It was 2003 and I had just graduated from college. I was already working full time and one Friday after work, I walked into Bloomingdale's in Soho and this bag just stopped me in my tracks. I graduated with a degree in Visual Arts and photography has always been something I was passionate about. I developed my own film, I loved looking through the view finder to frame the perfect shot. Seeing this image on this bag, just really spoke to me at the time. It still does, there's something about it that just resonates with me. This is an ICON Navigator messenger bag. The leather still feels great after 23 years. Sadly, the company no longer exists.
This bag retailed for $395 and it was the most expensive item I had ever purchased at the time. I used this bag for a couple of years, it was my everyday carry.
Around 2005, I started looking into getting my first Balenciaga bag. They were really hard to find. I remember searching on eBay for one and found a pewter First but I wasn't confident at the time that it was authentic. Now that I know better, it was indeed authentic and it was one from 2004! I ended up buying my first Balenciaga from an eBay reseller.
After getting my hands on my first Balenciaga bag, I was a goner. Balenciaga's leather felt so nice, and released in all kinds of colors. I just wanted to collect them all. It also didn't help that the Olsen twins and Nichole Ritchie were carrying these bags. I just wanted to look effortlessly cool too. I was very easily influenced in my mid 20s.
Somewhere around 2008, I pulled back from buying bags. Makes sense because we were in the middle of the Great Recession. Also, Balenciaga's leather started to change from chevre to agneau and I wasn't a fan of the new leathers. For a few years I started a new hobby in collecting Blythe dolls.
I fell for these dolls just as hard as I did for Balenciaga bags. Their huge eyes are so expressive and I got to put my photography skills to good use. These dolls are expensive, but not as expensive as bags. I can't remember exactly how many years I spent collecting Blythe dolls, but I want to say it was maybe four or five years. I eventually got priced out of Blythe dolls, customs were going for $5,000 a pop and it just became a little too crazy so I eventually sold my entire collection except for these two right here. The one on the left is an original Blythe from 1972. The one on the right is a custom Blythe.
Around 2012, I started dating Jared and I still had a decent handbag collection. I was buying Balenciaga bags again. I bought a few from 2012-2015, but the leathers were just not as nice as the oldies from 2003-2005. I eventually sold them. I've sold probably close to a 100 Balenciaga bags since I started collecting. In 2015 I quit my job, got married and moved to Boston and I sold most of my bag collection at this point. I believe I was down to 12 bags and I tried really hard to be at purse peace. This is also when I started collecting Funko Pops. They were cute and small. They didn't take up a lot of space, until they did. 😅
I tried really hard to keep my bag collection small. Only three of these bags are still in my collection today. By now, I'm sure you all have noticed there's a pattern. I tend to collect, then purge and repeat. In 2018, I noticed there were a ton of vintage Balenciaga bags that were selling for super cheap prices. I felt so bad seeing these vintage Balenciaga bags going for a few hundred dollars each that I started buying them up again. In a few years my collection exploded. It got to a point where I started running out of room. Then around 2021-2022, Gen Z started getting into Y2K fashion. By 2024 Balenciaga officially announced the City's comeback just in time for their 20th anniversary. Balenciaga prices skyrocketed on the resale market. I decided to sell some of my vintage pieces and made a decent profit.
The luxury sector is having a bit of a identity crisis at the moment as pricing has gotten so crazy that it's turning off a lot of people, me included. Currently, my collection is bigger than I'd like it to be. I have a feeling that I will start to downsize once again. And so it goes.
Hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane! Hope you all have a wonderful Monday. 😊
I've always loved Balenciaga bags, but I've never owned one. I can see why you started collecting them back in the day - they are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI laughed when I saw your Funko collection. I have a similar wall of them :). I have really slowed down on that collection, but once in a while I do add one or two, much to my partner's chagrin. Also, do I spy Strawberry Shortcake dolls in that photo? That makes me so nostalgic!
Hi Lola! I used to have about 750 Funko pops. I sold off a bunch and donated some. I think I may be down to 250 now. Still a lot. I probably need to go through them again and see what else I can let go. But yes those are Strawberry Shortcake dolls. I also have some Care Bears in the background. I'm 100% 80s baby haha.
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