Object of Desire - The Designer Bag

Grace Kelly with her eponymous Kelly bag

Nothing satisfies a Fashionista more than to make an entrance with the latest to-die-for-bag dangling happily from her arm. The bigger the better and no matter the weight, it must dangle just-so with the all-important logo visible to the discerning eye.

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past decade, if you have any fashion instinct in you at all, you will know, that the handbag, or what our American sisters call the "purse" is the single most important  accessory in our wardrobe (followed very closely by the shoe!). The 'right' or 'wrong one can make or break an outfit! Believe me your dress may be too-tight-too-short, your hair may be disheveled, make-up not quite right, but if you step in with a crocodile Hermes Birkin/Kelly bag dangling from your arm...ALL sins will be forgiven!

The designer bag because of its oh-so near-yet-still-so-far (for most) is at the top of the desirability quotient. Extravagantly priced and eye-wateringly expensive it is
considered by the cognoscenti to be the very best arm candy. Carrying a designer bag is tantamount to having a large wad of cash strapped to your arm. Which apparently has been deemed by many, to be a most desirable prospect, making the bag an instant eye-magnet, keeping it high-up there in the social status ranking. In the ephemeral Mwah! Mwah! circles all presumptions about you easily begin and end with your bag!

The unfortunate by-product of this bag-status anxiety is the bag boast syndrome:

A common occurrence but often done so seamlessly that you may not realize what is afoot. It usually happens where a few women are gather in an informal group either at Luncheon or get-together. A late arrivee will walk in, walk over to the group and before she says her "Hello"'s or settles down, the first thing she does is Wham! plonk her big fat oversized designer designer bag bang in the middle of the coffee table, hitherto, which had substituted for a hearth around which you had all gathered to make polite conversation. Of course all eyes are drawn to the bag, the extravagant expense of, and this seasons-newness of, which announces to the gathering that this person is not to be ignored. She has the money(fresh in-your-face new money, not the parsimonious old money type), she travels, she knows what's going on! Yeah yeah,  I know you're thinking, how shallow- Maybe, but people are impressed. I observe it time and time again.

Not too long ago bags were not considered such objects of desire. when one went out to lunch or dinner, one's bag was placed demurely and unobtrusively by one's feet or slung nonchalantly on the back of one's chair. Now when one dines at better restaurants the moment one is seated, the waiter will unctuously bring a small trolley to place your bag so that it too may sit at table!

Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada...You've heard the names? You would love to own a genuine designer bag? You're having a cash flow conflict? If you've said yes to all 3 - Not to worry a solution is coming soon...just watch this space!