Written and Image by Melissa Holdbrook-Akposoe
Not that it’s the most pressing thing in the world, but I feel like it has become extremely hard to curate a solid handbag collection. Firstly, social media has given us too much access to new things. If you see something enough on Instagram, you convince yourself that you desperately need it otherwise you might just combust.
This delusion sometimes leads us to making the wrong decisions for our future selves and we end up with a bunch of stuff that we don’t want, nor can sell because it simply doesn’t hold value. When buying handbags, I have become extremely strategic due to the sheer fact that you are hardly ever going to get change out of £1000 these days (wtf?!) and I can’t stand it when I make a bad investment/decision.
So here are the rules I stick to when buying bags:
1. How long has it been on my mind? I rarely buy bags impulsively; I like to ponder on things and explore whether I really want or need it. A lot of brands have an amazing strategy whereby they give a huge group of influencers the same bag to promote on launch day and the psychology of it all usually means that you end up falling for this trap. This has happened to me way too many times, so for this very reason I take my time to really assess whether the bag will fit into my life.
2. How versatile is it? Practicality is a big thing for me but not in the way that you think. Practicality doesn’t mean that I only opt for bags that are a one size fit all, it just means that I want to make sure I’m buying something that I know I will use a lot. It doesn’t have to be the most trendy, it doesn’t have to be the most popping designer but it does have to make sense for me.
3. What the ROI? I interpret the return on investment in two ways:
– Am I going to wear this bag enough that when I divide the cost against the amount of times that I’ve worn it, the investment makes sense? If I end up wearing a bag enough times that the cost comes down to a couple of pounds per wear, I feel like I have made a great investment.
– If I eventually get bored and want to sell the bag, what is the likelihood that I’ll get my money back or even make a profit?
All of these things are extremely important factors in my decision making when it comes to handbag purchases.
My last piece of advice is you can never go wrong with classics. Look at how many ‘trendy’ bags have come and gone quicker than a British summer. Buying into trends is hardly ever a great idea (unless you love it) because they are just that, a trend. When you are bored of it, so is the rest of the world and the likelihood of you being able to get back what you paid for it is a myth.
Be wise huns!
