I used to live with a chick in college who bought each and every Coach bag that came out. It didn’t matter if she thought it was ugly and wouldn’t use it, she HAD TO HAVE IT. She pouted to her father and her boyfriend to get her those bags. If she didn’t have those bags, then they didn’t love her enough and to hell with them! From then on, I vowed to never get a Coach bag, afterall, they were hundreds of dollars each and only the spoiled rich girls bought them. Not me, I thought.
Fast forward to the present. I’m 24 and I’m going on my second interview for a managerial position for a large marketing/sales promotion firm. After being the only female interviewee with a non-Coach/DB/etc. bag, I felt a little weird, and all girls were eyeing my rather collegey Gap bag. Sorry, I didn’t know I was being judged on my bag too!
Back to the story, I went shopping for a full skirt-suit and uber professional shoes since the hiring manager said that I will be meeting with the other managers at the next interview, and I should come in full professional business attire. Got everything. But I needed to get a professional-looking bag that doesn’t have Happy Bunny, Disney characters or bright flowers on them.
I searched the mall far and wide. They was either blindingly obscene or entirely too conservative for me. Then we walked by the Coach island in Macy’s. My mother who’s entirely too cheap for her own good actually stopped and started looking at the purses. She said they looked cool but professional. I told her how much the bags cost and she said it’s ok, bags last forever :eek: My own mother is telling me to get a Coach bag? What have you done with my neurotic and iron-fisted mommy!?
After my mother asked the nice sales lady to pull some of the bags out, I put the bags next to the suit I had just bought and it surprisingly went well together. The bags were so pretty, but so expensive and I said I wouldn’t get one. Yet my mother persisted and said they were very nice bags and I should get one since I don’t own anything really nice and I would use it for work, RIGHT?
I relented. I hate to admit it, but I really like the bag. It’s a nice conservative black, but has that youthful flair about it. Am I wrong to be actually giddy about my new purchase? I promise to use it and love it as only a mommy to her bags could…oh I am torn.
I think it’s very cute. Did you get it in the same color? I have never owned, and most likely will never own a Coach bag. Not because of some kind of protest, but because I am to cheap.
I got my bag in black. So the base is black but the Cs are black, silver and gray. It’s so pretty it’s sitting on my manga bookshelf where all of my pretty things go. I think I’m starting to develop a sickness. Join me, won’t you?
I know, it almost brings a tear to my eye. Haha I guess this gives you an idea of how often I buy things. And I’ll be sure to bring the milk to the party because I’m assuming we’ll have a lot to “omg that’s so pretty!” about.
Ah, COACH bags. Everytime I see one, I’m taken back to my days working retail in the handbags dept around Christmas.
=Cue wavy flashback lines=
It was busy in the handbags and accessories dept. A woman came in with a rather reluctant looking male dragging behind her. She was making much to-do about the fact that her boyfriend was buying her a COACH bag. I say “COACH” because that’s how she said it - she dropped the brand name every chance she got, and said it loudly enough that I’m sure they heard her over in fine jewelry, and possibly as far as menswear. Our most expensive COACH bags were kept in a locked display cabinet, so I patiently got several out for her to view, and after much discussion (well, it was one sided discussion - the boyfriend didn’t appear to care much) and agonization, she picked out her COACH bag for her BOYFRIEND to buy her.
Did I mention it was rather busy in there?
She gets up to the register, boyfriend’s money at the ready, and just as he was about to pay for her COACH bag (~$300 as I recall) she suddenly realizes (loudly) that if she’s getting a new COACH bag, she simply must have a new wallet to go in it! And perhaps a keyfob! And off she goes to the wallets! Leaving nine people standing in line behind her!
I set the purse aside and began ringing up the next customer as it was apparent that the COACH woman was going to be a while finding the perfect wallet. And maybe keyfob.
Ten minutes later she returns to my register and is furious. How DARE I wait on other customers! She was next! She was just about to buy a VERY EXPENSIVE COACH bag. How could I POSSIBLY make her wait to check out? Now I’ve lost a VERY EXPENSIVE sale as she will simply HAVE to go to another cashier to pay for her COACH bag because my service was horrible. (I wasn’t on commission - I didn’t care if she was buying a $3,000 bag or a $3 bag) I was supposed to make nine people wait in line while she went wallet (and keyfob - don’t forget the COACH branded keyfob) shopping.
I sort of felt bad for the boyfriend, but only a little.
Eh. Trendiness factor aside, Coach purses are pretty high quality products for the money, according to my wife and sisters, who know about such things. Besides, I think Coach was more “in” last year, and this year it’s another brand-- the ones that come in bright neon colors and have a lot of paisleys on them. Vera Bradley?
Huh. I came in here thinking a “coach bag” was something to do with sports, probably kid sports, like, “I bought a Soccer Mom Van”.
Would someone care to explain to me what makes a particular pocketbook so desireable? (says the woman who’s currently carrying a $15 special from Target)
I understand about Gucci, and Dolce & Gabbana and others of their ilk, BTW, and I understand that the attraction there is exclusivity. But I never heard of Coach bags, and although I may give the initial impression of living at the bottom of a mine shaft, still I do emerge occasionally to check the weather and CNN.com. So?
Yes, Vera Bradley, of the retina-searing patterns. I think they’re hideous, but I work with a girl who has a ton of 'em. All sorts of styles and patterns (I guess she collects them), and she has wallets, glasses cases, mini totes, what have you. Every day it’s a different bag, and a variety of accessories.
And so begins your journey as a purse junkie. I can remember when my wife got her first nice purse. Truth be told they do last forever. She still has every one. I’m just hoping what they say is true about things coming back in style. She even got me hooked in a way. I’ve carried a purse since before we got married and just last month she talked me into getting one at Kenneth Cole. It’s very plain but not one I will carry every day. In my harsh hands every thing has a way of getting worn. It is one of her few luxury’s and it makes her happy. I can always get more money but smiles aren’t always so easy to come by.
I’m not a huge fan of the logo bags, but that one is cute. Solfy, when did you work for Coach? Are you, like me, old enough to remember when Coach made fine leather goods, as opposed to primarily making fine leather-trim goods? Perhaps someone can someday explain to me the reason to spend $500 on a *fabric * bag. Because IMO, that’s some bullshit.
Vera Bradley bags are hideous, and I when I see someone carrying one, my first thought about them is invariably “sheep”.
I don’t understand how people do this. Two times in my life have a switched my pile o’ crap from one (cheap) purse to another (cheap) purse because the second one matched my outfit better. Both times I left something very important in the wrong bag. Now I just accept that I’m an idiot, and I don’t try to be fancy anymore.
Thus begins the first step on that slippery-slope to yuppihood
They are a splurge, but (the leather ones at least) do have the reputation of lasting FOREVER. I’ve bought precisely two in my life though I admit I’m afraid to use 'em very often. I have to brag that I’ve never bought one of them when I had to pay full price… every now and then Macy’s will have “20% off anything in the store” coupons and that’s when I’ve gotten them.
Your bag is cute but I’ve avoided the ones with the logo. They’re not leather so will they last as long? Plus it’s always seemed like too obvious of a brag “I’VE GOT A COACH BAG”, vs the more understated quality (recognizable to one who knows the brand) of the non-logo’ed ones. Different strokes for different folks of course. And I guess Coach recognized they needed to offer cooler-looking stuff to appeal to people who aren’t old farts, like, er, me
I second DianaG’s question. I cannot believe the prices Coach bags command, and *cue Joan Cusack in “Working Girl” * "It’s not even leathah!
But lemme tell you this: I bought a Coach bag last summer from a neighbor at a yard sale and I love that stupid thing. Mostly I love the shape; it’s the short-handled, luggage looking style. Sort of like this but with fewer pockets and gew-gaws.
Just $10 in mint condition. Muhahahhah. And nobody knows, except you girls, my closest 53,000 friends.
Huh. That’s usually what I think when I see someone carrying a Coach bag (for example the OP who noticed every woman in the office had one). I don’t understand the appeal of carrying around a bag emblazoned with ugly Cs - you’re basically paying a lot of money to be a walking advertisement for them.
Back to Vera Bradley - why do you think sheep? Not a single person I know in my circle of family, friends, and acquaintances have anything from Vera Bradley. People always compliment me on my VB purse because they think it’s unique and different from what most women have. I have a few VB bags because (1) I don’t like leather purses and VB is one of the rare brands that are fabric; (2) I like the pretty, feminine, traditional and unique fabric patterns (yes some of them are ugly, but some are very nice); (3) there are styles to fit every need - from very small to very large and everything in between, so I happened to find the perfect style that is just the right size with just the right features (the right pockets, the right straps, etc.). So I have the same style in several colors to go with the seasons.
I actually LOVE Vera Bradley. They are not particularly popular where I live, so I’m the only person I know who has any. But I went up to an outlet mall in Michigan recently, and I saw women with them EVERYWHERE, so maybe it’s a regional thing.
I like them because they are lightweight and have a lot of pockets on the inside. And I think the colors are cool.
As far as Coach is concerned, I am generally not one to spend a lot on a bag, but for business wear, you can’t go wrong with a Coach or a D&B bag…they look polished, and they won’t lose their shape or wear out. Definitely worth the investment. Although I will say that I really prefer the all-leather variety myself, rather than the logo fabric, but they are a lot more expensive, too.
Hmm. What is the function of this kind of bag at a job interview? I would carry a briefcasey kind of bag (Coach seems to make those too) with my folder in it, but not a purse. “Full business attire”, which they shouldn’t have to tell you to wear for a job interview, to me means suit, conservative shoes, briefcase or briefcase-style bag.
I would agree in general, but I think for interviews I used to carry a regular-sized bag and carry a portfolio with a pad of paper & copies of my resume in it.
I tend to think ‘sheep’ also. Around here, they’re the latest craze. All the Soccer Moms and yuppie-types have them, along with the style-concious teens and early 20s group. They all collect them - no one has just one. As I said, I work with a girl who has a ton of them, and when she sees another woman with a VB bag, it’s like radar going off. They zero in on each other, and screech and ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ over each other’s bag and ask if the other has this pattern or that pattern or the various styles or accessories.
IMHO, it’s one of those things that will go out of style fairly soon - the patterns are just so loud and obvious, not understated and classic at all. All those women will be stuck with a dozen $125 bags that no one wants.
Re: switching bags every day:
I don’t either. I have a regular purse, and a small sturdy tote for work. I don’t take my purse to work; it’d get ruined. They’re both are filled with identical items, except for my wallet. That’s the only thing I have to remember to move over.
This cracks me up because VB has been around for so long, and has never really been “in” style. To me, even though I love them, the only other people I ever thought carried them were old ladies! Now I guess they are trendy, but you are right…I doubt that will last for long.
