So generous of you to say! I’m actually constantly trying to reconcile my love for my collection and my drive for minimalism as well. I’m not worried about fitting the definition of a minimalist. But I do wonder why both aspects remain important to me- if they are seemingly opposing practices. It’s a funny little paradox...My current bag situation is being heavily influenced by limitations resulting from the COVID situation. Deep down inside, I know that I should be reducing my collection further. Unfortunately, I’m not very good at living within realistic limits....which is really weird considering my fascination with minimalism. Geez, I’m 70 years old....when will I lose this interest in bags?! (It started when I was 16.) It’s been 54 years!
Time to go back and get another @Aerdem editing ‘fix’. Her edited interior & bag collection has pretty much become my minimalism role model. (My version has white walls & vibrant art.) If I could just master editing the kitchen cabinets, extra closets and laundry room cabinets, I’d be on my way.....
Share Your Edited Bag Closet Journey......
- Thread starter diane278
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I won't fool myself in claiming to be a minimalist. I love to be surrounded by things.
I doubt that I fit anyone else’s definition of a minimalist. Not every wall in my house is a gallery wall like this one. But, strange as it may seem. I see this wall of 6 paintings as ‘minimalist‘. Maybe a better word would be ‘edited’....and there are walls with just one painting, but none are bare. I wonder why I’m fine with a lot of art but feel overwhelmed by 16 handbags.
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I will address the last sentence first - art requests nothing of us than our eyes and hearts. Bags ask us to fill them and take them and love them and touch them and...... I love bags and art but if I had to give up one category it would be bags. (I could turn one of my lesser artworks into a sac to carry my things around in!)
Your home is amazing and I love your gallery wall - I do think it feels minimalist - it's very tightly edited and I love the arrangement. It's tough to work around a TV (I took a similar approach with surrounding it).
Thank you for so generously sharing your lovely things with us!
I have art nearly everywhere too, not just on the walls but on the surfaces too.
This is incredible. It does indeed feel minimal because each piece feels extremely deliberate. Actually, my immediate thought was this space feels elevated to sacred place.
I have no clue what true minimalism is. I don't like clutter, but I want enough for the house to look and feel warm. But whatever it is Diane has it to perfection. I love all of her art and her house.
You’re welcome. It’s taken a long time to get to this point, but I’ve loved every minute of the journey.
I love sculptural pieces too. For some reason, I focused on paintings. I think subconsciously I might have been treating my bags as my sculptures. I’m not sure.
I moved into this house when I got divorced 20 years ago. It was the first place where I could decorate just for myself. It’s also when I started buying most of my art.
Well, the discussion here has moved me forward. These three clutches may be moving on. For now, they’re moving into the Closet of Departing Bags. I’m not rushing into anything, but I’ve been struggling with this and now feel like I’m making progress. Thank you!
...and let’s add this one....purchased 2 years ago and never used.....
...and let’s add this one....purchased 2 years ago and never used.....
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I'm lucky in that my husband either shares my taste for art or doesn't mind what I do with the house.
During covid, I came back to TPF and I read a bunch of older posts. I loved this one and hope everyone reads it. Whenever I get to the friends grandmother, I tear up a bit.I don't know if my opinion will be helpful, but I'll share in the hopes that you get some idea of how I personally deal with these choices. Perhaps as more of us talk, you'll find a system that works for you.
The most important thing to remember is that it is a personal journey and there's no right or wrong way to edit, only the way that brings you personal peace.
In relation to the points I've quoted:
1/2- For bags I don't use frequently, I ask myself if they serve a specific function that can justify keeping them. For eg- my beater bag for when I'm volunteering (anything else would be inappropriate in a shelter), no-brand bag for when I'm travelling, the one bag I can rely on when it's pouring down rain. Bags like those are not used regularly but they are necessary in my life because my other bags cannot serve these very specific functions. They get kept in spite of infrequent use.
The remainder are the ones I downsize from. If the bag size is not functional for my life, if it is too heavy, if I don't feel like it's my style, then I do not try to make it work no matter how much I like the way it looks. I just release it knowing that someone else will love it and it will be perfect for them.
Bags are meant to be functional and to tote your stuff around. We get caught up in the beauty of them but, at their core, their purpose is to function. If they do not function for you, let them go to someone who can make them work and trust that you've uplifted someone else and improved their situation with your generosity. This will bring you more joy than looking at that bag on your shelf and feeling frustrated or guilty that you're not utilizing it.
I've said this somewhere up thread, we can appreciate beautiful things without needing to own them. And we can be grateful to have owned them for a season of our lives without needing to carry them into the next season.
Having said all that, with regards to your Gucci satchel, is it possible to have it reworked into something else? I know a friend of mine once had a cobbler turn her tote bag (that had been damaged in one section) into a pair of shoes. He used the bag's printed leather as the front/ top of the mules, and used his own materials for the rest of the shoes. And he even made her a key chain from the remaining scraps of leather.
If there's a way to repurpose it, then that would be ideal. Or else, let it be the one display item that you enjoy as a piece of art. Having a single bag like that is not an issue in my mind. It's when you have a plethora of them that it becomes a weighty load.
3- I have had to move a lot in my life and I have let go of a lot of expensive things in my time due to those moves. Letting go of sentimental and/or expensive items is hard, particularly when you adore those items. But I personally have made it easier on myself by reminding myself of this:
The money is already spent. Having an item that represents that money in my space doesn't bring the money back.
So, if you can recoup even a bit of your loss from consignment/ reselling directly, please do that. Some money in your account is better than nothing. It's not a loss then, it's a gain (however partial, it is still actual money).
If that's not a viable option, then it's still okay to gift your bags and consider the money lost a charitable donation of sorts, because that money is long gone anyway and that bag unused on the shelf isn't bringing it back.
Sometimes we spend our money incorrectly. That happens to everyone. It's okay. More money can always be earned, and the peace of mind of letting go of dead weight is far more valuable than the $ amount you spent on that item to begin with.
4- Goodwill may not be a good option, but there are other ways to donate. For instance, I gifted several bags to coworkers who admired them. My mother has gifted her things to her nurses and even janitorial staff in various hospitals and clinics she has worked in. Those people would not have been able to purchase items of that quality in their financial position, so they really appreciated the bags and used them with joy (obviously I'm not suggesting you gift an Hermes or Chanel as that would make the recipient uncomfortable, but you could do this for lesser known/ no-name bags that you don't love because the recipients likely will adore them). Another user on tpf whom I PM with has done exactly the same with her unwanted bags this past year.
If coworkers and friends aren't an option, I always like to donate to places like Dress for Success. Or if you know someone whose kids are just graduating university and will be starting their job hunting, gift their kids a suitable bag for interviews. Giving someone a professional leg-up is one of the greatest gifts you can give.
The flip side of this coin- I gave my friend's grandmother one of my most expensive bags that I had only used twice. I noticed her looking at it when I was visiting, and on her 90th birthday a couple of months later, I had cleaned and conditioned the bag, put it the original packaging and gifted it to her.
She had never owned a really nice bag in her own life, and I explained to her that I picked it up for myself and used it twice, but would be much happier and truly honoured if she would accept it as a gesture of my love for her. She lived to be 93 and used my bag everyday in those 3 years- mind you, she rarely went out at that stage, but she sat it beside her when she had visitors and used it when she did go out. She was overjoyed with owning it and, I hope, touched that I gave her something I loved. I never regretted letting go of that bag, in spite of how much I had initially longed to own it, it went to a much more deserving person. It's one of the happiest memories I have.
My point being that there are different avenues for donations that we may not even realize because we're used to donating to specific charity shops.
This post is much longer than intended- as so many of mine end up being. Sorry! I hope it helps a little. I'll just reiterate that the process of editing is a personal journey, so please note that this has been my approach but it may not resonate with other people.
I’ve recently come back to purchasing bags after a long hiatus of purchasing other things, so I’m approaching this from the opposite direction: how to purchase things of quality that reflect my aesthetic; are not duplicative in functional use; and, that, by their presence In my closet, will dissuade me from the desire to accumulate more. I don’t know what my magic number will be; I only know that when I reach it, I’ll be able to look at other bags out there in the wild and decide acquisition isn’t desirable or necessary. Since my friends don’t share this love of bags, reading this thread and others has been invaluable! The posts about curating the closet (and ones surroundings) have been inspiring.
I haven't been in this thread in forever. Covid totally derailed my life for a bit there.
@diane278 I adore your curated home! It's vibrant yet edited, showcasing both your zesty personality and your discipline.
I have only just returned to my own home and one of the first things I did was air out and condition my bags. I couldn't bring myself to count them, though I will soon, but looking at the sheer volume worried me. My collection is in the mid to high 30s still (including everything like gym bag, interview bag, 3 travel bags and backpacks). That's far too many bags for one person to utilize. Sigh.
I'm also at a point where I love pretty much every bag I own. I could not see any I would release at this stage. That is problematic. I am not this excessive in any other areas of my life, so I find this frustrating.
I have 4 bags that I have chosen to use during this pandemic. I will rotate them and use with abandon (they are older and sturdier than the remainder of my collection), and I hope that I will be able to let go of them thereafter.
So my action plan now is not to add anything during the next year (which is proving difficult because I keep getting tempted), and to attempt another edit in a month or so. It is possible that having just recovered from covid, I am feeling more sentimental than usual. Perhaps some time will help me review the collection with more objectivity.
@diane278 I adore your curated home! It's vibrant yet edited, showcasing both your zesty personality and your discipline.
Thank you for the praise. It was a very personal memory to share (of my friend's grandmother) so I'm happy you were touched by it.
I have only just returned to my own home and one of the first things I did was air out and condition my bags. I couldn't bring myself to count them, though I will soon, but looking at the sheer volume worried me. My collection is in the mid to high 30s still (including everything like gym bag, interview bag, 3 travel bags and backpacks). That's far too many bags for one person to utilize. Sigh.
I'm also at a point where I love pretty much every bag I own. I could not see any I would release at this stage. That is problematic. I am not this excessive in any other areas of my life, so I find this frustrating.
I have 4 bags that I have chosen to use during this pandemic. I will rotate them and use with abandon (they are older and sturdier than the remainder of my collection), and I hope that I will be able to let go of them thereafter.
So my action plan now is not to add anything during the next year (which is proving difficult because I keep getting tempted), and to attempt another edit in a month or so. It is possible that having just recovered from covid, I am feeling more sentimental than usual. Perhaps some time will help me review the collection with more objectivity.
dear jblended, apologies if I am being too direct, but I think it’s excessive for you to count specific use items like a gym bag or travel bag in your total. Also, if you love everything and use everything, even Kondo technique wouldn’t require you to release any more. And, after everything you’ve been through this year, if you see something you love, many of us would agree uou absolutely deserve it. of course, it depends on whatever makes you feel comfortable and happy
