When did it really hit you you have a handbag "problem?"

#31
BlazenHsss said:
Well. Before Christmas I'd never owned a handbag in my life.
By July I have eight of them!!
....is that BAD??? :shrugs:
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Same thing happened with me! Around March of this year I finally got a stain on my umteen year old Fossil that could not be ignored and needed a purse pronto so.. as I had 2 gift certificates at Macy's, I ended up with the small Lexington shopper. I was totally ignorant about handbags!! A few days later I stumbled on a Dooney show on QVC and realized what I was missing; seven bags later,the rest is history!! :yahoo:
 
#33
I definitely have a a handbag problem and, as you see, I am wandering into Doonies where I have never been before. It's a new horizon! I've always loved leather goods and even made rugged, whole-grain cowhide handbags in my past. But like many on this Forum, I spent a lot of years just using a few bags and buying one new one when I needed it

My problem started as a stress releaser during a period when I had to be "on" all the time solving problems and taking care of others. But now I think it's converted into a kind of obsessive thoughts/compulsive behavior situation. I've never had any problem like this but bags have become an almost unhealthy focus and I act on it so I have many more bags than I can use. That's about 30, and some of those are seasonal so it's not the worst problem, but it's the amount of mental energy I put into it that seems like it needs some work to bring it back into balance. If you purely do the math, I can only use each bag about 12 times a year. It's like I feel a responsibility to use the bags and yet I can't use them enough because there just isn't enough time to do that so there's a stress that comes with owning them while they sit untouched for months. Yet I am still immersed in the fascinating world of handbags. I see that many people who have as many bags as I do or more don't stress over not using them but I have always had this pull to be using all my bags and downright guilt when I'm not. Without these feelings, I might be all right because I do let go of the bags that don't work for me and I buy a lot of pre-loved bags so I'm not too over-the-top, at least by TPF standards. But I still need to do some work on the obsessive focus on bags. I love it and I don't really like it!
 
#34
WV: it's all in the balance.... money, time, stress, space, other priorities. We each need to find what works for us. We don't need to add made up problems.... like 'you have to many handbags'. We all have enough real challenges. So do what works for you.... if owning too many handbags is causing you stress.... step back for a while. Don't beat yourself up for what you did in the past, just go forward at a slower pace. Enjoy what you have and set a goal to wait .... for the after Christmas sales, for example. That will give you some breathing room.


Note to self: good advice. Try following it. There will always be another sale and another handbag.
 
#35
Thanks again lavanderjunkie. I want to pull back and yet still participate in the fascinating world of bags. I post a bit in the Shopping in my Closet thread and there are some good models of moderation over there, Plus they report on how many bags in and out which is a nice honest snapshot. of the month/year and has helped me to move the bags out that I don't like. And then I've been trying to channel my interest into taking "in the wild" pictures of bags. I have a couple of Doonies I spotted recently, on that thread. So I continue to nudge my handbag "obsession" back into my definition of balance. Now if I just didn't hear those bags yelling at me all the time... "Take me! Take me! LOL...
 
#36
Love reading everyone's stories. I've been collecting vintage dooneys for awhile now.i love the fact that they are very affordable .I think I'm up to 25? I'm especially fond of red bags. I also collect Balenciaga and Botikers
 
#37
Wow! All these stories and comments mean more than the bags.if this is what having a bag obsession does, then I'm glad I do. I have never spoke to a nicer group of people. We have our different stories but we are all together. We should all be proud of ourselves
Thank you all!
 
#38
I guess it really hit me when I was trying to rearrange them and two of them fell on my feet (no pun intended :biggrin:). Plus I was thinking of the timeline in my head of when I got them all and I realized I'd buy 2 bags a month which resulted in 12 Dooney bags and 2 Coach since January of this year. I put myself on a ban in June but it seems like it's been forever when it's only been since one month. I'm just counting down the days until November or December when my ban ends and I'll be in bag heaven making up for lost time. :graucho:
 
#39
westvillage said:
< snip >... I think it's converted into a kind of obsessive thoughts/compulsive behavior situation. I've never had any problem like this but bags have become an almost unhealthy focus and I act on it so I have many more bags than I can use.

...Yet I am still immersed in the fascinating world of handbags. I see that many people who have as many bags as I do or more don't stress over not using them but I have always had this pull to be using all my bags and downright guilt when I'm not. Without these feelings, I might be all right because I do let go of the bags that don't work for me .... But I still need to do some work on the obsessive focus on bags. I love it and I don't really like it!
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Did I write this??? For the past 5 or 6 years I have been on a handbag binge, sprinkled with intermittent episodes of Handbag Guilt. (I hate that.) Like many of you, my kids are grown so I have more free time and more disposable income to waste. :biggrin: I have given away as many bags as I have kept, and that is a lot of bags. When I sat down one day with an inventory and calculated the $$$ invested, it was a HUGE eye-opener, and honestly kind of depressing.

I'm trying really hard to wean myself off the handbag addiction. I began to find that the high of buying the purses was more important than owning them, which is sad. I do best when I avoid TPF and don't open department store emails. :blush: I have a ton of purses and many will never be carried, but I do love owning them.
 
#40
I don't have nearly the numbers some of you might have. But.....I spent TWO entire days in my walk in closet recently to organize, clean, donate and make pretty, JUST so my Dooneys could have their own shelf. My other was appreciative of his nicely folded new space, inspected my handbag shelf, and just smirked. But said nothing! Last night I asked him if the time I was putting into looking at handbags was "getting weird", and he simply shrugged and said his opinion didn't matter if it was making me happy. And right now, it still is! Now, I just need excuses to take them OUT of the closet...
 
#41
BlazenHsss said:
I don't have nearly the numbers some of you might have. But.....I spent TWO entire days in my walk in closet recently to organize, clean, donate and make pretty, JUST so my Dooneys could have their own shelf. My other was appreciative of his nicely folded new space, inspected my handbag shelf, and just smirked. But said nothing! Last night I asked him if the time I was putting into looking at handbags was "getting weird", and he simply shrugged and said his opinion didn't matter if it was making me happy. And right now, it still is! Now, I just need excuses to take them OUT of the closet...
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LOL. When my hub noticed me PHOTOGRAPHING my bags I got the side-eye. :roflmfao: I told him it was for "insurance purposes", haha.
 
#42
MiaBorsa said:
LOL. When my hub noticed me PHOTOGRAPHING my bags I got the side-eye. :roflmfao: I told him it was for "insurance purposes", haha.
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My daughter said "Oh my god, HOW many pictures does that purse NEED?" With the first Dooney
Then with the next one and series of pics "Again?"
Then the next one "Sighhhhhhhhh, this is weird Mommy"
Then the next one "Seriously?"
While scrolling through my tablet to find the pic I took of her cat "I can't find it because of ALL THE PURSE PICS!"
 
#43
BlazenHsss said:
My daughter said "Oh my god, HOW many pictures does that purse NEED?" With the first Dooney
Then with the next one and series of pics "Again?"
Then the next one "Sighhhhhhhhh, this is weird Mommy"
Then the next one "Seriously?"
While scrolling through my tablet to find the pic I took of her cat "I can't find it because of ALL THE PURSE PICS!"
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My tablet is an iPad and it easily allows a slideshow that is called, if you choose it, "origami." So I made a bag album with some edits and reduction of the number of pics and then I did the origami slideshow. I was so enchanted that I showed it to my husband which, many of us know, is sort of dangerous territory. He at least appreciated the creativity involved and, in fact, thought there was more creativity than there actually was due to the clever "Origami" method of showing the shots. So it just goes on and on!
 
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