**RANT** Be Who You Are & Buy What You Like

As promised in my post about my Poshmark buys, here is my rant about "designer"/luxury goods...

I would change "life" to "fashion"

After I bought those Coach bags from Poshmark sellers, I was telling a neighbor about the site and how I love what I got there. I told her what I paid for the bags and she was so excited to take a look at the Poshmark site that we pulled it up right then and there. She went absolutely gaga over the Brahmin bags she has a liking for. Of course, she joined the site and will probably go broke when she sees that there are a lot of the Frye bags she also loves. Poshmark ought to be paying me for promoting the site!

A couple of days later, that neighbor came over to show me some of the stuff she has "hearted" and while we were looking, she asked to see the 2 bags I had been raving about. Her reaction to this absolute awesomeness -

My laptop fits beautifully in  the work bag

- was... bewilderment.

Basically, she was seeing all the other Coach bags listed on Poshmark and wondered why I chose such plain-looking ones. To be honest, when I see bags like this:

Or this:

- I'm not that impressed. And this next one is just... as Amy once sang: No, no, no.

But, seriously, to each his own. I can see how any of those bags could be attractive to someone. They aren't ugly, but just so loudly branded. You would surely get noticed for carrying it.

And maybe that is why a lot of people get those types of very visibly branded bags: they want or need someone to know they can afford a Coach - or Louis Vuitton or whatever else. And that's fine, I guess. We live in a society where we seem more concerned with appearing happy instead of just being happy. And I prefer not to be a walking, talking, unpaid billboard. Especially for something so pricey that I have to wait until it hits a flea market before I can (maybe) afford it.

Maybe I am just in one of my moods? I am so tired of people doing things and having things and wanting things for... not themselves?

Anyway, I explained to my neighbor why I'm so pleased with my "new bags". For one thing, I love carrying a purse that makes me feel like me: simply but well put together and okay with being simply and well put together. I'm not a dressy type of gal like I was in my youth. I like to be clean and comfortable. And I need a bag that lets me carry quite a bit of stuff in an organized way. I once spent half an hour panicking that I had lost my apartment key when it had just fallen to the bottom of my bag.

One of the reasons Coach bags are - or used to be - so desired is that they are so sturdy and well crafted. (My mother had a couple of really good purses back in the day that lasted for years and years until they got stolen lost when movers packed up our house once.)

I'm pretty sure that my neighbor loves her Brahmin bags because they are so well-made (they really are too - just not my style of a purse). I can tell that she loves the one she carries all the time. And I mean all the time.  I told her all this and she agreed. She said that she feels "matched" well to the bag. It's a beautiful bag that can be handed down a couple of generations. She still didn't seem to love my new bags but that's okay, she doesn't have to because I do.

We all probably have at least that one purse we love but that is tattered and falling apart (and guys probably have that special wallet). I have/had at least 3 well-loved purses in the past several years. Not all of them are well-made either. Along with a really cute cloth mini-bag, this is what I have been carrying for most of the past 3 years:

About $12 at Target (??) a few years back

I love that purse but, as you can see, it's warped on the bottom of one side. Nothing I did would smooth that out. I tried loading it with heavy stuff, hanging from a rail, and blowing a warm dryer over it. Still warped. The cloth mini-bag I had was a freebie included with some purchase I made about 5 years ago. It was small but hung nicely off the arm and I could stuff a lot of things in it. Unfortunately, the handle came loose from one side.

For years, I've had a Coach-not-Coach (aka "Foach") large style tote that is made of such quality leather and so durable that it still looks great after about 25 years. The leather is wearing well just the way leather is supposed to - getting darker and softer in some places but not falling apart. The one thing that gives it away as not authentic is the non-Coach type hardware. A dear friend gave it to me and I use it as a carry-on/carry-around when I am visiting family. Every now and then, I pull it out and rub it down with some conditioner. I love it.

I pulled out the phone-calc and did the math on the age of my leather Foach - I got it in 1991 so that makes it almost 30 years old! Wow. I don't think that even the people at Coach would be hating me for this bag. INXS was playing Wembley in '91 and I was 102 pounds and strutting around in 4-inch heels like nobody's business. Talk about time flying...

Anyway.

The Coach that belonged to Mike is a coated-canvas-type material that I don't want to wear out or stain. Leather is easier to maintain and lasts longer. Also, the branding on Mike's Coach is quite visible - though not loudly so because the material is a sort of black and monochrome. Did I get that right???

Makes me think of her.

There are a couple of other brands I would love to own a bag from. So far, they are out of my reach even on Poshmark. But I am throwing out hints so hard that I am leaving marks on my family! The main brand I want a bag from is Liebeskind Berlin. The cowskin leather ones are soft that they feel like they're made of clouds and unicorn fur.  I am also keeping my eye out for something by Wilsons Leather. That or Frye's. I have heard great things about both.

For now, though, I am extremely happy with my 2 bags. As with the Foach tote, I am treating them with conditioner and making sure to massage the handles when I carry them. I love it when leather gets that beautiful used look.

By the way, for anyone wondering about the history of Coach, there's an article that goes so deep in that it's going to take me years to read it all. Here is the link.

To sum up, I don't want to tell anyone what to do, but I sure hope that the next time you go shopping, you buy things that make you happy and feel pretty. Look at me, I'm over here quarantined and happy to be looking at these purses when no one else can see them!

Well, now that I got that rant out of my system, I feel better. I am going to go and work on my budget now. I will have to be creative next month since I used birthday money for fun instead of being responsible.

Peace
--Free

Found the (almost) perfect purse

Guys, you might want to sit this one out. I am going to do a purse rant.

I love purses. Some ladies are shoe freaks or love putting together outfits. I will run around in jeans, leggings, and sneakers and be fully happy as long as I have a purse I like. And I am not a purse snob. I don't care if it costs 5 dollars or 500, as long as there is something about it that I like.

Like a lot of women, I go through phases with purses. For years, I carried gigantic purses - more like mini-suitcases. There was a time when I could go on a weekend trip and carry everything I needed in my purse and my jacket pockets. Then I went through a tiny-purse stage. I would carry something that held only gum, ID, cash, and (because I was a bad-habit gal then), a pack of smokes. Now I am back into the big-bag phase. My purses of late aren't as huge as I once liked, but I still prefer a "tote" to a crossbody-type bag.

My sister had a beautiful Coach handbag, a Coach clutch, and a Coach flat crossbody that she got for birthday gifts through the years.  I have a large leather tote that is labeled Coach but isn't a Coach and a "Foach" handbag that I got at a huge flea market type place in Texas where I also got a "Folex" watch. The bag was a pretty good fake too if you didn't look too closely at the stitching or notice that the zippers stuck. And there wasn't even a fake of the Coach number inside. I mean, it was a 20 dollar bag so what do you expect? But my sister, her handbag is a gorgeous Coach Madison bag that is just flawless. When she passed away, her daughter gave the purse to me. That was 5 years ago and I just started carrying the bag about a month ago. I get very self-conscious about carrying such a nice bag though since I am so cash poor. It's a little like people who wear designer suits to grocery shop with food stamps. Maybe I shouldn't care so much what people think.

Photo doesn't do it
justice

Anyway, I love the Madison bag because of the leather and chain strap and the roomy inside. I carry it every now and then because it reminds me of my sister and I still miss her so much that I can't stand it. But I don't want to wear out the fabric. I also don't want to risk getting it dirty or anything. So I needed a bag just as big and roomy.

I looked at some Rosetti bags because they are adorable and come in a very wide price range. Then I looked at some different purses on Amazon. My goal was to stay in the 20 to the 25-dollar range. I found quite a few really cute bags but nothing that was really just the right size and style. For some reason, I thought to go over to DSW. And, boy, do they have every kind of purse in every kind of price range. I spent about 2 weeks looking and comparing and putting purses into my online cart. Then I saw this one:

RYIN SATCHEL by Enzo Angiolini

If you copy/paste the name of the bag into the DSW search, you will see that it comes in about 3 or 4 different colors. I am not sure why they aren't all just posted on the same product page.

So cute and so roomy and so affordable. If I cut a little off my grocery budget for the next 2 weeks and use a little of my leftover birthday money. I put it in my cart and waited a few days. I went back and looked and didn't see anything nicer in the same price range. The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the gold-tone metal accents and the fact that the bag is a little taller/deeper than I like. I prefer silver accents and a more shallow interior but there were no purses with those features that I liked and could afford so I got the Enzo. That dude has some really cute bag designs.

When the purse got here, I found that the gold-toned accents weren't too bad. And the purse has a couple of extra pockets that I hadn't noticed from the online photos. What?!

What makes them so hidden are the magnetic button closures that give them a seamless look against the sides of the bag. They are pretty roomy too. I found that, even with the bag stuffed, I can still fit my phone in one pocket and my fat phone charging case in the other. They are almost like hidden pockets - and I will tell you how hidden in a second. The bag looks great with the zippered "vents" opened or closed. I'm not crazy about the shape of the bag with the vents closed but, still.

The bag is perfect for holding a lot of stuff without looking stuffed. And there are so many pockets that I've been having fun rearranging things in them. (Yes, I live a sheltered and boring life.)

Not shown: 2 hidden side pockets

So, funny story about those hidden pockets.

I had an appointment for a medical test at the hospital and, of course, I carried the new purse. (It's not like any of us are getting out much these days, right?) When I got to the check-in station, I needed to show my identification. I reach into the purse and... no ID. I check one pocket, another pocket, and another pocket. The check-in lady was giving me suggestions like "Did you forget it at home?" and "Maybe you left it in the car?"

I spent a full ten minutes searching and, finally, the check-in lady said that I could give her some other verbal info to verify my identification. So I get checked in and go find a seat to wait to be called back for my test. I start going through my purse again because I am going to have a lot of problems if I have lost my wallet. I ended up pulling out everything and sitting it right there on the chair next to me and still no wallet. But I could feel some kind of weight in the purse. Too much weight for it to be completely empty. And... then I remember the hidden pockets on each side. My wallet was in one and my phone charger was in the other.

So, I love my purse but need to remember to check the hidden pockets.

The purse was double what I wanted to spend at 40 bucks but I will be okay as long as I don't get crazy when I go for groceries. DSW has a thing for members (and I forgot that I was one) where there are no shipping costs. Maybe that's for everyone? I don't know but it was helpful this time.

If you decide to get this bag, trust me and maybe don't use the hidden compartments the first time out.

Peace
--Free