I took a miserable flight on Southwest recently. I fly all the time on SWA and have never forgotten to check in to the flight exactly 24 hours ahead of time. This time, I forgot. My cell phone was in a dead spot and I didn’t get the alert. As a result, I got stuck in the dreaded middle seat between two very large and obnoxious people (do you really have to get drunk and pick your teeth with the swizzle stick? Grrrrrr…) I usually use plane time to fire up the laptop and get some work done, however my space constraints made that completely impossible. I was also without a book (Grrrr again!) so I picked up the in-flight magazine, Spirit.
My mood went from bad to stunned when I got to page 42 where the magazine was profiling a $260 purse designed to look like a paper lunch bag. You read that right, it’s a purse that looks like the paper lunch bags you took to school in the 2nd grade. I flipped to the cover to make sure I wasn’t reading the April Fools issue. Nope, still February.
Expensive purses epitomize wasteful and ridiculous spending. In my little circle, I have numerous relatives who live paycheck to paycheck, but have purchased purses that cost more than $500. Does a $500 purse hold the money any better than a $30 one? Nope. When you buy something like this, its sole purpose is to show other people you have an expensive purse.
However, this lunch bag purse takes it to the next level. It not only looks like a paper lunchbag, it is actually made of paper. The manufacturer puts some coating on to make it more durable. You’re paying a ridiculous amount of money to get a purse modeled after something that costs a couple cents. This does not compute.
While reading the article, I wondered who on earth would buy such a stupid thing. My question was quickly answered; a lot of people. The magazine wrapped up the review by stating it ‘sold out upon hitting stores.’ Really!?? If you’re thinking about buying this thing, I have a suggestion for you: Cut out the middle-man and just flush your money down the toilet. You’ll save gas from not having to drive your Escalade to the mall.
Perhaps this thing is some test for insanity. Upon completing the purchase, men in white coats come out of a door behind the cash register to take you away to be re-educated.
I didn’t have many litmus tests for a spouse, but expensive purses were definitely one of them. Some years ago, Mrs. 1500 was shopping when she spotted a purse she liked that cost $35. She felt bad about spending the money, so she called me to make sure I wouldn’t be upset. I approved the purchase and awarded Mrs. 1500 bonus points for carefully considering the purchase. Years later, she is still using the same purse. Since she didn’t pay $500 for it, she actually has money to put into it and still has Mr. 1500 as a spouse!
I saw we take this idea to the next level and make a purse that looks like a plastic shopping bag from the grocery store and charge $400 for it!
Times like this I am glad I know nothing about the fashion world…
Ha, I swear I didn’t see your comment before I posted the other one. Heck ya, this thing proves that suckers will buy anything if they think it is “fashionable.”
Yeah, I subscribe to the Steve Jobs wardrobe ideals. If I find a shirt I like, I buy a bunch of them and just wear the same thing every day. I don’t even care if people think I’m wearing the same clothes days on end.
Woah…… Just…….wow.
That literally made my mouth drop open.
“Upon completing the purchase, men in white coats come out of a door behind the cash register to take you away to be re-educated.” -If only!
Yeah, crazy!
My idea is to invent a purse that takes it to the next level. First, it must have an extremely pretentious name. I’m thinking of “.” Yep, you got it; just a period. I’ll then put a super obnoxious price tag on it like $5,000. Throw in an equally pretentious tagline: “It’s you.” “Because you can.” “The . will complete your life.” I’ll bet people would buy it.
Coach. So overpriced and so oversold it is common but people (ok women – I am so embarrassed by this) think they are fashionable for carrying the right purse.
I look at people that carry Coach and shake my head at the trendy wasters. I know when it is not trendy to carry Coach they will all be thrown on the trash pile.
I actually love to find coach bags at the thrift store. I have a couple of them that I’ve paid 30 bucks for. Shhhh….all my stuff comes from there or ebay.
I got a coach bag from ebay for 8 bucks…paid 40 to have it cleaned…Love that bag. I’ve had it over a year now.
Isn’t it amazing that someone would pay all that money for a bag just to dump it at the thrift store? These are probably the same people buying the lunch bag!
“Perhaps this thing is some test for insanity. Upon completing the purchase, men in white coats come out of a door behind the cash register to take you away to be re-educated.” Lol! I love it! That is just crazy, you’d think for spending that kind of money it would be leather or something…but paper?! What’s crazier is that they’re selling it. I did not have a litmus test for my wife either, though she is much like me and hates spending money on things like this. Her current purse is one that she bought at least 5-6 years ago for $25 and is still chugging along.
Ha, for that kind of money, it should be able to make you breakfast and do differential equations!
It stuns me the things that people will spend money on. Just ridiculous!
Ew….HATE the middle seat!
That is absolutely ridiculous….I wonder how many paper lunch bags you’d have to not buy before that thing paid itself off? And would it still be usable at that point?
I’m not big into expensive purses. I’m like your wife feeling bad for a $35 purchase. Thirty-five is so cheap, though, when you look at how much others spend relatively. But my brain doesn’t work like that. I think, “I’m going to set this on the floor in class tonight. Is $35 worth it?”
Yeah, middle seat is the worst. Thankfully, my flight was only 2 hours and the window seat person didn’t have to go to the bathroom 500 times. However, window seat person was married to aisle seat person and they talked much of the time (SHUT-UP!!). Why can’t people just sit next to each other?
Two things really drive my nuts regarding wasteful spending; purses and cars. More on cars later.
This is both hilarious and depressing.
How did this concept even get approved for production? I can see the pitch now, “You see, the bag looks like a 10 cent brown paper lunch bag, but it’s actually fine Corinthian leather that we’ll sell for $260. Brilliant!”
Laughing my ass off! I remember that commercial from when I was a kid. Good old Khan/Ricardo Montalban. Chrysler New Yorker I think!
If you can’t beat em, join em. I’m thinking about coming out with a $20,000, gold plated trash can. “You’ll be the envy of all your neighbors on garbage day.”
Sorry for the middle seat, that’s never any good. Although on our honeymoon my wife and I got lucky and had an empty seat next to us on 2 of our 4 flights so that was awesome.
“Years later, she is still using the same purse. Since she didn’t pay $500 for it, she actually has money to put into it”
My wife also recently upgraded her purse, of course I didn’t mind since her other one was about 5 years old and she only spent around $40 for her new one. I’ll take $8 / year expense for that. Now if I can just break her of the habit of using my empty pockets as extra storage.
I suffer from the same affliction. As a result, all kinds of unintended stuff goes through the washing machine dryer. It drives Mrs. 1500 nuts!
Cool! This is harder and harder to come by lately. Seems like every flight is packed. Very unpleasant.
My wife needed to replace her purse recently and I let her buy a $500 bag. I mean, she needs to look good in public right? Other people may think we’re poor otherwise..
Just kidding, my wife is wayy smarter than that. We were in Kohl’s last month and she felt bad about spending a gift certificate on a $35 purse. I was thinking in my head “Dude you hit the jackpot with this chick!”
You have a good wife! Hold on to that one.
If my wife ever suggested a $500 purse, I think I would lose my mind. You would see that Clark Grizwold tantrum times 10. If it was out in public, the police would show up and I’d be locked up. My neighbors (who spend money like it’s going out of style) would rally around her and insist on new laws to keep me locked up for an extra long time. I’d be in an asylum, forced to watch Coach, Lexus and Prada commercials until I came around. Ever see A Clockwork Orange?
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This is a comment against purse ranting in general, and not this particular piece of garbage nonsense paper bag fad that will be “out” within the year and looks rediculous to boot:
It sounds to me like you know people who are financially irresponsible in general and wastefully spend money they don’t have on purses they don’t need. The purse is a symbol for their flawed lifestyle. But seriously, it is possible to be frugal and have a nice bag. You see it and wear it every day, might as well spend up to get one adequate to all your needs (size, feel, storage, aesthetics, style, and yes, even status).
Prior to my current purse, which cost almost $300, I used the standard purses from Taret and such. They started fraying really quickly (i.e., within a year) and generally were not well-made. I should mention that I bought my nice purse five years ago. I am a stylish person and it still ties together my outfits and overall look.
Now, if you’re the type of person to replace your purse every few months with the latest fad, or keep a huge rotation of purses to go with your shoes, or if you’re just not as in-tune with your own style and often make mistakes with your purchases, then it’s obviously financially irresponsible to get expensive bags. Same goes for if you are already choosing to spend your luxury budget money on other things (like smart phones or new cars or cable). Nothing against phones or cable or new cars, it’s just that you should know that in order to spend up in one item, you need to spend down in another.
All this is just to say that there’s no reason to judge every well-dressed person walking down the street :). Said person may value style more than cars, cable, big houses, and smart phones, and be spending accordingly. Said person may also be saving money.
I’m all for spending extra money on quality things that last. I never buy cheap tools or electronics. My Apple stuff costs more, but it never dies. No Harbor Freight tools for me either.
$300 may not be crazy if you’re going to keep this thing for years. I do know folks who go crazy though. An acquaintance who doesn’t make much money has several that cost north of $500. That is just nuts.
I do wonder if you have to spend even $300 to get a high quality one though? As a guy, I fully admit to having no idea! 🙂
No, you don’t. My wife owns 1 coach purse. She got it for free using the westlaw points she built up while it law school.
Kids change the equation though. When ours were born, the purse turned into a gigantic diaper bag (cloth, a gift from someone) with some sort of (apparently) famous paisley pattern on it. I imagine that at some point she’ll just go back to the tiny coach purse (and of course, my pockets). But at $0, that is an investment I can live with (ROI = infinity)