What brands have you "graduated" from?

jayohwhy

O.G.
Jul 31, 2009
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I was not always into nice purses. I remember that for all my college years, I loved finding unique canvas totes in my travels or at vintage shops and would use them as purses. After that, it morphed into vintage inspired pan-am stewardess bags.

Have you guys had any progression in what you've been in to? For me it was...

1. My sister bought me my first coach, a monogrammed tan hobo for two hundred something. I remember thinking it was the most expensive bag I've ever owned.
2. My family goes to paris and my mom practically has to force me to pick out my first LV! I had no idea what to buy and I felt that was a wasted opportunity. I still have the bag but never use it!
3. I started working and "discovered" coach and coach boutique bags at outlets. I was such a coach head. Totally obsessed with Coach and Juicy Couture
4. I bought my first used LV, a da speedy in horrible condition and that's when I found TPF! Everyone agreed it was a bad buy.. but I used it anyway haha. I buy myself a second speedy used from japan, both ended up gifted to my sister.
5. My husband buys me my second brand new LV, a totally mm. I say I'm going to use it forever. haha. I become a total LV head buying and selling for 2 years until...
6. Balenciaga
7. Chanel
8. Back to LV with dabbling in coach and kate spade.
9. My first celine!
 
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1. Started with no-name brands from BR/Gap
2. First job! Bought a Coach Sabrina.
3. Started bargain shopping. Kate Spade & Coach
4. Hung around tpf more. Longchamp
5. Took the plunge. LV
6. Chanel
7. Hermes
8. Back to LV & Hermes
 
This is so interesting to me only because I don't look at it like progressing.. ya know?

There's certain designer bags I'll always be into, like Balenciaga. But once in awhile I veer off the premier designers and get a Coach like I did last summer. Still love that bag.

But It's not a progression - I always go back and forth..
 
But It's not a progression - I always go back and forth..

I didn't think of it as progression either until I realized that the price threshold that I was willing to pay for a bag has increased over the years... There was a time when 1k was the most I would pay for a bag and yet now... not so much :smile:
 
I didn't really make much of a progression. Or rather, I think I skipped a lot of phases.

1. Started with no name brands, didn’t care about bags very much and was more into other accessories. Bought mostly from Japanese street brands and handmade on Etsy, etc.
2. Went straight into Givenchy. Bought mostly Givenchy, Louis Vuitton, and Saint Laurent. At this point there were other brands I enjoyed the look of as well like Celine and Balenciaga on my wish list, but it didn’t pan out because….
3. I took the plunge and bought a Chanel Boy and fell in love. I revamped my wish list quite a bit and crossed a lot of things off. I’ve decided to mostly focus on bags that give me that same sort of feeling.

I love my current collection and only plan on adding a few more — at least for now. Outside of one LV and one Chanel I plan on purchasing, I’ve been focusing more on shoes (as a size change has made me have to start from square one again) and Hermes scarves, bracelets, and accessories.
 
this is so interesting to me only because i don't look at it like progressing.. Ya know?

There's certain designer bags i'll always be into, like balenciaga. But once in awhile i veer off the premier designers and get a coach like i did last summer. Still love that bag.

But it's not a progression - i always go back and forth..

+1
 
I agree too in that the amount I'm willing to pay has progressed. I have always loved handbags. I would get a new bag at the beginning of the spring/summer season and another fall/winter. I always thought I'd never be into expensive brands because then I wouldn't be able to get a new one each season. HAHAHAHAH........boy was I young!
My first "designer" bag was a Liz Claiborne back in the 80's. Now I had spotted Dooneys in the Spiegel catalog and loved them immediately. But they were a couple of hundred dollars and way outside my price range. The first Liz I bought was definitely under $100 but the obsession began.
Got my first Dooney in 2003 and haven't looked back. From there the amount of bags and price points continue to rise. I'm lucky to own Dooneys, Coach bags, Brahmins, (notice the plural), a Valentino, a Balenciaga, and LV's (plural).
I love them all equally.
 
I was not always into nice purses. I remember that for all my college years, I loved finding unique canvas totes in my travels or at vintage shops and would use them as purses. After that, it morphed into vintage inspired pan-am stewardess bags.

Have you guys had any progression in what you've been in to? For me it was...

1. My sister bought me my first coach, a monogrammed tan hobo for two hundred something. I remember thinking it was the most expensive bag I've ever owned.
2. My family goes to paris and my mom practically has to force me to pick out my first LV! I had no idea what to buy and I felt that was a wasted opportunity. I still have the bag but never use it!
3. I started working and "discovered" coach and coach boutique bags at outlets. I was such a coach head. Totally obsessed with Coach and Juicy Couture
4. I bought my first used LV, a da speedy in horrible condition and that's when I found TPF! Everyone agreed it was a bad buy.. but I used it anyway haha. I buy myself a second speedy used from japan, both ended up gifted to my sister.
5. My husband buys me my second brand new LV, a totally mm. I say I'm going to use it forever. haha. I become a total LV head buying and selling for 2 years until...
6. Balenciaga
7. Chanel
8. Back to LV with dabbling in coach and kate spade.
9. My first celine!

First bag ever, Snoopy backpack and Esprit backpack back in my teens. Now I've graduated from Coach to other brands, and LV. I won't think of it as progressing or advancing, I just buy the style and design I like and the pricing I can stomach.
 
My mom gave me my first one when I was six or seven. It was dark green suede, I wish I still had it. I didn't start buying my own until I was working and it was a lot of Liz Claiborne or Dooney & Bourke. I think after that it was a lot of Fossil. I really can't afford high end bags, but I had been wanting a Balenciaga and looking at them online for so long I'm burnt out now. So I guess that's a progression because I saved myself a lot of money. Now I like Hayden Harnett bags and won't even look at Liz Claiborne or Dooney and Bourke.
 
My progress, with handbags, is similar to a disease.
Not all progress is good. ;)

But, days of bag dye splotches on my clothes, straps unraveling into crazy snakes & weird chemical smells from materials are over.
So, some learning happened. :biggrin:
Probably not enough. Yet.
 
When I was younger and in school, my handbags were a mix of contemporary designer and premier designer brands. I got my first designer bag in junior high and it was Coach. Coach continued to be my designer of choice throughout high school. When I got to college, I started purchasing Longchamp and Burberry. Then I discovered Tory Burch and had a lot of bags from the brand. I also got my first Louis Vuitton during the first half of college. By the end of college, my bags were all Longchamp, Burberry, Ferragamo, Tory Burch, Prada, and Louis Vuitton. When I started working right after college, I purchased a Reed Krakoff and a Rebecca Minkoff but my bag collection was mostly made up of the same designers as it was in college.

After working for a few years, my handbag collection shifted to be all premier designers. I ended up doing a huge purge of my bags and now I only have Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Prada, and Gucci. The only bag that I still have that I had in college is my LV Speedy. I'm now more aware of what styles I gravitate toward, what styles work for me, and what brands that I like. I've also learned that I feel more comfortable spending a bit more on a bag for higher quality and for something that I'm able to consign or easily sell if it doesn't work out for me. I'm content with my collection now but still want to add a black tote (something like the LV epi Neverfull or Saint Laurent SDJ, although I've been looking at Fendi more and more lately) and a classic black Chanel Jumbo with SHW. Once I get those, I think I'll be done for awhile.
 
I used to go to Ross and buy my purses. This was after high school, during school I hated the ideas of bags. Anyway I'd buy just whatever bags that caught my eye I didn't care about name brand or if it was real leather or not. And then gradually I started becoming more self concious of what I was toting around (I know that sounds juvenile) so I'd borrow some of my mom's purses every now and then. My first designer brand was Coach. I bought one in New York, a small crossbody. Then I bought an orange ashley satchel (I think that's the name of it) that I carried around religiously i didn't care about if it matched me. I graduated from coach to Michael Kors, it didn't help my friend was an manager there and gave us 50% off. I carried around MK (also happens to be half of my initials) for a long time. Currently I have Rebecca Minkoff bags, a gucci bag, still have my MK too. Long story short I just went from no brand to contemporary :smile: also have a Dooney zip satchel (kinda looks like the lv alma)