I am something of a handbag fiend. The photo composite at left represents about one fifth of my collection. I am extremely selective, though, and never spend a lot of money on a bag; the most expensive one I own is the blue suede and floral embroidery Animal backpack pictured, for which I paid £40 (about $80) a few years ago. I really cannot imagine getting a decent night's sleep if I ever paid several thousand dollars for, say, a Fendi slouch bag, just because it's the bag of the moment - or, by now, several moments ago. Even if I was a billionaire, there's no way I'd shell out for a Louis Vuitton cherry bag...which, by the way, isn't that cute - and I say that as a big fan of cherries used in design.
I am in the middle of moving, which means lots of packing, which means being utterly horrified at the number of useless items I own. My handbags are not among them, but after the tenth time I found a bag and thought, "Gosh, I forgot I owned this!"...Well, I'm wondering if perhaps I've got a problem.
The wonderful thing about going through all these bags is that they often contain beauty products I forgot I owned. So far, the biggest scores have been several sealed packets of Prada skincare products - exfoliating masks and moisturiser - that my oldest friend back in the US, Karri, sent to me, and a No 7 fuschia lipgloss-filled seashell that my beautiful friend Siobhan in Northern Ireland, modelling that lipgloss herself at left, sent to me. (Tell me I don't have fantastic mates.)
The rather depressing flipside of this is the sad fact that the amount of products I own is now roughly double what I thought it was. A Toby Pimlico "arm candy" tote stuffed full of never used products - including a full bottle of St Tropez self-tanning mousse (£30) and Clarins self-tanning milk (£24) - really pushed the total up.
I have no plans whatsoever to shun new products. What I do need, though, is a way to get rid of half-full bottles of stuff I'm never going to use: Throwing it all away would be too painful, and lugging it from one residence to another is not an option. Suggestions welcome in the comments.
I am humble and ecstatic enough to take all donations from friends, and in turn I appreciate it when friends take donations away from me! It's easy to disinfect & clean any makeup except mascara and some lipglosses in a tube, so those I don't take.
So I suggest you just dump all your half-used in a good friend's lap over there, to see a big smile!
Posted by: Donna B | May 27, 2005 at 01:36 PM
PS I, too, collect handbags, vintage or kicky. I don't know why, but they look so beautiful and compelling, and suggest that I may have another life, which I sometimes forget about, which is quite glamourous and alluring.
Posted by: Donna B | May 27, 2005 at 01:41 PM
Put it all on EBAY!
Posted by: Maxine Richards | May 28, 2005 at 12:51 PM
Im into vintage handbags too glomesh etc...
Posted by: hailey | September 25, 2006 at 09:46 PM
I was looking for vintage handbags too and hit some of the links off this site ....
https://www.perfumeandhandbags.com/vintagehandbags/
Posted by: hailey | September 25, 2006 at 09:48 PM