I was an executive b4 becoming a SAHM....and did a lot of interviewing/hiring. First, I think that we think about our bags more than any else thinks of our bag. But, that said, I think that the style of bag that your carry is more important than the brand. If the style is appropriate and professional, the brand does not really matter. I would go with a "portfolio", brief, or tote style that looks professional....whatever brand/logo it is.
Help! 20-something job interview/Chanel in the workplace: Chanel or NOT to Chanel?
- Thread starter janny328
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i would say to play it safe, take a bag like a YSL muse or something that is less logo flashy...even tho the Chanel timeless classic flaps arent...that chain and the CC closure is just more obvious...if that makes any sense...
hope this helps some!
I agree with the op. After you get the job and people get to know you feel free to bring your beautiful bags, but initally play it safe. After all, get a job is about first impressions.
I try not to wear anything with logos at work. My coworkers make snotty comments like "we must be paying you too much" if they see something nice. Also once I was perusing the purse forum at work and they guffawed. My work bag is an LV Epi Passy but most people don't know it's LV bc it is just the epi leather with no logos. Even thought the people I work with make $200k+ they are still very frugal and judge me for what I wear and how much clothing I have. I'd be careful, not everyone's work environment will be like this but you never want to risk giving a negative first impression.
I agree good advice!
I wouldn't bring my chanel to an interview like some of the ladies who suggested the low key, that will be a good idea..
I so much agree with this! But it depends, like if it was a male boss, most males do not care about women's bags typically, many don't even know *how much* these costs or what designers they are. Males pay attention to jewelry, though! A female boss, however, if she were of the fashionable-types (not a tomboyish one but a fashionable one like the vogue editor in the devil wears Prada), I would not bring in a better bag than her's unless we were both on level field, which basically means she is not my boss, but more of a partner, then anything goes! I once had a boss who was very tomboish and she never ever paid attention to or made comments about my bags, which was great
'cause I would bring them in and she clearly had no idea. However she knew watches very well. I knew that so I played my cards around that and I would not come in with something better than hers, just shows respect KWIM!
No I wouldn't, I work in a government job and do not earn enough but save like crazy to pay for the things I like.
Being a civil servant is different from private sector culture. No one will understand, they will also think you were a show off and/or carrying a fake.
Being a civil servant is different from private sector culture. No one will understand, they will also think you were a show off and/or carrying a fake.
My daughter is in her 20's and in the fashion industry, and in addition works with women. I still advised her never to wear a chanel bag to work. When you are earning the salary that justifies buying a bag like that, is when you can pull it off. Starting a new position in your 20's, and going to work with chanel clothing or accessories, is just getting off on the wrong foot.Hi All!
I've been struggling with this for a couple weeks now. I will be interviewing for this government internship in a couple weeks, and the position is actually very sought after. I've been planning my attire, and I can't help to think how gorgeous a Chanel would look with all of my potential outfits.
But here's the problem, do I bring it or not? I don't want to potentially give off the "wrong" impression to someone. I've had bad experiences at previous jobs where people saw my designer bags and assumed "ugh, why even bother working, little rich girl" -which is the furthest from the truth, because I work very hard for those bags! But I understand that being relatively young (24) can kind of be touchy to older/established professionals, that might not appreciate a good designer bag like a Chanel.
My uncle, who works for the organization I will be interviewing into took me to take my initial placement exam, and I was carrying an LV speedy, since I had to set it on the floor and I didn't want it to get a Chanel dirty (and I didn't think anything of it, because... it's "just" an old speedy -does that sound bad? sorry, LOL) And he made the comment of: "wow, LV to the exam, you probably have a better bag than the proctor!" but in a cute way, although I couldn't help to think "o, no... I hope they don't think anything"
So all of this REALLY made me question it:
-What are all of your thoughts? Do it, or not... And any of you struggling/struggled with the same dilemma?
-Professionals, do you ever feel like you have to "hide" your bags at work?
and can't help to think: if it's a "big NO" ...does that mean I need to hide all my designer bags the entire duration I'm at this job?!
Thanks in advance for all your thoughts/suggestions/comments!
GOVERNMENT internship? No way. Definitely no Chanel as far as I'm concerned. Maybe if you were in advertisng or PR where all the girls no matter their position or salary seem to carry designer bags, but not for a government job. You want to be known for your work, not your fashion taste/budget.
Thanks, Meifa, bagtasia, Jessica721, and danicky, for all the thoughts and advice, I was already pretty sure I should bring something understated, as I am the one that needs to make the longest lasting impression, NOT the bag 
-But my Chanels were just sitting in the closet saying "please bring me!" (LOL) so I just wanted to see what everyone else here thought.
Regina: you don't have a seat during the interview? -Most of my interviews, they've asked me to "take a seat." Thanks for the great advice, if there's anyone's 2 cents I'm going to take it's certainly going to be yours!
Anything I can do to one day amass a collection of 70+ Chanels! And okay, I will not go the walmart bag route, haha -maybe if they saw me using a hideous bag, they'd think "we better give this girl a job so she can afford to buy a new bag and replace that ugly thing" 
Roey: Ugh, workplace politics! You have so much life experience, I'm sure you could certainly teach me a thing or two about job interviews and jobs in general. LOL at the visa thing... maybe you should have asked your aunt to borrow her fake logo Chanel, the girl at the bank might have given you a 0% a.p.r. for a year because of that alone!
Celia: Hi hun, haven't said "hi" to ya in a while! Hope all is well with you... I will certainly take your advice to heart. Actually, maybe a BBag would be good -they're not really that branded, and SOOO many people here in L.A. have the look-a-likes from forever 21 or downtown, so I'm sure they'dd just assume it was a copy. Must have been hard to go back to work after having your son, it would be so hard to leave that adorable little face at home and go to work everyday!
mmmpurses!: Thank you for that wonderful point! I certainly never thought about it that way... I'm certain the Chanel is staying home now. And I agree on gaging my bosses/co-workers before wearing anything that could potentially be questionable. I think I was just jaded because my last full-time job was in the fashion industry, and my boss LOVED purses. In fact, if we mentioned a bag we liked, she would try to convince us to get it just so she could live vicariously through our purchases (and vice-versa)! In retrospect, having her as a boss for 2 years probably gave me a warped opinion on bringing designer things to work. O well, if I do get the job and they never get to show themselves in the workplace, that just means I need to go out more and use them elsewhere. LOL
Thanks again for all your advice!
Jen: HI Jen!! *waves* -how have you been?! Thanks for your thoughts, glad someone else is going through the same thing with interviewing and such. Good luck with all of yours!
karman: Don't worry girl, wouldn't that be sad if I had the most amazing outfit and completely blanked out on the questions?? LOL, that would be bad. I'm just trying to get everything down to the last "t", but have been completely stressed about what they could potentially ask me -thanks for your advice!
Thanks for your thoughts, jellybeanz, e_pinpin, LVDevotee, gucci fan, keodi, carvedwords, chanelbaby, codyntara and IntlSet!! I really appreciate your advice and honest opinions...!
lebagfairy: I hope they are not all frugal and will potentially judge my wardrobe if I get the job! But this is the real world we are talking about... I just keep hoping there will either be some guys who have NO idea what anything costs, or some ladies who would appreciate it. Sorry you've had some bad experiences! Thanks
Hi Nat! Thank you for the well wishes, it's not for a couple weeks, but still very nervous planning my potential responses and what I will wear.
Thank you, bisousx! Let's hope I can eventually bring them out, LOL. If not that just means I will need to bring them everywhere else! Hope you, DH, and your cutie pie, Brie are all doing well!
Thanks everyone... I think I'm pretty intent on NOT bringing anything flashy (and certainly not Chanel). Just the curse of my last 2 jobs, which were more fashion related than business related, and they actually cared about these things. All the advice and comments are truly appreciated!
-But my Chanels were just sitting in the closet saying "please bring me!" (LOL) so I just wanted to see what everyone else here thought.Regina: you don't have a seat during the interview? -Most of my interviews, they've asked me to "take a seat." Thanks for the great advice, if there's anyone's 2 cents I'm going to take it's certainly going to be yours!
Anything I can do to one day amass a collection of 70+ Chanels! And okay, I will not go the walmart bag route, haha -maybe if they saw me using a hideous bag, they'd think "we better give this girl a job so she can afford to buy a new bag and replace that ugly thing" Roey: Ugh, workplace politics! You have so much life experience, I'm sure you could certainly teach me a thing or two about job interviews and jobs in general. LOL at the visa thing... maybe you should have asked your aunt to borrow her fake logo Chanel, the girl at the bank might have given you a 0% a.p.r. for a year because of that alone!
Celia: Hi hun, haven't said "hi" to ya in a while! Hope all is well with you... I will certainly take your advice to heart. Actually, maybe a BBag would be good -they're not really that branded, and SOOO many people here in L.A. have the look-a-likes from forever 21 or downtown, so I'm sure they'dd just assume it was a copy. Must have been hard to go back to work after having your son, it would be so hard to leave that adorable little face at home and go to work everyday!
mmmpurses!: Thank you for that wonderful point! I certainly never thought about it that way... I'm certain the Chanel is staying home now. And I agree on gaging my bosses/co-workers before wearing anything that could potentially be questionable. I think I was just jaded because my last full-time job was in the fashion industry, and my boss LOVED purses. In fact, if we mentioned a bag we liked, she would try to convince us to get it just so she could live vicariously through our purchases (and vice-versa)! In retrospect, having her as a boss for 2 years probably gave me a warped opinion on bringing designer things to work. O well, if I do get the job and they never get to show themselves in the workplace, that just means I need to go out more and use them elsewhere. LOL
Thanks again for all your advice!Jen: HI Jen!! *waves* -how have you been?! Thanks for your thoughts, glad someone else is going through the same thing with interviewing and such. Good luck with all of yours!
karman: Don't worry girl, wouldn't that be sad if I had the most amazing outfit and completely blanked out on the questions?? LOL, that would be bad. I'm just trying to get everything down to the last "t", but have been completely stressed about what they could potentially ask me -thanks for your advice!
Thanks for your thoughts, jellybeanz, e_pinpin, LVDevotee, gucci fan, keodi, carvedwords, chanelbaby, codyntara and IntlSet!! I really appreciate your advice and honest opinions...!
lebagfairy: I hope they are not all frugal and will potentially judge my wardrobe if I get the job! But this is the real world we are talking about... I just keep hoping there will either be some guys who have NO idea what anything costs, or some ladies who would appreciate it. Sorry you've had some bad experiences! Thanks
Hi Nat! Thank you for the well wishes, it's not for a couple weeks, but still very nervous planning my potential responses and what I will wear.
Thank you, bisousx! Let's hope I can eventually bring them out, LOL. If not that just means I will need to bring them everywhere else! Hope you, DH, and your cutie pie, Brie are all doing well!
Thanks everyone... I think I'm pretty intent on NOT bringing anything flashy (and certainly not Chanel). Just the curse of my last 2 jobs, which were more fashion related than business related, and they actually cared about these things. All the advice and comments are truly appreciated!
Wow, I think we are the same person! I had the same issue- I went to school and interned in D.C. and now work in my hometown in Maryland. I would suggest NOT taking a logo’ed or recognizable designer bag to an interview...Please, please learn from my experience....I have had very negative interactions from people based on this( I was also an HR intern, so I have experience as a recruiter too!).
Many of the other posters have said carrying a designer bag does not matter and in the real world, it may not but in the HR world image is everything. While we may applaud your taste in handbags, as an interviewer, I may wonder why you are carrying such an item, when you know you are going to be judged on your appearance. Do you want us to know your financial status? Are you trying too hard? Are you just a stylish woman? Bearing all of this in mind, I'd suggest that you to err on the conservative side and here's why:
While I grew up in blue blood Baltimore where LV is king, for others Vuitton stands for ostentatious, flashy fashion and all things vulgar in our society (I’m not hating just relaying some of the comments hurled at my LV'd out classmates). D.C. is notoriously conservative and "designer-designer" fashion is not really commonplace! Therefore, you may stick out more than you'd like in certain parts of the city and not for a good reason...
My main, long-winded point is this: You have busted your butt to get a nice internship opportunity, why ruin it with something so trivial. You deserve to be rewarded for your hard work...Other people will not be wearing visibly noticeable designer duds (everything on CH may be pricey but very low-key). Wear something classic, dressier than the workplace and a smile...unlabeled Chanel may work but keep the monogram Speedy at home....Good Luck!
Many of the other posters have said carrying a designer bag does not matter and in the real world, it may not but in the HR world image is everything. While we may applaud your taste in handbags, as an interviewer, I may wonder why you are carrying such an item, when you know you are going to be judged on your appearance. Do you want us to know your financial status? Are you trying too hard? Are you just a stylish woman? Bearing all of this in mind, I'd suggest that you to err on the conservative side and here's why:
While I grew up in blue blood Baltimore where LV is king, for others Vuitton stands for ostentatious, flashy fashion and all things vulgar in our society (I’m not hating just relaying some of the comments hurled at my LV'd out classmates). D.C. is notoriously conservative and "designer-designer" fashion is not really commonplace! Therefore, you may stick out more than you'd like in certain parts of the city and not for a good reason...
My main, long-winded point is this: You have busted your butt to get a nice internship opportunity, why ruin it with something so trivial. You deserve to be rewarded for your hard work...Other people will not be wearing visibly noticeable designer duds (everything on CH may be pricey but very low-key). Wear something classic, dressier than the workplace and a smile...unlabeled Chanel may work but keep the monogram Speedy at home....Good Luck!
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I am an HR Director so I interview people all the time, I would say leave the Chanel bag at home. Unless you are interviewing for a high level job, where you are already expected to be "well off" (translation carry a designer bag). It gives off the wrong impression.
If someone came in for an internship interview with a Chanel bag I would definitely think about hiring them twice!
If someone came in for an internship interview with a Chanel bag I would definitely think about hiring them twice!
I would definately leave the bag at home! You always have to think about your "audience" and what they would think when you are out there in the corporate working world. I dont take my designer bags to work because I am worried the secretaries will think I am getting paid too much! I also leave my engagment ring at home for the same reason! ( it is 5 carats) I am always worried what people will think.....