY out of the woods yet) I use a Neverfull as my "mom" bag, but while I was in the wearing/carrying a baby stage, and carrying actual diapers and wipes and all that stuff all the time . . . no. I needed padded straps. I needed something literally indestructible. Something that could go straight in the trash at the end of its tour of duty. LOL.

 

[HopelessBagGirl]

Adding another voice to the chorus that just can't find it practical to use any kind of designer bag as a diaper bag. I vote for using something sturdy, nylon, and strictly utilitarian (i.e., lots of pockets and compartments specifically designed for cups and gross, wet, sticky, crumbly things) until they're a bit older, then reward yourself for getting through the baby years with a fabulous dream bag! LVs are practical, and yes, they're workhorses, but a baby bag takes "workhorse" to an entirely new level. After 5 years of hard use, my diaper bag was ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING. Now that my kids are a bit older (well, 2.5 and 5, so we're not ENTIRELY out of the woods yet) I use a Neverfull as my "mom" bag, but while I was in the wearing/carrying a baby stage, and carrying actual diapers and wipes and all that stuff all the time . . . no. I needed padded straps. I needed something literally indestructible. Something that could go straight in the trash at the end of its tour of duty. LOL.

I agree but have to say that the magic of jujube is that they are machine washable and the eBay resale value is incredible. I have only made money using jujube, and it rocks to throw it in the machine.

 

[Summerfriend]

I agree but have to say that the magic of jujube is that they are machine washable and the eBay resale value is incredible. I have only made money using jujube, and it rocks to throw it in the machine.

My diaper bag was a Jujube as well! Best diaper bag ever. I didn't realize there was a good resale market for them - I should have washed mine and sold it!

 

[Sparkletastic]

All the dialogue and perspective being shared is really interesting.

I "get" the thought that as long as anyone loves a bag the price doesn't matter. Ultimately our bags are there to carry our stuff and make us happy!!
Just for me, I couldn't be happy with a bag I wasn't using fairly regularly (my personal definition of 6+ times a year) . That would signal to me that I purchased poorly because the bag didn't draw me to it once it was in my closet. So it would have to go.

However number of wears is so much easier for me to manage than CPW so all the comments are really helping me thing this through. I doubt I could never get to $5 or less CPW on most of my bags. I like too much variety combined with bags that are too expensive. LOL!!! But I'm thinking $50- $100 per wear over the entirety of my ownership of a premium designer bag may be good goal for me???? I have one premium designer bag that I bought on sale a year ago. It easily floated down to $35/ wear because it's so versatile. But another that I bought preloved 7 months ago is still at $900 / wear. I can't see myself "forcing" me to carry the latter bag. I carry it as I enjoy it but the CPW does keep me conscious about wearing it and conscious about slowing my buys until I wear what I have.

Hmmm...still thinking. Please keep your comments coming.

+1
I use the stylebook app to easily keep track of cost per wear.
My threshold is $5/wear - I remember seeing this written somewhere. I know it's probably arbitrary but it works for me (and is more achievable than $1/wear haha)

Wow! $5 per wear! That's awesome!! That would seem to be very tough to do. Do you carry just one bag at a time or just keep your bags for a while?

Adding another voice to the chorus that just can't find it practical to use any kind of designer bag as a diaper bag. I vote for using something sturdy, nylon, and strictly utilitarian (i.e., lots of pockets and compartments specifically designed for cups and gross, wet, sticky, crumbly things) until they're a bit older, then reward yourself for getting through the baby years with a fabulous dream bag! LVs are practical, and yes, they're workhorses, but a baby bag takes "workhorse" to an entirely new level. After 5 years of hard use, my diaper bag was ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING. Now that my kids are a bit older (well, 2.5 and 5, so we're not ENTIRELY out of the woods yet) I use a Neverfull as my "mom" bag, but while I was in the wearing/carrying a baby stage, and carrying actual diapers and wipes and all that stuff all the time . . . no. I needed padded straps. I needed something literally indestructible. Something that could go straight in the trash at the end of its tour of duty. LOL.

I agree with all of these comments. When I had small children the bags I carried when I was with them (v. work or a date with DH) were very much workhorses that could get placed on the ground, spit up on, hold cookies or the random frog my son added, etc. No way I wanted to worry over a bag. I wanted to focus on my kids.

But everyone is different. Some people truly can look flawless and carry a $5000 bag while happily managing 3 kids under 5. That is a gift and a skill I didn't have. It would have been nice, though. I admire their organization and style when they can do it!

 

[Summerfriend]

CPW does keep me conscious about wearing it and conscious about slowing my buys until I wear what I have.

This is basically how CPW functions for me. It makes me think twice before buying if I still haven't squeezed enough use/enjoyment out of what I already have. I'm wrestling with this now, as I really want a Chanel clutch. But I JUST BOUGHT a Balenciaga clutch that I HAVEN'T EVEN USED YET, and how many occasions do I have for using a clutch anyway??? That said, it would take many years of using the clutch I have to get CPW down to a reasonable number. Perhaps, on some level, I AM willing to pay just to *own* something pretty (which I claim not to want to do . . . ).

 

[ladysarah]

This is basically how CPW functions for me. It makes me think twice before buying if I still haven't squeezed enough use/enjoyment out of what I already have. I'm wrestling with this now, as I really want a Chanel clutch. But I JUST BOUGHT a Balenciaga clutch that I HAVEN'T EVEN USED YET, and how many occasions do I have for using a clutch anyway??? That said, it would take many years of using the clutch I have to get CPW down to a reasonable number. Perhaps, on some level, I AM willing to pay just to *own* something pretty (which I claim not to want to do . . . ).

Clutches have the highest cost per wear- frightening really... I am doing a chart of real life outfits for real occasions, so I have something magnificent to wear for every eventuality, rather than imaginary lifestyle outfits that never see the light of day...

 

[jayohwhy]

After reassessing my financial goals, I realized that cost per wear matters to me. I can't shell out for a bag that I won't be using every day. For me, that means that as beautiful as they are, chanel flaps are out since I count among my daily essentials are a water bottle, ipad mini and small dslr. Knowing what I want to carry helps me control what bags I spend money on. I think that the more money I spend on bags, the longer I should expect to wear them. My current daily bag costs twice as much as my wedding rings and is six months of car payments so I sure as hell should be using it a lot!

 

[Vintage Leather]

Clutches have the highest cost per wear- frightening really... I am doing a chart of real life outfits for real occasions, so I have something magnificent to wear for every eventuality, rather than imaginary lifestyle outfits that never see the light of day...

I'll admit, I have a deep and abiding weakness for clutches. Fortunately, I was able to streamline my EDC to the point where I can be that person who is carrying the VBH Envelope to the hardware store, and the vintage Gucci to work...

 

[RuedeNesle]

Hi!
I've always considered CPW (except for one impulsive Dolce and Gabbana purchase.) I use my "cappuccino theory". I divide the cost of the bag by the current cost of a Starbucks quad grande cappuccino. (My drink of choice.) The answer is the number of times I need to carry a bag before I can retire it to my closet without guilt. I carry red bags mostly and I carry them with whatever I wear so I get a lot of use from a bag, especially if I stick to the things I need for my everyday bag. (Zip top, outside zipper pocket, for example.)

 

[Sparkletastic]

I am doing a chart of real life outfits for real occasions, so I have something magnificent to wear for every eventuality, rather than imaginary lifestyle outfits that never see the light of day...

THIS! Yes! I made that change a couple of years ago. No more buying for high tea with the Queen or clubbing til 5am with Beyoncé in Dubai. And on the other end, no slouching out to "comfortable" unattractive clothes when I can wear great clothes that are both fashionable AND comfortable.

I want to look the very best I can for my real, everyday life. And not own anything that doesn't help me with that goal.

Hi!
I've always considered CPW (except for one impulsive Dolce and Gabbana purchase.) I use my "cappuccino theory". I divide the cost of the bag by the current cost of a Starbucks quad grande cappuccino. (My drink of choice.) The answer is the number of times I need to carry a bag before I can retire it to my closet without guilt. I carry red bags mostly and I carry them with whatever I wear so I get a lot of use from a bag, especially if I stick to the things I need for my everyday bag. (Zip top, outside zipper pocket, for example.)

This is a really good approach. To set CPW in alignment with another daily consumeable. Thanks for this idea. I don't drink coffee but I love the logic behind this.

 

[bam253]

THIS! Yes! I made that change a couple of years ago. No more buying for high tea with the Queen or clubbing til 5am with Beyoncé in Dubai. And on the other end, no slouching out to "comfortable" unattractive clothes when I can wear great clothes that are both fashionable AND comfortable.

I want to look the very best I can for my real, everyday life. And not own anything that doesn't help me with that goal.

This is toooooo funny!! I buy not just purses but clothes and everything I "might" need for events in my life that will
Probably never happen. I should reel it in like you did lol

 

[HopelessBagGirl]

Thanks to you guys I just got the stylebook app and started uploading wardrobe pictures and logging my daily outfit!