When I arrived at a new and snootier middle school in the upscale town of Wellington West Palm Beach, I instantly earned favor with a group of girls who's parents lived in mansions on lakes and took quick weekend vacations to Disney World within an hours notice. Oh, and had maids. After a few weeks of relaxing poolside in crochet bikinis and gossiping about gangly thirteen-year-old boys, I realized for the first time in my life that I wanted to keep up. My three best friends (We will just call them A, C and J) owned BMW golf carts and wood paneled refrigerators. But that wasn't what I cared about.
I became convinced that if I had a Dooney and Burke purse like my friends, my problems would disappear. Mind you, these were middle school problems. The heart saturated bag would finally bring me my period so I would be a grown up, give me a less bloated belly and make my color coordinated braces disappear. I was sure of it. I was fixated.
A few months later, I received the bag as a gift. When I first opened it, I was ecstatic. When I strutted into school swinging it on my arm, I was disappointed. No one seemed to notice or even care. I was two months too late. I looked around and noticed everyone wearing Coach messenger bags and nylon Nike drawstring backpacks. I vowed to myself then that I would abstain from getting a bag just because everyone else has it.
It bags are fantastic. Well-made. Accepted as a valuable item and sought after by those who have not yet purchased it. It makes you feel important for a moment in time-- when that bag is still loved and advertised but once the trend is over, you feel almost ashamed to wear something not "in" anymore. Why? Because we all want to feel respected and accepted.
What goes up must come down. I still use my Alexander Wang Rocco bag not because it's currently in style but because it's my favorite black bag. And it looks great with a fur poof attached. What is an It Bag eventually becomes just another bag and the only thing worse than feeling lame for wearing an item is feeling lame for wearing an item you paid a ton of money for, only to wear it for the season.
My old bags were handed down to younger cousins and sent to consignment shops. But I always wonder, what happens to those bags we once adored? Where do It Bags go to die? I hope they're at peace.
Have you ever bought a bag just because it was on trend? Which was it?
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