Investment Bag

Hmmm… Nina infers that the following bags will only cost “a few weeks’ salary”:

1. The Chanel 2.55
2. Louis Vuitton Speedy
3. Gucci Jackie O
4. Hermés Birkin

If only!

Now, I like all these bags, and would have all these if I could. BUT. Is any one of these a must-have? Is my wardrobe painfully incomplete without one of these?

It’s hard to say.

I’ve never had one, and then had to do without it, so it’s likely I don’t know what I’m missing. Aside from maybe the Birkin, I really can’t imagine using any one of those bags an awful lot.

The Hermès Birkin. Holy grail or wholly unattainable?

Probably both!

There are so many choices out there these days, that it’s easy to get swept up in the moment, and make mistakes. This isn’t necessarily a completely bad thing, as mistakes are learning opportunities.

In a wardrobe, one of the key indicators of a mistake is lack of use. A bag, for instance, not only needs to look great, it needs to be functional and it needs to work very hard by going with just about everything and going just about anywhere. If it’s not being used, it’s not what you needed.

I wish I could get away with just one satchel I could use summer and winter and wherever I went, but my life and my moods are not really suited to that, and I’m certainly no longer a student. So, I’ll lay it all out here. I have about 5 handbags I use heavily:

1. a midnight blue Elk bowler which I think is practically perfect
2. a black Sportscraft “Evie” hobo (‘nuff said)
3. a black Mulberry Bayswater which is an ideal bag for work
4. a grey Chloe Paddington which is an ideal weekend bag, casual but beautiful
5. a black Country Road messenger which is perfect for when I need to move about and keep my hands free, and which often goes travelling with me.

The Baysie gets a lot of use winter workdays, the hobo gets used most winter weekends, the Elk bowler gets used most summer workdays, the Paddy gets used most summer weekends.

I have about 5 other assorted bags which get picked at a whim and used heavily for a week or two before I go back to one of the first five. Any of the First Five are the ones I would miss the most, and not one is even close to the four Nina lists.

I’ll admit that the Bayswater and Paddington could be termed “investment” bags, (they were bought as “rewards” for insane workloads because holidays were out of the question. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it). They certainly work very hard, but not too much harder than the other non-“investment” bags which have, at one time or other, been used daily for months or years on end. I do expect them to last much longer than the other bags.

So, does an “Investment Bag” make my One Hundred? Nah, not really. It doesn’t matter if a bag has some sort of iconic style status and a huge price tag. It might help, but it’s not essential. What is essential is that it works in every way it needs to. And works and works and works.

For handbags, I need a hobo, a messenger and a tote. They’re my three essentials (don’t make me choose).