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I was finishing off 7th grade and spent hours every day dreaming about designer handbags. Please mom. Please dad. I will do x, y, and z. And finally, right before 8th grade, my parents got me my first designer handbag, a Coach bag. From that day on I was practically the most annoying child a parent could have. Telling my parents I needed an allowance, hoping to go to the mall every week to oogle handbags. It was where the obsession started. I did not start to get more designer handbags until college, where I practically calculated every penny I could save to buy more handbags. The obsession continued, and now I have a very sizable collection that continues to grow that I buy myself.
What about you? How did your handbag obsession begin?
I was a bit older than you were Megs. My parents would have never bought me a designer bag. Heck, I tried for a pony and that didn’t work either.
I got my LV at 15, a couple of months after my birthday.
I had started working and I saved up enough money to buy a damier ebony speedy 30, all by myself.
I was 12 years old and went in to Gucci at the Bal Harbor shops in Miami and my mom said no and she walked out and I shed a couple of tears and my dad gave in and said don’t tell your mother as he bought me the bag I wanted and her bag she wanted. That was how it all began.
Mine was the same as yours Megs, a Coach small pouch bag. Only I was 28. Before that I don’t even know what I carried! Random stuff from Nordstrom I think, like Perlina. Seven years later, I carry only Bottega Veneta, Louis Vuitton, and I have one Jimmy Choo.
I got a Coach handbag when I was 13 but it was from an outlet. I got my first LV (pochette) for my 15th birthday and used my own money to purchase the speedy 25 a few months after
I was 12 and begging for a dooney and bourke IT bag. That’s when I first really got started reading fashion magazines and they got me it. Since then my handbag obsession has taken off.
Couldn’t resist that L.A.M.B. LeSportsac joint production when I was 20 in college. It was the most expensive item of apparel I had ever purchased, like $80 or something. Pennies compared to what I will pay for L.A.M.B. now!
Oh and what about 26-29 says “first job”? LOL! I think by then I was on my 7th or 8th job.
I was 18 when i got my first designer handbag, it was a dolce gabbana! i had a special place for it in my room! my obsession for handbags has grown ever since!
I was 21 or 22… after i finished school, i got my first REAL job, was still living at home, and saved up for my very first designer handbag. It was the best feeling ever! I cherished it so much, since it was my very first one, and i bought it all by myself… and since then…the obsession began….
http://www.fabutopia.blogspot.com
I may not have a ton of designer bags but I am hoping to get some Linea Pelle bags that are on sale on HauteLook! I think it’s like 60% off, which is amazing and really affordable! Maybe i’ll even get two!
I bought my first Coach bag at 17 after slaving away at Brookstone for several months. (Yes, the Tempurpedic/massage chair/etc store — the only perks to the job were the cute boys that worked there!) The bag was $270 but at that time it was a fortune… I’d be lucky to only spend $270 on a bag now!
I was 17, just finished school and had been working for a couple of years. I bought a little Burberry tote from David Jones (Australian equivilant of Saks). Still have it today in beautiful condition!
I got my first designer bag this year, I’m 20, I bought the LAMB checkerboar clutch wallet and couldnt resist the springvale, So i got both.
True story: My aunt worked at a consignment shop, well, goodwill to be exact, and she got to go through all the stuff and pick out what she wanted before it went out on the shelves. For my graduation out of high school, she got me a multicolor LV monogram (of course not even realizing what it was worth) and I was like oh great a fake Louis. Much to my surprise, it was authentic. I was amazed by the feel of the leather and the quality of such a purse. A month later, my purse was robbed when I stupidly left my purse and GPS in the car and someone broke in and stole it. (Karma for ya) Ever since then, I have been hooked. A year and a half later I’m on my 15th handbag, 4 of which are LV. =)
I was 13 when i got my first Louis Vuitton monogram denim bag!
I used to buy Mulberry bags and Dior bags when I was in my late 20´s. At that time bags were not so important as they are today, and these brands were the only ones available. Mulberry had furniture and interior decoration stuff too and I passionately fell in love with their line. Today I no longer crave for that line. Enough was enough.
I was twelve when I bought a Juicy Couture bag (if that’s considered designer) along with many other Juicys, Kate Spade, and Dooney and Bourke and L.A.M.B. Curently I am saving for a COach Madison.
OOOPS i signed under the wrong section! My mother started buying me Coach bags in High school.. but I started purchasing my own bags (chanel, LV) in college!
what’s about this site http://www.bag-abc.com
Gucci,30, flea market for 10 dollars. Yeah Flea market ladies. I did not know what a designer bag was till I was in my 20’s! And I am 49 now. Next one was a Coach, Patricia’s Legacy, 15 dollars, flea market, 34
LV, I was 35 got it at a Goodwill thrift store, 5 dollars…yes it was real, one of the Wine Holding bags, big draw string bag, had one stain on the bottom. Sold it later (much later) on Ebay for 125.00. A steal for sure.
Then I started finding Coach bags…most Iever paid? 20 dollars, least? a buck fifty. I did buy a new Coach once, at the outlet, sold it on Ebay years later.
latest? A Gustto Sola bag, black and silver…today at my local thrift store. $14.95, and get this it was hanging next to a very fake LV priced,,,get this…75.00…HA… I love it! They had no idea when they put this bag out.Thrift stores have been getting sneaky…putting a higher price on designer bags, so it’s priceless when you find one like I did today!
I am new to this. Hope I followed the rules!
PS
To Olga, that someone stole that bag from you really stinks! And sweetie it was not Karma, the Karma was you aunt finding the bag for you, the thief will get what comes to him/her one day. You just gave a very nice bag a good home and TLC. someone left that baby behind and their relatives took to GoodWill for a tax break! Don’t ever feel bad when you find or buy designer bags. They are a gift, accept them and treat them well!
Debbs
When I was 20, I went off to London to study abroad. I came back to New York with a Burberry bag that I purchased myself at the Burberry store in Knightsbridge, and a Fiancee with a cute little British accent.
By the way, it almost killed me the other day when I walked by the Chanel Boutique here in SoHo and saw that it was closed due to a child’s birthday party being thrown inside! They start them young these days!
What a great question! And I have loved reading the replies!
I was 23, in grad school, and bought myself a Roberto Cavalli bag on a trip to Las Vegas with the money I had made as a research assistant. I still carry the bag and get compliments on it all the time.
15 when I got my LV mono speedy 25, the perfect starter bag!
It was around my 13th birthday that I walked into a Gucci store in downtown Chicago with my mom and got my first designer bag. I remember feeling a little guilty having my mom spend $250 for a purse, especially back then (I’m in my 30’s now), but she knew how much I loved bags and seemed excited about getting me one! It’s a tiny bag but I still have it today!
17 years old, purplelish silver Chloe Paddington..
the color is AWESOME
i actually got my first designer handbag about five months ago- a balenciaga first. i’m 21 and had been saving up money from my new job i started earlier this year. i’ve always been into designer handbags but never really felt the need/justification for one in high school or early on in college, especially since i didn’t even have a job.
I started late at 30s, got my first LV in this September and have been hooked ever since. I guess it’s good that I started late so I don’t have to save up just to get bags at this age. I got 4 LVs within 3 months!
I was 19 and bought my first ever, a chloe paddy. Then, only a few months later, my first Prada arrived. Now I am 22 and have 10 designer bags, ranging from Mulberry to Prada to McQueen.
Gosh, I feel OLD reading these replies!! I’ve been obsessed with handbags as long as I can remember; in fact, in elementary school, I carried a purse, plastic lunch box & a backpack! However, until I turned 18 in 1995, I carried only Liz C., Nine West, etc…Dooney & B (the IT bag at the time) was my high school grad gift, first LV at 23 & have never looked back! I tended to skip the whole mid-level thing, going straight from Dooney to LV; dabbled briefly in Gucci & Coach, but am an LV only girl these days!
I was 16 and I bought myself a coach bag, but in my opinion the first designer bag I bought was a Fendi Baguette in black, I was 20. Then came Gucci, Marc Jacobs, LV, Pucci, Prada, Chanel, YSL, Jimmy Choo, Balenciaga. I try to buy at least 3 great bags a year. Some years I do get carried away.
My first bag was a Dolce & Gabbana. I was in college 20 years old. I was shopping with my mom in Tj Maxx when I spotted a tan leather bag in the clearance area. When I picked it up i realized it was dolce and had not tag. The sales associate ended up selling the bag for $80. I still have the bag but it is a little beat up since I carried it everywhere. I now own a lot of Fendi but currently searching for a Dolce to replace my first bag.
My mom purchased me a coach bag when I was in the third grade. I still had it until recently and I gave it to my cousin. My next bag was a Gucci, in the 4th grade when Dillard’s sold them. Soon after in the 5th grade I had a LV and several Liz Clairborne purses. In middle school grade 6 my mom bought me a Fendi once again at Dillard’s. After that I had several DB’s. Went to college and it was the rebirth of the coah bag again. Then for graduation I received a LV bucket bag in which my mom paid $565 in 2000 now it retails for $1200. After working I bought several LVs, Fendi, Chanell, Marc Jacobs and Pradas. I can happily say my mom made me into the purse addict that I am today.
from daddy @ 13 or 14
moschino from tokyo
I got my first Coach Demi at 23 from my ex. 4 years later, I continued my collection with Miu Miu, YSL, LV and Balenciaga!
i’m 23 and i got my first designer bag – a Miu Miu tote, last year. I live in Malta and unfortunately here there isn’t much of a choice available — thank gd for the internet!! a month later i got a Miu Miu clutch. This year i got my first Prada. My next bag will be Chanel.. hopefully! …it may be too far fetched but one day, one day… I hope i will be the proud owner of an Hermes!!!
I had my first bag when I was 7. My mom gave her gucci purse to me as she had bought another for herself. It was those white vintage purse with the logo in dark blue with the blue red blue strip in the centre. Now at 27 and collection of Givenchy, Chanel, YSL, mulberry and Dior are around 200 pieces. I never look back.
I was 19, and it was a Tods Bag – the Carre – in Camel leather.
It was for my 18th birthday, but I spent 12 months picking it because I wanted to make sure my decision was perfect. I did a good job, and probably would never have needed another bag for every day. But the bug bit, and within a few months I had my first LV, Fendi and Chanel. C’est la vie.
I was in grade 10 (so 15ish) I think. My mom likes high end make-up and one day my mom took me to Holt Renfrew. Since the make up is near the bags.. the bags got me the most! I ended up leaving with a yellow leather Juicy bag. Ever since then I’ve been in love with bags.
Everyone has a different life style….I really never got into labels until recently.
I was 12 and it was one of the classic Gucci’s. Logo in dark blue with the stripe. Reading the replies, I feel so old and behind but so proud of the readers.
However, when you get hugs from the staff at Chanel and Louis Vuitton, you know you are doing something wrong but when you get introduced to the General Manager, it does feel good. Enablers, all of them!
To date, at age 45, I have only 70 handbags which include 9 LV, 5 chanel, 3 hermes and believe some things should really not be counted
but what a lovely obsession.
Here’s to handbag lovers all over the world. By the way, I think I am past due for a Chanel.
I was 16 yrs old when I got my 1st LV Speedy, it was a gift, alone with the Channel no.5 & the Theons #5 (red) finger nail polish. I was in highschool and that was the “IN Thing” back in the early 80’s for my generation in Detroit, and since then, I have been hooked. every year (income tax time) I treat myself to a new purse or a piece of luggage, & now I have over 30 LV purses, 10 pcs. of Luggage, a few pairs of shoes & boots, and many LV accessories. Also, my wedding cake was 4 tiers tall, covered w/ chocolate icing and Gold/Tan LV’s were written all over the cakes, and our top part was a Basketball for my Husband
i got my first bag at the end of sixth grade. after a good reportcard.
and that bag was a pink leather gucci pouch.
It was my 16th birthday – I got a leather Coach bag (that I still use). I had no idea what it was or how it would change my outlook on fashion. To this day – my shoes might be $9.99 “bo go ” special – but the hand back is all real! lol
During the summer of 2005, I went and visited family in China and I remember walking by the crowded night markets one night and noticed an abundance of counterfeits. The next day, I saw someone wearing a Burberry handbag and she carried it with sooo much class – it practically inspired me to get one. So for my 18th birthday, I finally got one and since then, I have buying a designer handbag every 6 months or so. I’m 21 now and I have exactly 6 handbags right now. I could have had 7 but I gave my first Burberry away to my little cousin.
When I was 18, my sister took me to an outlet boutique and I saw a gorgeous hobo bag, with beautiful silver hardware, leather strap and canvas monogrammed body – it was the Black Gucci horsebit hobo. My first of a growing collection!!
I was 10 when I had my first, it was a small gucci, and my collection never stops growing since, about 20 new additions annually,now I own mostly LV, chloe Chanel coach gucci d&g and Prada
I could say I’m obssessed with designer bags !!!
It was my sweet sixteen birthday present. I got a black hermes birkin bag. (I don’t understand it back then.) I never even use it untill I was 18. Because I thought it was to vintage for me.. but now it’s still one of my favourite bags..
I was 16 in 2005 – the season after Christian Louboutin bought out his first range of bags. It was a cartoon canvas print bag, and i took it everywhere I went. It was down from £565 to £45 in the sale.
Like a drug addict ive gone onto harder things. Chanel, Prada, Dior etc.
I should never have walked in that shop!
i bought my first designer bag – an LV Speedy at 27.. and it has been a slippery road downhill from then… then it was a miumiu bow satchel, then a prada cervo hobo, then a gold prada tote, then a chanel medium lambskin flap, a chanel 2.55 gold reissue, a black prada clutch.. and the latest, a chanel zip tote with tweed quilting…
there’s no turning back.. i am in trouble..
recently i got started on shoes.. in the space of one year
i started with a pair of ballerina heels from bally.. they were a black and white.. how could u say no to them? then it were two pairs of identical style miumiu heels in different colours, a pair of mid-priced jinny kim black heels with diamante bows, black tods loafers, white patent bally slingbacks, black bally slides with rosettes.. and the latest loot – gold peep-toe christian louboutins
i am surely and truly a Carrie Bradshaw in making.. a wardrobe full of an instalment for an apartment and a single digit in my bank account…
I got my first designer bag on my 21st which was a lv bucket bag im now 30 and now i have about 30 ranging from chloe to chanel the sad thing is i have always paid full price never bought off ebay or second hand i love that new bag smell and packaging and i cant wait to take my daughter shopping for her first bag when she turns 13 ill be waiting a while for she is only 6.
I received my 1st designer bag for my 24th bday (I know, extremely late) and it was a COACH bag. And I purchased my very own designer bag that same year, lol, a colorful hobo D&B bad.
Sorry, I meant D&G Bag.
Besides Coach in my mid-30’s (from an outlet!), my first real designer bag was an all leather Gucci bag from the sexy Tom Ford era. I still remember going into the Bev Hills Gucci store and the male salesperson being astonished that I had never made such a purchase. He worked with me a long time to pick out the best bag for me. I still love it and pull it out. My next bite of the apple came in 2004 with my Marc Jacobs Stella bag. I have not stopped since and certainly made up for lost time!!!! I typically hold myself to one very high end bag per season and rarely break from that “rule.”
Before this maddness, I grew up slinging around a backpack until my mid-30’s. I was quite the rebel and perferred to spend my money on clothes — not accessories. In fact, I felt like a purse just got in the way. Then, sadly, I bought into the consumerism of handbags. Oh well. Love them now that I can afford them. What do they say . . . . “smoke ‘em if you’ve got em.”
Debbs im sry but yr bags probly were fake..
a fake louis vuitton would sell for like 125 at a street vendor.
and EW flea markets? DISGUSTING! next time u go there bring some
chanel no. 5 body lotion! i love that stuff! works wonders!
im 14 and i have a YSL downtown tote and a jimmy choo ramona.
oh wait i almost forgot! i got a victor hugo bag in ostrich when i was
on madison avenue during the summer…I LOVE IT. victor hugo is amazing!
look him up ladies =]
my first designer bag was coach bag @ age 25, i am now (56 years young) and still have my coach bag!!! now i have several coach bags.and one(1) fendi bag. i also love fendi bags!!!!!!!
i have readed about every bag except fendi, am i the only one that own or love fendi bags or shoes anymore? (l.o.l)
OPPS, SORRY REALLY SORRY!!!! I SPOKE TO SOON!!! I HAVE READED ALOT OF COMMENTS ON FENDI OWNERS!!!!
I was 20 years old…and my dad and I walked into the elusive PRADA in Las Vegas. I had fallen in love with PRADA online (no website so I was searching EBAY!), and in fashion magazines. I saw the plain, black messenger bag and my dad got it for me. Looking back, it was one of the cheaper designer purchases but it set a precendent with me and my dad and shopping at PRADA!
The only thing better than a love for designer handbags is having your family share your love.
15- Chanel 2.55, I bought it for myself for my birthday
on my 18 birthday my mom bought me monogram speedy 30… after that im starting to keep all my money to buy more bags and im still craving for more.. ^^
Hi. Good news.
I was 14 and I got a green ostirch Hermes Birkin that my Grandma had bought me:)
I was 13 and got my first coach bag….I was so excited, now 28 i still have it and use it on occasion. I love designer bags, I am a nurse and i feel its the only fun non uniform thing to use, I love coach and lv . And i admit i do have a purse buying problem, but since my husbad contributes and buys me more I guess its ok- wish coach would stop coming out with such fun cute stuff, I want the lv neverfull and I keeping buying more coach:(
My first was at 23 years old. I saved up and bought a huge loeffler randall bag. I love that bag.
I was I think 14 when I got a Guess purse that i was just crazy about, and now I wouldnt carry it if you paid me lol. I still get jeans and clothes from Guess but the handbags seem so cheap…the couple I have were maybe $100-$200 and have been banashed to the back of the closet since I got my pink dooney when i was 17. I used to laugh at brand addicts but When i got my first pair of Uggs (mocha upsides) at age 16, it created a monster. I’m now the proud owner of a coach, a dooney, coach shoes, and 2 pairs of uggs, all promenently displayed in my room lol but what I REALLY want is a multicolor LV speedy and some burberry accessories…Oh and I have juicy perfume, a maxx new york bag, franklin covey bag, and suede wilson’s leather bag…but they dont really count, and i guess neither do the Aigners… oh and i have a huge Vera Bradley bag I use as a backpack (im 18 and a senior in high school) I’m SO jealous of some of you!!! lol I need to get some more modeling jobs so i can score my LV
i didnt know liz claiborne counted sorry lol i have like a million of those. ooo maybe that means Guess counts too? lol
Well My Dad Loves Designer Things And When I Was Like In My Toddler Years He Would By Me Designer Dresses From Knightsbridge But I Didnt No Then Now I Have A Seperate Cupboard For All Of My Designer Bags I Have say 6 gucci walets 3 ppurses( gucci) I Have A Lot Of Emporio Armani ( I Mean Alot! I Luurve Armani) i also have both versions of armarni phone ..2 Multicolour LV. a bRIGHT rED fENDI sPY bAG 3 DKNY SIDE BAGS ( THE SAME THING BUT DIFFERENT COLOURZ) AND 2 DIOR TOTES AND 9 Marc Jacobs.. U Woyld Probabliie ThINK iM sPPOILT bUT sOMETIMES iF mY fRENDS rLLY lIKE A BAG i wILL GIVE IT AWAY FOR FREE I HAVE PURCHASED A FEW MY SELF BUT THE REST MY DAD BYS FROM SELFRIDGES (LONDON VERSION OF SAKS SOME FROM HARRODS ND OTHERS FROM KNIGHTSBRIDGE AND WESTFIELD WHICH IM GONG 2 2MORROW Sorry For the typing nd any spelling mistakes keey bords a bit odd i will get a new one 2daii.. 2 bad they dont sell designer keyboords ahahahaha
In 7th grade I got my first Liz Claibourne bag and that was all I carried with maybe a Nine West or another cute bag I caught on sale until this year. I’ve bought well over 50 to 60 Liz Claibourne bags in the last 20 years. My mom gave me a Coach briefcase when I graduated college. I loved it but I wouldn’t have spent that much on myself. At 22 I looked all over town for Kate Spade (the bag was fairly new brand) and bought the classic black nylon bag. I felt guilty for spending nearly $200 on a hand bag, so I returned it. In ‘03 I went to Vegas and came this close () to buying a LV but yet again, I just couldn’t justify parting with $800 for a hand bag. This year I bought my first Coach. I’ve always admired Coach bags but couldn’t justify the price. I started out with a small signature wristlet and a large zoe signature wristlet to see how well I liked the brand. Later that month (in January) I bought a beautiful signature Zoe in burgandy for 1/2 off at Dillards. I fell in love with Coach after that purchase. I wouldn’t use it for 2 months after I bought it for fear of messing it up. I ended up buying a Heritage swingpack because I thought it would be great for concerts. Then in July I came across a tan leather Parker hobo for 1/2 off at the same Dillards I got my Zoe. I also got a op art leah small tote for $47 (reg $150)! I was obessed by this point. So in August I found a sabrina satchel op art IKAT in gold for 20% and a bonnie lurex wallet half off. So I justified having it. Then yesterday I justified getting yet another Coach bag in black and walked out of the Coach store with a beautiful Garnet black signature lurex bag and a tribeca hot pink wristlet. I also bought a Dooney sweetheart tote and a Dooney wristlet too this past summer. As cute as those bags are, I’m in LOVE with my Coach.
This year opened my eyes to why people buy designer bags. The quality is amazing compared to anything else I own. I’m already eyeing LV, Burberry, Prada and Chanel handbags to add to my collection sometime in the future. I think my next purchase will be a LV (preferrably a tote because I carry a lot of stuff). I’ve know people who have LV bags and LOVE the brand and have carried them for decades. My BFF lives near a great outlet and I told her we are so going to the Coach and Burberry outlet stores next year for my visit. The great thing about these bags that if you get tired of them you can always sell them on ebay and get some of your money back for that next great handbag find.