What started your bag addiction

[hermes_lemming]

About 15 years ago when Dooney & Bourke had their all weather bags, and also with Coach with their now vintage glove tanned bags. Then I started noticing Gucci, Marc Jacobs and LV. I have a few but they're too expensive for me right now, so I'm back to Coach.

Omg I remember the Dooney. I purchased mine from a department r store that had an unbeatable reputation so when it feel apart, they replaced it free of charge - several years later. The coach bag that my now exbf got me was their now vintage glove tanned bags. Amazing quality.

When I was 21 I bought a beautiful red Longchamp leather tote with the classic silver toggle - I started to really appreciate beautiful classic bags and I've continued to seek out gorgeous quality bags.

Lol I had the Longchamp as well but in patent black, with the classic silver toggle. I think I was 28 at the time. Great bag and quality back then.

It began when i was a little toddler, i even have a picture of 2 y.o. me carrying a cute little red purse!!

Lol this is my neice and she is only 2 1/2.

It started in my 20s but kicked into full gear in my 40s when I joined tPF. tPF contributed to the attainment of my HG bag. My HG came at a really meaningful time and I appreciate it very much.

aww

^ Hehe.. I always love reading your posts. My Fiance isn't exactly a bagoholic, like you, but he is very accepting of my hobby (or shall I say, habbit). It's cute, he'll encourage me to get certain bags if there are a steal, or if he hears that it's a rare bag etc. He also helps me decide which bag to wear in the morning. I love having him involved in my bag passion!

Sorry to go OT..

Lol my exhusband used to tease me as I babyed my bags (aired them, kept them clean, etc)

I came from a low income family and spending $20 or more was a joke on a bag.... My brothers wife was rich and had every tote in the early 90's from Gucci...LV...Dooney and when I saw the prices...it seemed unreal. I asked her one day if I could borrow one of the smaller Dooneys and she said....No, you go to public school and they may steal it. I was bused to one of the top HS in the area...everyone had designer everything....drove BMWs etc...I was like WHAT??? I felt like crap. As soon as I got my 1st job I got a small Dooney and I would stand in the mirror at night and I was sooooooo happy!!! That feeling hasn't changed but my budget has!!! My husband grew a company and now we are pretty well off and at Christmas my sister in law is now asking "what is that bag" I am obsessed with Jimmy Choo, YSL, and currently sporting an off white brief Balenciaga and I love that now after kids and many bills and my brothers middle class pay...she sees the prices and finds it unreal!!!

I'm so glad you were able to turn the tables on her. Tsk. Tsk.

I went to Italy to studied abroad in college and learned the European way of quality vs quantity. As a student could not afford the Gucci purse I loved so settled on my first pair of designer sunlgasses Moschino. Once I graduated and $$$ started rolling in... I kicked off my bag obssesion with the Fendi Baguette when I was 22 and just bought myself a Balenciaga for my 33rd birthday last week. The obsession continues....

I have the same European mentality, despite being non-European. Even my exhusband who was European said I was more European than him sometimes.

Mine started when I was 2 years old!
I have got a photo in which I carry a small plastic blue bag....
Where does the addiction come from, then?
I really don't know...
But.....my sister and one of my nieces are purse addicts too...
Could it be genetics?

Lol possibly. That 2 1/2 year old neice I spoke of loves handbags, so does her mother and her aunties (myself and my cousin - mother's sister)

I have aBanana Republic leather bag too for about 7 years and it really still looks brand new.

Man you're lucky. My BR bag died in a year.

 

[misscocktail]

Nice thread!
I was always interested in handbags, since I was little. I was about 10 when I got a small backpack-purse, which was The trend at The time. I was soo happy with it and continued to use it for a long time. Then I turned 12 and a family friend gave me a new backpack-purse, which I considered my very first "grown up purse". I wore it till it fell apart. Then came the teenage years in which pink, jeans and even hieroglif print bags passed the scenes. I adored all of them. By that time LV cought my eye. I was interested but knew it was out of my league. I continued to wear fashion-cheap bags that made me happy.
During my pregancy my hormones took over and I bought my very first degisner bag ( LV mono Speedy 30). Hey, i was pregnant and I deserved it 😉 right?
I continued to buy LV, and got some as gifts too. I do sometimes buy a cheaper bag, leather without a brand and I am obsessed with Longchamp Le Pliage. Simply because I like it. I adore each one of my bags, cheap or designer. It is my "thing" and it will always be part of my life.

 

[handcandy]

My hands couldn't stay away from them..it started when I was 13

 

[nanaimo75]

Your timing for this topic is perfect for me, I have been thinking about this a lot, as a feel I have become too obsessed and may be happier if I can clear my head from bags. My bag obsession is very hypocritical and I think that why it causes me anxiety. I ironically became obsessed with high end bags while looking for a vegan friendly designer bag. I was too shallow to use a cheap no name bag, and the lower priced brands didn't have anything. So I found stella McCartney but could not justify the price. Before that the most I spent on a bag was around 400. When I discovered her I searched and learned all about handbag history and feel in love with other brands like Louis Vuitton and Chanel. I purchased a Stella bag on sale, not the one I wanted, it didn't work and if feel apart. I had learned through research that lv was very durable so went with it despite the leather trim and then shortly after feel in love with the chase of Chanel bags. I am slowly waking up from a three year fog realizing this obsession is unhealthy and not even what I wanted. I am very seriously thinking of selling my Chanel bags and buying the original stella bag I wanted. Then I think, Chanel transcends everything, I should keep it. However, I know it's more the history I love as opposed to the actual bags. I just feel nervous to let go of the bags because I have three girls and Chanel prices will only get worse. However, I think the only way to cure my obsession is to go full circle. So to round that up, my handbag obsession started with me being hypocritical to my own beliefs.

This post resonated with me.

 

[catsinthebag]

Your timing for this topic is perfect for me, I have been thinking about this a lot, as a feel I have become too obsessed and may be happier if I can clear my head from bags. My bag obsession is very hypocritical and I think that why it causes me anxiety. I ironically became obsessed with high end bags while looking for a vegan friendly designer bag. I was too shallow to use a cheap no name bag, and the lower priced brands didn't have anything. So I found stella McCartney but could not justify the price. Before that the most I spent on a bag was around 400. When I discovered her I searched and learned all about handbag history and feel in love with other brands like Louis Vuitton and Chanel. I purchased a Stella bag on sale, not the one I wanted, it didn't work and if feel apart. I had learned through research that lv was very durable so went with it despite the leather trim and then shortly after feel in love with the chase of Chanel bags. I am slowly waking up from a three year fog realizing this obsession is unhealthy and not even what I wanted. I am very seriously thinking of selling my Chanel bags and buying the original stella bag I wanted. Then I think, Chanel transcends everything, I should keep it. However, I know it's more the history I love as opposed to the actual bags. I just feel nervous to let go of the bags because I have three girls and Chanel prices will only get worse. However, I think the only way to cure my obsession is to go full circle. So to round that up, my handbag obsession started with me being hypocritical to my own beliefs.

SHHMOM, Thank you for sharing. Your post is so open and heartfelt, I feel your pain! If I may be so bold as to offer a little advice, I think you need to do a little more soul-searching before selling those Chanel's. You know you may regret it, because of your girls and the never-ending price increases, but what's more, selling them won't end the addiction. It may even fuel it, like a diet-er who starves for days and then eats everything in the house! I have heard over and over that to change a bad habit, you can't just stop, you need to replace it with something else. So instead of selling, which may be throwing out the baby with the proverbial bath water, why not just put the bags away, sign off of tPF for a while, and focus on what's important? Whatever bag will work for you, use that one (or two!). Or if you need to, get the Stella bag you originally wanted and USE it. But maybe try a new habit/hobby as well.

Of course, who am I to talk, right? I'm as bag-obsessed as anyone else on this forum. Chanel does transcend everything, but so does Hermes, and I am now completely ruined because I have amazing bags that p*ss me off cuz they don't work for me, but I worry about buying a less expensive brand because I'm afraid it's too trendy or the quality won't be as good. Talk about first world problems!

 

[SHHMOM]

SHHMOM, Thank you for sharing. Your post is so open and heartfelt, I feel your pain! If I may be so bold as to offer a little advice, I think you need to do a little more soul-searching before selling those Chanel's. You know you may regret it, because of your girls and the never-ending price increases, but what's more, selling them won't end the addiction. It may even fuel it, like a diet-er who starves for days and then eats everything in the house! I have heard over and over that to change a bad habit, you can't just stop, you need to replace it with something else. So instead of selling, which may be throwing out the baby with the proverbial bath water, why not just put the bags away, sign off of tPF for a while, and focus on what's important? Whatever bag will work for you, use that one (or two!). Or if you need to, get the Stella bag you originally wanted and USE it. But maybe try a new habit/hobby as well.



Of course, who am I to talk, right? I'm as bag-obsessed as anyone else on this forum. Chanel does transcend everything, but so does Hermes, and I am now completely ruined because I have amazing bags that p*ss me off cuz they don't work for me, but I worry about buying a less expensive brand because I'm afraid it's too trendy or the quality won't be as good. Talk about first world problems!

Thank you great advice, I may try hard to do that. It is hard not to long on to tpf has been my replacement for books to try to wind down. I like the idea of putting away for awhile. Plus my children are not vegetarians so they may really want the Chanel's some day, so I think I should keep them. Yes I agree hermes and Chanel transcend everything in my head too. I am brainwashed. Don't any hermes but have been tempted. I may try to limit my use of tpf to only times my family is sleeping and hold off on selling and buying right now. Thank you.

 

[JoJoFinds]

Mine started about 10 years ago when my boyfriend (husband now) bought me quality hand bags...I never knew the difference was so big!

 

[ForeverInPink]

Phase I in high school where there was a lot of LV (especially the speedy) and Coach. Phase 2 around 2005 from watching Sex in the City as well as the Balenciaga craze started by the Olsen twins and Nicole Richie, and also the appearance of the LV Murakami line, Marc Jacobs bags and Chloe Paddington. Too much goodness all at once! Phase 3 in 2013 when DH innocently wandered into Hermes and bought me my first scarf, and I discovered tPF :greengrin:

 

[UpUpnAway]

I only just recently got into bags. I have small children and really let myself go physically and style-wise for about five years. I didn't take care of myself, dressed shabbily, was totally in groomed in all regards, rarely wore make up, and weighed fifty pounds more than my pre-child self. In short, I was not happy with myself.

And then I spent a year losing those fifty pounds. And along the way, had to buy an entirely new wardrobe. I thought long and hard about how inwanted to dress and how to get the most bang for my buck. It came down to simple neutrals (but try to buy quality), that get an oomph with accessories (bags, shoes).

Suffice to say, I love how I look now and I feel great. To me, bags are about taking care of myself too. I'm not addicted to bags... my budget doesn't allow it. But I obsessively read about bags and plot for my next bag often!

 

[Eva1991]

When I was in my teens, I wasn't very much interested in fashion. It all changed at 19 though. I saw a friend of my mom's carrying a Chanel and loved it. She's a very classy lady and always carries the best bags but I hadn't really paid any attention to them before I saw her Chanel. It was love at first sight! I did some online research about the brand and came across tpf. I became a member after a while and my obsession grew stronger! I own 25 handbags now (not all of them are designer though and from the ones that are, only a few are premier designer) and I'm planning to get more; they're addictive!

 

[Eva1991]

My obessions started in highschool. I adored my school bag. It was magneta pink and I must have carried everything but the kitchen sink in that bag. lol. But I loved it.

I never really had a purse in highschool and college. I think I just carried my wallet and keys. But as soon as college was over and I had my first "real" job, I then progressed to Dooney and Burke, then to Paloma Picasso (pretty but didnt' last long). And my bf at the time bought me a gorgeous perfect black Coach bag. I usually only had one bag at a time. So when one "died", I bought another.

I did have a gorgeous Ralph Lauren bucket bag but my first dog accidentally destroyed it. I forgot I left a bag of treats in there and so when I took a nap, guess what happened.

My first "expensive" bag was purchased when I turned 30. I bought myself an LV bag and matching wallet that I used religiously. I later sold both a couple of years later due to an unfortunate mishap in the tropics (humidity and french leather do not mix).

I did dabble and bought a few under the radar bags but they never lasted. Something about the design or workmanship got to me so they were quickly sold on ebay soon after my initial purchase.

Then there was the longchamp le pliage. A godsend for rainy days. I have 2 and have used them faithfully for the past 15 years.

I did venture into the elusive world of Hermes. Long story short, it was fun while it lasted. But after witnessing the growing narcissism in today's world and unbelievable cattiness amongst the uppercrust, I am now turned off. I don't want to be part of that anymore. There’s this undercurrent of bullying and meanness that didn't exist 10 years ago. Also the leathers are thinner and lesser quality, prices thru the roof, market overly saturated and some of the consumers are just beyond.

Oh yes, I also did buy myself a divorce bag. LOl cuz hey when you go through that, you need to treat yourself somehow. I love that bag to pieces and no it's not hermes. LOL I spotted it while I was jogging by a neighborhood noname boutique.

I think I will always love bags. Can't explain why. But I don't think I will buy anymore bags. I've had my fun and the world is just very different now vs when I started to be a consumer 19 years ago. I'm content admiring everyone else's purchases but I have zero desire to have anymore. LOL I guess I'll buy when I have no bag to use.

What do you mean?

 

[Cookie02128]

I've always loved designer items or rather good quality items. My first corporate job, I bought my first designer piece, which was the Louis Vuitton Speedy (about 20 years ago).

 

[lmdebutante]

When my mom bought me a Coach bag from the Poppy collection; I was 13.

 

[tflowers921]

All came from my mom she bought me my first little coach hobo when I was about 14, and she let me play with her LV speedy when I was little...I think it's in our genes [emoji6]

 

[melvel]

The first handbag I ever purchased was the Tano Minilisa in Brusciato Brown. I was also the reason I discovered TPF. I saw that bag in the series Prison Break and googled who made the bag and how much, my Google search led me to TPF.

And it all went downhill from there haha