What does your bag say about you?
I love seeing people in cities. That eclectic mix of urban dwellers who are energetic, adventurous, and headstrong in their sense of style and expression.
I also love looking at what bag is given to the arm of the bright young things in town. So here’s my short psycho babble on the purse wearer’s interpretations.
The leopard print faux leather bag
This particular gender of lady can be divided into two subsets:
1) The young aspiring rocker who likes to wear a lot of skull charms, line her eyes with the thickest, blackest kohl eyeliner and loves that pirate look. Say hello to the neon plastic accessories and bizarre hairstyles from Toni & Guy.
2) This is the woman in her 30s who wants to feel young, carefree, and reckless. She loves wearing black twentysomething dresses and leather or PVC. She has bleached blonde or shiny brown hair that is a bit dry and frizzy. He loves the legendary rock bands: Rolling Stones, Guns n Roses and Metallica, Motorcycle Head. She still goes clubbing and concerts.
The Juicy Couture bag
Big, bright, sassy and straightforward, one word sums it up: Bling.
The Gucci bag
A classic brand. Well, personally I find it difficult to relate to Gucci because it always seems to be out of my league. As if I did the whole ‘Gucci thing’, it wouldn’t fit in the same way that a game show contestant who won a trip to a 5-star hotel would stand out among the wealthy. Gucci exudes class and sophistication. A Gucci bag is not about trendy fashion. It’s all about old-fashioned Italian glamor. He tells you he’s big, expensive, and Italian and that he loves hanging out in fancy little places in Europe like Portafino, Puglio, and St Tropez.
I think I’m too laid back with my style and I prefer things that are a bit quirky and deconstructed around the edges to take Gucci out of uniform. Unless, on the rare occasion, he opted for the whole paradox of the bizarre naked and the structured and the formal.
I’m not talking about the canvas bags with the Gucci logo, I’m just talking about the right Gucci leather and collectible bags. The canvas logo is a sore spot. Enough talk.
The Burberry bag
In fact, surprisingly, I will give Burberry a lot of credit despite the most obvious connection to Chav. At least the Burberry tartan is a suitable pattern and fits in with all the English rider / country charm. Even though Burberry has roots of being a very British brand, it is still on the right edge of reinvention and has a really strong brand image. The classic Burberry check, away from Chavdom and with a modern twist, is quite British chic.
So I think Burberry handbags are British classics with a touch of cheeky modern charm that oozes from underneath.
The Orla Kiely bag
A fairly adult hippie brand, this bag is generally loved by women over 30 who are sophisticated in a more cultural way. This woman, underdog of style bets, loves the fact that the quirky sixties chintz pattern is retro chic. She longs to relive past decades, especially the 60s and 70s. She also loves the outdoors from time to time.
The Quilted Chanel 2.55 bag
Ooh la la … Chanel’s quilted bag is classic Parisian chic, oozing class and sophistication, and no matter what the current trends are, it’s a timeless design that has lived through many fashion eras. There is something about that chain of smooth stitched leather and gold metal that has created a signature style icon for women around the world.
Chloe Paddington’s bag
This bag offers functionality, femininity and casual comfort. Now a cult classic, the Chloe Paddington bag is fast becoming like the Mulberry Roxanne. It’s made from soft yet durable calfskin that’s practical yet gorgeous, it’s functional with a pocket or two for storing things like your ipod and mobile phone, and it has cute short straps to wear and show off on your arm. However, there is nothing particularly exciting about this bag. Don’t sit on the edge of innovation in terms of bag shapes, but that doesn’t matter. I think the user of this bag is feminine but practical, she mainly wants a bag to store everything on daytime outings and she wants a low-maintenance bag that can be used with almost any outfit to avoid the fuss of having to change the bag regularly .