I am a handbag junkie. I have many Coach bags (just one wallet though), a Kate Spade handbag and wallet etc…
I see new purses I want, but I also tend to be cheap and hate spending the money on them. Once a year I will usually treat myself to a nice handbag. I also tend to not use the same purse for more than a few weeks at a time- incidentally they stay nicer longer.
When I do buy an expensive handbag, I do try to pick a "classic style that wont look dated a few years down the line.
Your choice is a nice one. I looked at those ones, but went with a leather hobo on my last purchase.
I’d actually been wondering about this. I have a D&B bag I got way way way way back (okay, about 12 years ago) when D&B was The. Thing. To. Get. for high school girls with way too much disposable income (I did not have way too much disposable income, but I did have a doting grandmother who quite liked the bags. I also had Doc Martens because they seemed “sensible if a bit ugly, but you’ll get a lot of wear out of them”.) It’s quite similar to this one:
though the brass fittings are a little worn, including the dangling duck (he looks a bit leprous now, but he can’t help but swing into walls and tables and doors and things) but I rather like the weathered look they give to the bag. Is it, however, some kind of a fashion faux-pas to wear this bag? Surely there’s going to be people sneering that I don’t have one of these , say, but were I to go to some manner of formal stylish thing (unlikely) would I look like an utter tool?
I have to admit that I would not hate owning one of these though.
Yes, I know VB bags have been around forever, but as far as I knew, it was always an ‘old lady’ bag.
It’s just been in the last few years that it’s taken off for younger women, at least around here. Now they’re freaking EVERYWHERE. And they’re playing it up by threatening to discontinue certain patterns and styles, so women get frantic and run all over trying to find the fabled certain pattern.
I think that’s exactly it. There’s no need for a 17 year old to carry a knitting bag, it just looks silly to me.
nyctea scandiaca, I just think they’re damned ugly, and they are indeed ubiquitous in Boston. FWIW, I also think that most of the Coach Logo bags are damned ugly, and that the “patchwork” and “scribble” bags are an abomination. I can’t for the life of me understand why anyone would spend hundreds of dollars on a bag that looks like a first-grade arts & crafts project. D&B also makes a lot of those hideous types of bags, and in fact seems to be aspiring to new heights of ugly and tacky (and/or marketing exclusively to children). When I see anyone carrying ANY of those sorts of bags (ugly, impractical, and tacky), I think “sheep”. Or at least “lacking in personal taste. Or, ya know, taste.”
Classic Coach or D&B leather bags, however, are gorgeous, impeccably made (at least historically, I haven’t bought one in a while), guaranteed unto death (at least by Coach), and well worth the money.
Vera Bradley is based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, so I believe that that is the epicenter of distribution. Thus, posters in Virginia don’t see them very often, while anybody in Indiana is going to see them all freaking over–and HAS been seeing them all freaking over for the last twenty years.
And yes, I have a sizable collection of their “Alpine Black” pattern. I love it. I’m all about red and blue, all summer long.
My mother bought a leather Coach bag once and was disappointed that the leather began to look worn after about two years of use. Is this the legendary durability?
I have to say Vera Bradley bags look like diaper bags to me…and I’m sure my adored shoes look icky to some people, too. It’s all a matter of taste and perspective.
I agree with you on the scribble-y patterns. Those D&B bags with the multi-colored hearts are horrible. I was talking more of what you describe at the end of your post…a nice, basic, professional, leather bag. Or maybe one with the logo fabric, but in a quiet, tone-on-tone color (I’m cheap, so I bought my D&B at TJ Maxx. I don’t have to wear formal work clothes, but I wanted something that looked more professional & would last a long time. I got this one, but in a slightly different color. It’s a nice bag, and I didn’t have to spend a lot of $$$.)
Holy Schmoly those are some hideous atrocities. Real, grown women actually carry these things around? For real?! Thank Og my eyes have never been assaulted by one IRL. <shudder>
My Coach is very similar to this except with a convertable shoulder strap.
The bags with the “C”'s on them seem to be for a younger crowd (well, younger than me), but the all leather bags are excellent quality. I tend to be a bit hard on handbags and mine is lasting very well.
Congrats on your new purchase. Now then, because I must…
This whole discussion reminds me why I’m so happy to have been born a guy. Between obsessesions with marginally functional luggage and uncomfortable footware, and having to sit or squat to pee, I’d never make it as a chick. (I don’t even want to go into pelvic examinations and other “female problems”. shudder)
Now, if I could just get guys to stop talking to me about professional sport as if I care what some group of thugs did to some other group of thugs over a small inflated balloon of animal skin as thousands of bystanders drink overpriced, watered-down beer, I’d be set.
I didn’t work for Coach, but for our local dept store equivalent of Macys (which is actually now Macys). I had never heard of Coach or of D&B. When I pulled some of the bags out of the display for her to look at, I was taken aback at the prices. She was looking at some leather ones and they did seem to be very nicely made. The D&B bags we carried all reminded me of my friend’s mother, who was crazy about ducks. They make me think of the 80’s.
The Vera Bradley bags look too arts and crafty to me. Every time I see one I think I could make it with a little calico from JoAnn Fabrics. I didn’t realize how trendy they were until I saw a billboard for a high-end store advertising that they had the latest bag.
:: Guiltily :: I have a colorful D&B bag for my summer purse. Not the hearts one, which I too think is hideous and kiddie-looking, but a cream-colored one with the multi-colored “D&B” logo, like this one. I think it’s pretty and fun. I will admit I took the goofy metal heart of it.
I also own a Coach bag in black leather, and a Brahmin bag in brown leather, which are my “rest of the year” purses that I alternate depending on what I wear.
The D&B bag is obviously too eye-catching and trendy to be a long-term “classic” bag. But the Coach and the Brahmin will last forever with good care. Unfortunately, I don’t take care of them as well as I should; I’m not willing to elevate my purse from “daily useful tool” to “expensive item I worry about.”
I guess I can see the appeal, and my mother would have loved it, but I just can’t imagine spending over $200 on a purse. That’s half the price of a game-worn hockey jersey!
Congratulations. May it last forever and you love it just that long!
Wow, I didn’t realize those were Vera Bradley bags, either; I see them all over the place. And they do look like knitting bags – a lot like MY knitting bag, to be honest. Except that I carry knitting in mine. And I got it in a knitting shop. And I forget who made it, except it’s not Vera Bradley. But it is dark blue with big pink cabbage roses and green leaves all over it. Totally VB-esque.
But that elephant bag, Zjesuka? They’re out right now. I tried to order one for myself and they didn’t have any left! Waah! I’ll have to keep my eyes open; for that bag, I’m willing to splurge. And yes, it will be another knitting bag, no matter what it’s designed for!
I’m an el cheapo handbag person. I tear them up, get them all nasty and filthy, and generally treat them very badly. So many years ago I gave up and decided to stay with cheapies. I replace my bag about twice a year, and use the new one till it’s falling apart. I’m just not a handbag person. Or a shoe person, although I would be if (a) I could afford it and (b) I didn’t have a lot of nerve damage in one foot so can’t wear any heels at all these days, unfortuntaely.
As I’m not a bag/shoe person (I tend to buy or acquire something and wear it into the ground), I’ve never really gotten the “I must have a Kelly” thing.
But I’ve gotten two Coaches, one at a thrift store for practically nothing, one as a gift.
The leather ones last nearly forever, even when put through deep neglect. If/when I get around to buying another bag, it’ll probably be a Coach. Even at full price the cost/use makes it an good choice for me.
I tried to order one for myself and they didn’t have any left! Waah! I’ll have to keep my eyes open; for that bag, I’m willing to splurge. And yes, it will be another knitting bag, no matter what it’s designed for!