Bag lady...

That was my mom's nickname at work for awhile. That is also a brilliant song by Erykah Badu, one of my favorites of hers, actually.

Bag lady you gone hurt your back
Dragging all them bags like that

I know I'm not the first person ever (or here, even, right, starbright oogi? hmm?) to go through what I'll call bangst -- but I figure I'd share mine in the hopes of healing.

This week I got it into my head that I need a new bag. Not just anything, but SOMETHING.So I've decided to use the interwebs to research this thing known as the "it" bag. I don't really want someone else's "it" bag -- I want my own. Not to say that I have not coveted "it" bags in the past.

I mean... it started a few years ago, with my yearning for this:

[amazon.com, bunnyshop.blogspot.com]

... a Marc by Marc Jacobs Stella. Preferably in aqua....or any color except pink. And now I don't even think it's possible to find one easily. Or maybe it's too easy now. Or something. I don't think I could have bought it then, though, and I guess I can't now, even if I could afford it. But it doesn't have the same freshness, anyway. I still love the shape and the straps, but the patch pockets look a little wimpy. I'm not fond of the shiny press-lock thingies either.

Sadly the current MBYMJ styles do not inspire the same lustful feelings in me. Quinn, Faridah and Deborah are a'ight, but somehow... meh?



[nordstroms.com]

OK well actually....kind of hot for that teal Quinn now. Damn.... She had dumps like a truck, truck, truck... I've always been fond of trapezoids. And the buckles on the Deborah straps? *melt*
[Interesting reading: this handy-dandy history and guide to avoiding fakes. ]

More recently, on a shopping jaunt with km, I fell hard for the Chloe Bay bags (below, below). Then I remembered I'd seen the Chloe Paddington (belooow, left) in Bazaar a couple of years ago and felt like it was another high-end bag I could covet in addition to the beloved Stella. And then after some fervent interweb trawling, I discovered the even more expensive Chloe Silverado (belooow, right) and Edith (not pictured) totes.

[net-a-porter.com]

But these bags are all fantasies. Castles in the sky, with chunky hardware. Though I like to pick up a fashion mag or two from time to time, and though I knew that Mischa/Lindsay/Sienna/Nicole/Kate/Kate/Kate were the ones making these bags "it" -- I wasn't really burned out on them. And so I would think of them, constantly, and how shocking it would be if I actually did buy one, because one would cost more than the rest of what I was wearing, all together.

I guess nobody ever told you
All you must hold on to
Is you, is you, is you

Well what kind of straps do I hold onto me with? This week I tried to pin it down. I looked up a bunch of "mid-range" "independent" bag lines. I even looked through my backissues of Lucky(bastards) and used the damn "YES!" stickers. [sidebar: I still find it weird to say "bags". They're "purses". But it seems weird to say "purses" because these things are freaking huge. "Pocketbook" is practically Shakespearean - it's like "bodkin" or "varlet".]

As I told lilbunny today, a lot of the thrill in this for me is the sticker shock, and the potential exhilaration of buying something yoooooge like this. But also, it was kind of fun for me to think about what exactly the hell I wanted: to put aside all the Debbie Downer-ism of price and functionality, and think about aesthetics. Now it might seem to you that I do a lot of that -- but I really don't.... Or I guess I don't think about it systematically, so this was new to me. And now that I think of it... probably pretty boring to you. Er, sorry.

I knew I liked bold hardware and a generally rugged-yet-cute look (still talking bags and not boys here). I knew I wanted leather, and a tote, shopper, satchel, maaaaybe a hobo (again - bags, not boys) shape. From perusing various bag blogs and the entertainingly named BagBorrowOrSteal site, I tried to pick out the common denominators (without balking over the math).

I like (not all once):
• rectangular/trapezoidal shapes or slouchy versions thereof;
• pockets on the outside;
• wide, flat straps;
• contrasting topstitching;
• a sprinkling of studs or grommets;
• either glazed leather or the buttery soft super-matte kind;
• a color that's neither black nor brown (favoring grey, blue and yellow right now).

I can do without:
• fringe or lots of tassels;
• ruchingruchingruching;
• quilting or chain (ick);
• any shape that looks "organic" or bodily (ick ICK).

But anyway. Newfangled brands that I like so far:
Kooba. Gustto. Gerard Darel. SHIH by Stephanie Lin. Hayden Harnett. Tano. ANI. Gryson. Aleya NY. Rachel Nasvik. Frye (OK not so new!) Ananas. Tylie Malibu (could I really buy something named that, especially when it's all looking Laguna Beachy?)

I'm told these are the shiz, but I say "whatevs": Anna Corinna, Botkier, Rebecca Minkoff (though her colors are nice).

Bag lady
Let it go, let it go, let it go, let it go
Ooh, ooh
Girl you don't need it


I'd like to believe that.

[in other news, we need a new background and template. any suggestions?]