Rakhee's off to ban island forever-my collection of eleven is complete!

rakhee81

Member
Apr 11, 2015
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Hello lovelies, I hope you all are having a lovely weekend wherever in the world you are!

I have been a bags and shoes person for as long as I can remember, and I recently posted about downsizing my collection of bags to a 'modest' 10 bags to cover all occasions. Well, last week I made the final addition to the family! Ok so I ended up with 11, but I really and truly am on ban island forever now and am so content with what I have. I know I have been very fortunate to have been able to indulge myself to collect these, so now I want to simply enjoy what I have and add no more [emoji4]

This is how I worked out what I 'needed':

2 work bags-a dark neutral and a lighter one
1 anytime tote
2 daytime smart neutrals
1 daytime neutral crossbody
1 neutral small dressy
1 black dressy
1 black casual/crossbody/clutch
1 small pop of colour
1 anytime clutch

And in that order this is what I have:

Mulberry Bayswater oxblood
Mulberry Bayswater graphite grey
Louis Vuitton neverfull mono mm
Chanel jumbo grey lambskin GHW
Mulberry medium lily dark beige
Gucci disco rose beige
Chloe mini drew motty grey
Chanel m/l chevron black lambskin GHW
Celine regular black trio
Bulgari serpenti small flap in emerald
A no name walnut wood box clutch

I'm not very good at taking lots of pics so this is my collection, short and sweet! Thank you all so much for letting me share [emoji4]IMG_1474757930.310219.jpgIMG_1474757949.266668.jpg
 
Absolutely beautiful collection!!
Love the diversity. The Bulgari and walnut clutch are my favorites

Thank you! I think the bulgari is my new fave (the newest is always my fave of the moment!) and the walnut clutch was the best buy ever!

i wanted to say "no way you can be contented with 11", but your choices convinced me. what a great selection! i think you covered all bases. great taste!

Thanks leooh! I started my collection from scratch 2 years ago with that in mind-wanted a manageable collection that was user friendly!
 
@Rakhee beautiful collection! I just started my collection few months ago and I feel so overwhelmed browsing on TPF. With all the new reveals and latest limited editions and waiting lists bags. How did you resist all that and how did you remain focused? Have you bought things and sold them afterwards in the process? I'd appreciate few tips [emoji4]. How about your SLG collection? Is it complete? Can we have a little peak? Thanks in advance [emoji4]
 
@Rakhee beautiful collection! I just started my collection few months ago and I feel so overwhelmed browsing on TPF. With all the new reveals and latest limited editions and waiting lists bags. How did you resist all that and how did you remain focused? Have you bought things and sold them afterwards in the process? I'd appreciate few tips [emoji4]. How about your SLG collection? Is it complete? Can we have a little peak? Thanks in advance [emoji4]

Ahh thank you! It's been a process that's for sure! When I first discovered my love for bags, I bought based on what I loved in terms of style/aesthetics/colour, and ended up with a small collection of bags that although I enjoyed looking at, I didn't enjoy using, mostly because I realised over time that for me and my lifestyle, I value practicality more than I thought!

So I decided to sell what I had, and stop buying any new until I had worked out what I needed for the way I live my life, and really wanted no more than 10 in total. I'd find myself browsing TPF (who am I kidding I mean stalking the forum for reveals!) for stories of what was working for other people and asking myself if that same item would work for me-and over about a year I came up with my list of categories. I learnt that so many bags I absolutely adore on other people wouldn't actually work for me.

I knew I wanted a collection of mainly classic timeless pieces with a couple of more 'trendy' pieces thrown in for good measure. My general rule of thumb was to try not to duplicate bags-so to have two that would cover the same occasion would mean I'd have to let another one go. To make the cut it would have to fit one of my categories and I'd have to love it/not be able to stop thinking about it!

That was two years ago and now I'm here and all done-and really very content with what I have. I admire so many of the other reveals here every day, but I don't feel the itch to buy any more myself-it's a nice feeling :smile:

As for SLGs, I'm just too lazy to switch out purses/wallets so I have just one long wallet, and two small coin purses, and that's me done there!

However I did apply the same process to buying fine jewellery and in the same time frame as the bags I've completed that collection too [emoji6]

I hope that rambling story helps even a little bit to getting you on your way with your collection x
 
Ahh thank you! It's been a process that's for sure! When I first discovered my love for bags, I bought based on what I loved in terms of style/aesthetics/colour, and ended up with a small collection of bags that although I enjoyed looking at, I didn't enjoy using, mostly because I realised over time that for me and my lifestyle, I value practicality more than I thought!

So I decided to sell what I had, and stop buying any new until I had worked out what I needed for the way I live my life, and really wanted no more than 10 in total. I'd find myself browsing TPF (who am I kidding I mean stalking the forum for reveals!) for stories of what was working for other people and asking myself if that same item would work for me-and over about a year I came up with my list of categories. I learnt that so many bags I absolutely adore on other people wouldn't actually work for me.

I knew I wanted a collection of mainly classic timeless pieces with a couple of more 'trendy' pieces thrown in for good measure. My general rule of thumb was to try not to duplicate bags-so to have two that would cover the same occasion would mean I'd have to let another one go. To make the cut it would have to fit one of my categories and I'd have to love it/not be able to stop thinking about it!

That was two years ago and now I'm here and all done-and really very content with what I have. I admire so many of the other reveals here every day, but I don't feel the itch to buy any more myself-it's a nice feeling :smile:

As for SLGs, I'm just too lazy to switch out purses/wallets so I have just one long wallet, and two small coin purses, and that's me done there!

However I did apply the same process to buying fine jewellery and in the same time frame as the bags I've completed that collection too [emoji6]

I hope that rambling story helps even a little bit to getting you on your way with your collection x

Thank you dear for taking the time to answer me. I personally had a speedy 35 for 3 years and never had the urge to buy more designer bags. Of course I had other bags that I used daily but they were never a high end brand. It's till I turned 31 that I start to think it's time to "invest" in quality pieces. Chanel, Hermés and LV comes to mind. In the last two months I purchased a Chanel jumbo XL as a first Chanel bag, soon after I bought a Chanel woc and few weeks ago I bought the Pochette Metise from LV. I tried the Chanel Jumbo and M/L but they weren't me. Now I see myself stalking the Hermès thread and thinking of ordering a Birkin. I'm trying to take a step back and think of what I really want and what I'd use more often instead of just "collecting" for the sake of it. I'm not a "rich" woman, but I do have more than what I really need in life. However, I do have to save for my purchases. I should give myself time, and maybe make some "mistakes" before I get to the point you are at. Enjoy your collection in good health dear [emoji173]️[emoji8][emoji4]
 
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Love your collection. Especially the rationale that went into it. After taking an almost 2 year absence from tpf, I'm reviewing my current collection and couldn't help but pull up a picture of my bags and compare to your well thought-out points listed at the beginning of the thread. Thanks so much for sharing.

I do have some questions though:
  1. Where did you get that wooden clutch? It's divine.
  2. If you were to extend your collection by 3 bags, what would they be and why? How about by 5? :graucho:
  3. Your jewelry collection - what was the reasoning process? Please share.
Thanks!
 
Love your collection. Especially the rationale that went into it. After taking an almost 2 year absence from tpf, I'm reviewing my current collection and couldn't help but pull up a picture of my bags and compare to your well thought-out points listed at the beginning of the thread. Thanks so much for sharing.

I do have some questions though:
  1. Where did you get that wooden clutch? It's divine.
  2. If you were to extend your collection by 3 bags, what would they be and why? How about by 5? :graucho:
  3. Your jewelry collection - what was the reasoning process? Please share.
Thanks!

Thank you for your kind words!

The wooden clutch was the best bag buy I ever made! I bought it from a high street store here in the uk (French Connection) about 8 years ago for the barginous price of about £50! It probably gets the most compliments of all my bags [emoji4]

Your next question is a difficult one because I really cannot imagine adding anymore bags to my collection! Of course there are many more out there that I love, but the reason they didn't make the cut in the first place is because when I applied my 'no two bags should cover the same occasion rule' I couldn't justify buying them considering what I already had. Three that I considered but didn't buy were the YSL shopping tote in black as a smarter work tote, a Hermes Evelyn pm in gold as a larger crossbody and a Chanel square lambskin mini in navy blue (just because it's super cute and I wear a lot of navy and don't have a navy bag!) But I have no plans to add these since I feel like I have bags in my collection that would cover the same occasions as these would already. That would just be a slippery slope! [emoji6]

Deciding on jewellery was easier than bags for me! It probably helped that I work in an environment that doesn't allow me to wear any jewellery at all to work except a pair of stud earrings!
So I decided all I would 'need' were:
1 pair of 'good for every occasion' stud earrings (mikimoto 7mm pearl studs)
1 ring (YG & diamond full eternity band)
1 watch (Cartier small tank francaise mop dial)
1 dainty 'goes with everything'/discreet pendant necklace (Tiffany DBTY YG 0.18 pendant)
1 more statement/visible pendant necklace for everyday and dressy (VCA vintage Alhambra single motif YG MOP)

And that's that! I still absolutely love looking at bags and jewellery but for me now it's nothing more than window shopping! HTHs! [emoji4]