Object of desire: the Balenciaga motorcycle messenger bag
Speaking of luxury shopping, there have been mumblings about the death of the "it bag" this fall, something that perhaps everyone but luxury retailers and magazine editors would be open to--I know I would be. So I was happy to see this story in the Times today about anti-it bags, little purses worn across the body or on the shoulder with a long strap. They're not exactly cheap, but they're not the obnoxious, gargantuan swinging from the elbow of every Hollywood starlet and Long Island housewife either. I am totally behind this--I'm currently in the market for a cross-body bag, actually--except I need something a little bigger.

So what a coincidence that I should receive an email today from Kirna Zabete, announcing the arrival of Balenciaga's fall line, including the delicious motorcycle messenger bag pictured below at left:



I've resisted buying a Balenciaga bag in the past because they've fallen victim to street-vendor syndrome: When you can buy knockoffs on every street corner in New York, the original suddenly looks a lot cheaper. However, I've noticed that after a dalliance with Marc Jacobs' Stam bag, the vendors have moved on to the Goyard St. Louis tote (or "Gooyar," as I've noticed the bags actually say). So maybe the time is ripe for a Balenciaga messenger. The version pictured here is $1,125, but if anything is worth a splurge, it's a handbag--if you break it down on a yearly cost-per-wear basis, it's like $3 per day. (Hey, it's cheaper than your daily Starbucks habit!) Don't you love how I rationalize things? Seriously, though, if you're going to drop the dough on a luxury item, why not do it on one you're going to use every day, right? Right.

2 comments

Anonymous said...

I agree about the expensive handbags...i see so many street vendor versions of bags the real ones do nothing for me. Usually i don't even assume bags are real unless the wearer is very well dressed.
Great blog by the way, would you like to trade links?
Amy
http://nycynicist.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

does anyone know where to get said bag?