Did your purse cost more than your wedding dress?

In this picture, Brigitte Bardot looks pensive and melancholy -- like she just broke up with a beau or forgot to call her Mom on her birthday. Perhaps she's pondering the inflation rate of purses and wondering how a clutch like the Fendi box clutch can cost $1,490 this season? Or how the Bottega Veneta Karung fan clutch (see right) can fetch $1,980? Are you outraged by the current price of handbags? Does the idea of spending $3,000 on a purse that Vogue will hautily deem "passe!" in three months make you seethe? Post your thoughts on the current state of fashion--damn it or defend it!

Bardot photo credit: Leo Fuchs

Comments

[ella]

I can't believe how expensive accessories have become in the last few years. I never spent more than $800 on a purse five years ago. And that was a Gucci. I think womens mags should be less enthusiastic about this trend. They could change things, right? It's like the designers are laughing at us behind our backs.
Can I get that Chanel now?

[Andrea]

I think it's outrageous to spend a lot on a handbag. You can carry an inexpensive bag -- and wear inexpensive clothes and shoes, for that matter -- and still come across like you spent lavishly. It's all in your attitude, how well you put the pieces together and how you carry yourself. It's also about context -- where you are and whether you appear to belong. Here's a true story that makes my point. I bought a large, slouchy hobo at Gap a few seasons ago on sale for $25. It's camel-colored suede with gold grommets all around the edges. I was using it the day I went to the Beverly Hills Neiman Marcus, dressed in nice, business-y clothes. Two salespeople approached me and complemented me on my bag. I almost died laughing to myself inside. Soon afterwards, I was in Macy's and a salesperson again said she liked my bag. She said it looked like Michael Kors. True story.

[purse addict]

Call me crazy, but I feel like I can justify spending $2,000 on a Lanvin bag. A handbag is an investment and you can always pull it out a few seasons later. The good ones last forever. You just have to be sure that you don't buy the trendiest, "it" bag that Vogue and Elle won't shut aup about. That big ugly Miu Miu bag with all the folds last year was all the rage (props to the blog name) and got so much coverage in fashion magazines. The same goes for the YSL Muse bag, which is gorgeous but got too popular. Now, you need to get the YSL Downtown bag, which is $1,600, I think. Buy a Gucci Jackie O hobo in black leather and you will always have the right accessory.

[i need chanel]

I agree with andrea. i just bought a gorgeous metallic lauren merkin clutch for $200 and j. crew has cute clutches for even less. why spend that much? it's silly.

[best purse for fall?]

Has anyone seen a great hobo for less than $500? I would love to find a new designer that is up and coming and has cool bags. (I like B&D bags and some Botkiers) Thanks --- Kate B.

[sandra m]

Re: The Wild Side (9/30/07)
The green consciousness that's gripping the world, based on a ethic that we should take from nature-including animals-only what we need, is not a trend or fad. For that reason, those who think it's okay to kill animals for vanity, specifically fur fashion, will continue to be marginalized as anacronistic and unevolved. So much for image.

[tara]

I recieve purses from an editor friend of mine, she's just not that enamored. Lucky me. That crap is in her face all day long. It's just not her lexicon of love. Stuff is SO over-rated in this porked out society. Every one is piggy. And I equate hi-end hand bags with piggies. Oink oink! So I tend to pass the ones she gives me to my cousin who lives in the boondocks. She actually has a pig name Marcel. I wonder what he thinks?
Society is in shambles is the moral of this story. Say no to being piggy. Save that 1000. for your face lift. Piggy.

[Arman Valdar]

Clutch bag? Forget the purse and gaze at Brigitte Bardot...what an amazing beauty she was....one of the most beautiful women of the world....BB and MM....will there ever be another like them? Well, AJ (Jolie) should be in this group also. Were we to discuss the cost of purses?

[Brittany]

Wake Up People! Where do we even justify spending that kind of $ on a tiny, scrap of cloth(or clutch) that we "call" style and fashion?? Cute?-maybe, Pretty?-probably, Practical?-No-not really @all. I mean yes ladies, of course we all have our little tiny pretty, and elegant handbags that we swap a few of our items,(living in our current-regular sized bag) into prior to a fancy party or a night of fine-dining. But U and I both know that the itsy-bitsy guy wouldnt stand a chance for being our evryday- all the time purse for us, b/c they are SO SMALL!! I can think of a 4 yr old needing more room in a purse than this one gives us!! It is what it is ladies>2,000.00!! On a freakin bag!! Take 1/2 of the amount and think of what wonders it could do for our Animal Shelters, or even better, how many people we could feed in our 3rd-world countries!?! seem a little selfish, greedy, un-practical and petty now? Just think about it!! What would Brigitte Bardot do?