What's behind the reason you buy a bag?

What made you buy the bag?

  • Advertisement (explain type: print or ?)

  • Spur-of-the-moment

  • tPF

  • Planned (and why?)

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#31
I had to say planned. I have to save up or budget carefully for anything over a certain amount (in the low hundreds) partly because I work part-time, partly because we are saving to buy a house after re-locating back to the US from overseas.
I used to collect vintage bags, especially Coach, and I had about 5 vintage Coach bags from when I was a teenager, but sold all my collections (of everything) to facilitate our move and to avoid high shipping costs.
I am trying to be VERY selective with any new purchases and actually build a wardrobe of bags and shoes especially so I plan carefully for future purchases. Really trying to go for quality over quantity within my fairly limited budget.
Hope that answers the question.
 
#32
indiaink said:
I wonder when I stopped thinking I could wear a bag for years to come? Probably about the time I joined tPF? It was normal thinking in my world that if you bought a bag that's what you carried until it fell apart. And then - well, then I joined tPF.
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C'mon indiaink! Seriously??? I am sure you are wearing bags from many years. Aren't you? I'm not like everyone here. 1) I can't afford to buy 30 bags; and 2) I wouldn't even remember or know what to do with that many or even 15 for that matter. I'm one of those people who started off on TPF reading and researching. As I said my niece suggested I buy one good bag. I got influenced by the YSL forum and saw pics of Sienna Miller wearing an ostrich version of the bag I bought and I had to have it!! It's a chocolate brown color. Then I wanted a classic black bag and looked high and low and finally ventured into Bergdorf Goodman, Gucci, Prada, you name it! I actually loved a Prada bag I had seen but didn't want to wear the logo. (Crazy hangup of mine. Ironically, I've obviously gotten over it since I've joined TPF). Long story short, after looking, six months later I found the bag at Gucci and bought it at presale but not in the color black. It's a perfect gray!

I might be buying more high end bags than I ever anticipated because I am being influenced subliminally by PF! I hope not, because in my latest beautiful bag lies a beautiful BV wallet that is EMPTY!

Back to topic - I do wear my bags for many many years unless the style should return to small sized bags.:wtf::faint:
 
#33
Mitzy said:
I had to say planned. I am trying to be VERY selective with any new purchases
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Another smart lady - and you've got every reason to be!

BgaHolic said:
C'mon indiaink! Seriously??? I am sure you are wearing bags from many years.
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If I could hold on to them long enough! I've fallen in and out of love with a designer/bag four times in the last four years. I think I'm done being fickle, but then! Wham! Also, I have a tendency to just wear one bag for a long period of time, not change out daily or weekly like to many do here. I even have tried (and will continue to try) changing every season - so the next one up is summer, in June ... I've got enough bags to last many, many seasons. :roflmfao:
 
#34
After a few oops bags, bought on impulse. Sold at a loss. I now only buy bags I know I really want, and will keep. Now TPF plays a big part, as I wouldn't be able to drool over these bags without TPF.
I can say that a certain member, can talk me into a bag. Now that's bad!
 
#35
all of the above reasons and none of the above reasons. LOL.

i really do not care about fashion at all, so i don't read fashion mags. i have bags that i've seen in online ads and print ads. i have bags that i've planned for, and bags that were spur of the moment purchases. i have bags that i bought that i had never heard of/seen before i joined tPF.

i choose my bags based on what *I* want in a bag. i pick them based on materials, size, shape, functionality, workmanship, and color, not on who makes them or where i could buy them. i'm just as happy with a $25 bag as i am a $2,500 bag. i don't care about designers or logos. if i like the bag, that's the most important thing. if it's from joe bob's purse shack and bait and tackle that's fine. if it is a louis vuitton, that's fine. i tend NOT to like the trendier fabrics, colors, and shapes. i greatly prefer classic, timeless styles without all of the tassels, studs, and heavy hardware that seem to be on everything these days. i try to look at each bag and figure out where it fits in with the rest of my collection. i'm not to try to impress anybody, and i don't worry if somebody thinks my bag is fake or not. if i was trying to impress somebody, that kind of person would be able to tell that all of my bags are authentic.

i also own a 5 year old ford SUV and an 11 year old honda. i'd rather spend my cash on things other than cars. would i like a newer car, sure. do i want one badly enough to have a monthly car payment? nope! i also pretty much live in jeans with a t-shirt or thermal and running shoes. oh, and i don't do much with my hair other than pull it into a ponytail, and i don't wear makeup. yeah, i need to go on a major diet too. it's not a fashion thing for me or somebody's perception of me. i'm probably more intelligent and nicer than many people that will judge me for my appearance. :)

sorry for my mini-rant, but i just think the whole thing is so intertwined.
 
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#36
lelliebunny you're fine! :flowers:
Indiaink I was giving it more thought. A lot of thought actually. I think if I never became a member of TPF I probably wouldn't own more than 2 bags. Like you, I don't switch often. In fact my newest one will probably get worn every day thru the fall. My BV will be used on night's out or occasions until the winter. I've always owned a bone/white Francesca Biasa for the summer and a black bag which I gave to DD (and she never wears!) Now that I analyze it, I am being very heavily influenced since I joined! :shucks: Great for all the bag manufacturers who might be reading this thread and :tdown: to me and my spending! Now I'm disappointed with myself? Well now that I am aware, hopefully I can be more in control! :shame:
 
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#37
Tigistylist said:
After a few oops bags, bought on impulse. Sold at a loss.
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Tell me about that loss business! I have given away (based on the amount of money I've lost!) more than I can hardly bear just since January. All to get me out of the mess I got myself into.

lelliebunny said:
all of the above reasons and none of the above reasons. LOL.

i really do not care about fashion at all
i have bags that i bought that i had never heard of/seen before i joined tPF.
i choose my bags based on what *I* want in a bag.
i'm not to try to impress
i also pretty much live in jeans with a t-shirt
i don't do much with my hair
i don't wear makeup.
i need to go on a major diet too.
i'm probably more intelligent and nicer than many people that will judge me for my appearance. :)
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AMEN! This is ME! :cool:

BgaHolic said:
I think if I never became a member of TPF I probably wouldn't own more than 2 bags. Like you, I don't switch often...

Well now that I am aware, hopefully I can be more in control!
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Exactly. :rochard:
 
#38
I have to answer "all of the above." Ultimately, I buy a bag because I like it. However, sometimes it's thought out (typically the case with more expensive bags that are going to be part of the core of my collection), sometimes it's spur of the moment (those tend to be cute, faddish, less expensive bags) and sometimes I've seen something online (whether an add, or now tPF) and it makes me want it.

I just love bags....and shoes. LOL.
 
#40
lelliebunny said:
all of the above reasons and none of the above reasons. LOL.

i really do not care about fashion at all, so i don't read fashion mags. i have bags that i've seen in online ads and print ads. i have bags that i've planned for, and bags that were spur of the moment purchases. i have bags that i bought that i had never heard of/seen before i joined tPF.

i choose my bags based on what *I* want in a bag. i pick them based on materials, size, shape, functionality, workmanship, and color, not on who makes them or where i could buy them. i'm just as happy with a $25 bag as i am a $2,500 bag. i don't care about designers or logos. if i like the bag, that's the most important thing. if it's from joe bob's purse shack and bait and tackle that's fine. if it is a louis vuitton, that's fine. i tend NOT to like the trendier fabrics, colors, and shapes. i greatly prefer classic, timeless styles without all of the tassels, studs, and heavy hardware that seem to be on everything these days. i try to look at each bag and figure out where it fits in with the rest of my collection. i'm not to try to impress anybody, and i don't worry if somebody thinks my bag is fake or not. if i was trying to impress somebody, that kind of person would be able to tell that all of my bags are authentic.

i also own a 5 year old ford SUV and an 11 year old honda. i'd rather spend my cash on things other than cars. would i like a newer car, sure. do i want one badly enough to have a monthly car payment? nope! i also pretty much live in jeans with a t-shirt or thermal and running shoes. oh, and i don't do much with my hair other than pull it into a ponytail, and i don't wear makeup. yeah, i need to go on a major diet too. it's not a fashion thing for me or somebody's perception of me. i'm probably more intelligent and nicer than many people that will judge me for my appearance. :)

sorry for my mini-rant, but i just think the whole thing is so intertwined.
Click to expand...

You sound so very much like me in the bolded.


--------------------------------------------

I chose "planned" in the poll even though it is a result of all the reasons, but essentially, I do not impulse buy and cannot imagine myself doing so. If I see a bag for the first time and fall hard in love with it right then and there, I would probably buy it on the spot if it's a reasonable price, a rarity, and very different from what I already have. I don't consider that impulsive as I would know myself and my decision enough to not regret it under such circumstances. More long term planning comes into play if the bag is not that rare, I am not solidly loving it, and/or I can find it at a better price safely.
 
#41
What a great topic for a thread, indiaink. Reading all this has really got me thinking...

I'm fairly new to designer bags...starting with Coach about five years ago and got my first LV last year. I never really cared much for labels before that - just bought what I liked at the time and what was functional. But I did always yearn for something classier and better quality when I could afford it. Thus the LV last year. And then I discovered tPF and bag lust started in earnest!

I think tPF engages some people like us so strongly because it is the most amazing repository of knowledge, facts and stats about something so iconic...the bag. Every woman carries one, and like it or not, a bag does speak about its carrier. So it's like baseball stats for men - totally addictive, though mostly useless knowledge (for example, being able to identify the color and model of an H bag by its handle!)

As for my purchases, I put "planned" because I'm still very deliberate in my choices and haven't gone crazy with buying this past year or anything (though my DH might beg to differ!). I'm trying to slowly build a collection of bags that are high quality, practical and fit my lifestyle. Patience is my big problem though. I can scour tPF for months trying to find the perfect crossbody for me, only to discover a gorgeous hobo and get totally sidetracked and buy that instead. So impulse has been a factor too.

One person said on the H thread that this obsession teaches you patience, and that's something I'm really working on!
 
#43
OMG, that was a difficult choice!

I chose Ads. I hesitated with planned but that's not true given my recent purchases...

Most of the bags I bought are because of blogs. I follow a lot of fashion blogs and tend to get influenced with a delay - thus I need to buy the bags pre-owned and/or on the Bay because they're no longer in the stores :wondering

But because of that delay I can sort of plan my purchase :D

Usually my impulse buys are never good - I bought three bags in the rush of an Outnet bag sale and I really love only one of them.

BUT, to be honest, I think tPF also has an "enabling" effect (so I'm trying to cut down on my number of visits on the forum ;)). Other than that, I buy designer because I like the style and quality, that I can't always find elsewhere; but I'm OK with wearing cheap bags for functionality purposes (like going to the gym, or to school, or traveling), some of them are even nice to look at! :nuts:
 
#44
DO you guys like this bag? I don't know if I should buy it or not...

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