Today’s CC brings us to Atlanta, where we meet a collector who has had her eyes on the luxury prize since she was 18. Her quest to collect began with a Louis Vuitton wallet, and she still holds on to it today for its sentimental value. Now, over two decades later, CC 265 has a collection of over 20 bags, including some Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Dior, and more.
Working in luxury fashion and shopping for clients has given CC 265 a 360-degree view of the luxury space, and this has changed how she shops for herself. Where once this collector felt the need to acquire items beyond her means, she no longer shops excessively, but she does believe she could be better at budgeting (relatable!).
Read the full CC below and don’t forget to submit your own!
Basic Bio
Your Age? 45
Your Gender Identity? Female
Where do you live? Atlanta
What is your occupation? Entrepreneur
What industry do you work in? Fashion Tech
What is your annual salary range? Total household income? $250,000, $600,000.00
Are you a PurseForum member? Yes
Onto The Bags
How many bags do you own? 24
What bags are in your collection?
- Black Chanel Waist bag
- White Chanel Jumbo Single Flap
- Yellow Mini Lady Dior
- Pink Dior Saddle
- Burgundy Dior tote
- Purple/blue ombré Wallet on a chain Dior
- Grey Antigona Givenchy
- Crocodile skin Brown Givenchy
- Neverfull Louis Vuitton and 2 wallets
- Burgundy leopard Fendi
- Tan Fendi Shopper tote
- Black Kate with tassel YSL/Saint Laurent
- Pink Peekaboo Fendi
- Pink snakeskin Gucci Dionysus
- Emerald green Gucci Dionysus
- Satin and Crystal evening Gucci clutch
- Dark blue skin Alexander McQueen
- Sea blue See by Chloe
- Gold box bag Brandon Blackwood
- Lavender trunk bag Brandon Blackwood
- Black ponyhair bag Brandon Blackwood
- Turquoise crossbody bag Brandon Blackwood
- Hot pink crossbody bag Brandon Blackwood
- Fuchsia heart shape crossbody Kurt Geiger
How much is your collection worth? $30,000 plus I got some resell so better prices than if brand new.
What is your most expensive bag? My jumbo Chanel.
Do you ever experience buyer’s remorse after purchasing a bag? If so, how do you deal with it? Yes and I will resell when I do, that happened more when I first started collecting. Now not so much I really curate my collection present day.
Do you feel a desire to downsize your collection? If so, what factors are driving that decision? No I’m still adding to it, I have already gotten rid of the bags I know I don’t need anymore. I focus on making sure I have a bag in all the colors and styles that make sense for my wardrobe.
What age did you get your first designer bag, and what was it? I bought my first designer piece at 18 it’s was a Louis Vuitton wallet it cost me almost $300 I never spent that much on one individual item in my life at the time lol. I don’t use it anymore but I still have it in my nightstand for sentimental reasons and a reminder of where I started and how far I have come.
Is there a specific bag you are looking to purchase next? A few lol! I want a Dior Cannage Caro in a cream/taupe light color and I love some Chanel in pastel colors like lavender and mint sorbet colors like ice cream lol.
Do you have a ‘holy grail’ dream bag you’ve always wanted to own? Hermès Kelly or Birkin still undecided about the color
Any particular bag that holds a special sentimental value? My jumbo Chanel I bought for my 40th birthday as a gift from me to me lol. After wanting one for years, it’s the most expensive purchase I have made completely on my own, besides my custom closet.
Do you feel like your bags change people’s perceptions of you or how you’re treated? Yes definitely does mostly in a positive way I think.
How do you take care of your bags? They are in a glass case with lights that shine on them. I asked for a specific place for them when building out my dream closet.
On Shopping
How often do you buy new bags? I been very good so none this year as of now, but I bought a lot of bags between 2020-2023. Now I’m only going to buy one a year until I finish out my collection.
How has your bag collection changed during the past few years, and why? I’m way more intentional now about which ones I purchase the color style and price.
Do you prefer shopping for bags online or in-store? Why? Online. I like to buy resell and I shop for a living for my clients, so by the time it comes to me, I’m too tired to shop in person for myself. So shopping online for myself 90% of the time.
Which stores do you frequent the most? Saks, Nordstrom, Neimans.
Have you ever returned a bag after purchasing it? Why did you make that decision? Yes when I was younger just buying too much too fast lol and realizing afterwards it didn’t really work for my lifestyle and wardrobe.
Do you ever buy second-hand bags? Where do you buy used? Yes, love to – local independent resell shops and the RealReal.
Do you ever donate or gift your old bags? If so, to whom? I haven’t yet but I will I have sold all my old bags so far. I try to buy what I know I will want to keep now.
Do you feel that social media or influencer culture pressures you to buy more bags or certain brands? Sometimes but not really I just admire the bags and styles, but mainly focus on what works for me and my style.
Do you consider your bag purchases financial or emotional investments? Both emotional cause it brings me joy to buy a bag I love collect them like some people collect figurines lol. Secondly financial too because I sold a couple of my wallet on the chain bags and it paid for a birthday trip to Ibiza one year.
Do you follow the latest fashion trends when deciding on your next purchase, or do you prefer classic styles? Classic for major designers like Chanel and Dior and when I do trends or bold colors I do a newer designer like Brandon Blackwood. Like a lot of my color bags not by him were my more expensive bags or in neutral colors black white grey etc.
Are sales associate relationships instrumental to your shopping? They are but not in my bag shopping more in my business for my clients.
Do you enjoy shopping beyond just acquiring something new? Yes so much that I was able to turn it into my career lol and give the same feeling to other people. I’m not a shopaholic anymore been doing it a long time now so I keep it all in perspective.
Have you ever felt you received inferior service at a store or boutique due to your appearance, ethnicity, or gender? Yes when I have been dressed down I haven’t received the same service as I do more dressed up or if I’m not carrying a nice bag.
What factors may dissuade you from buying a bag, even if you like it? The brand, customer service or quality
Is there a brand you outright refuse to buy? Why? Not any I can think of I have my fav brands and kinda stick to that which are Chanel, Dior, Fendi, Saint Laurent and small emerging women owned designers like Aaboux.
Do you ever rent designer bags? If so, from where? No I can’t rent any clothes or bags I like to own everything lol
How do you feel about the concept of “quiet luxury” vs. “loud luxury”? I think you should do what makes sense for you I’m not really into logo bags the few I have had I have sold them already. I now just prefer the color and texture and skins than logos
On Budgeting & Perceptions
Who pays for your bags? Me myself and I lol my husband doesn’t understand why they cost so much, he will buy me expensive shoes, but not purses lol. He did buy my Louis Vuitton Neverfull during the pandemic to make me feel better, but outside of that no. I asked for Chanel every Christmas for 3 years before I just decided to buy them myself lol.
Do you set aside a budget for your bag purchases? I should lol but most of the time I don’t. I just buy it, I do have a purse savings, but I normally buy it outright cause I’m not actually putting enough in the savings to buy them quicker lol. I have to do better, but with me working for myself when I get a big job or have an extra 2/3k after paying my bills , investments and savings I would buy a purse.
Have you ever purchased a counterfeit because you couldn’t afford a designer item? No I don’t believe in buying anything fake. I would buy a dupe that looks similar, before I buy a fake anything but I will usually just wait til I have enough. I waited two years to buy my mini Lady Dior in yellow until I found the exact one I wanted at the price I wanted to pay.
Do you use financing or payment plans (like Afterpay or Klarna) for bag purchases? I have in the past.
Do you think owning luxury bags helps you in professional or social situations? How so? Yes in the work that I do since I work in fashion it adds to my credibility.
Do you ever hide purchases from your significant other? Have you ever lied about the cost of a bag to avoid judgment? No I don’t he knows and it’s my money that I work for so he doesn’t care. I also think he doesn’t know exactly how much they cost. Lol if he did he may have something to say
Do you ever resell bags on platforms like The RealReal, Fashionphile, or Vestiaire Collective? Yes I have a person at the RealReal that reaches out to ask me to sell my bags.
Have your friends or family ever criticized your bag-buying habits? If so, how did you respond? Yes my friends get it, my bestie is worse than me lol her collection is even nicer. My mom is the only one that doesn’t get it, but different generation so whenever she says something I just buy her a bag and she stops talking about mine lol.
Do you think your shopping is ever a problem? Have you ever felt like you were struggling with a shopping addiction? No it’s not a problem anymore only when I first started doing it for work. I would buy something for myself everytime I shop for a client, like one for me one for you lol. Now I just focus on my clients, I have enough clothes, shoes, bags etc so really focused on shopping my own closet now and being very intentional when I buy for myself. Also by the time I finish shopping for clients I’m too tired to shop for myself anyway lol.
Let’s get personal…
What is your greatest extravagance? My custom closet it’s the most expensive individual purchase I have made outside of cars and homes.
What is your greatest fear? Losing my loved ones
What is the trait you most admire in others? Confidence and integrity good character positive personality fun to be around optimistic
Which living person do you most admire? I say my parents. There are also celebrities I admire, but we don’t know them for real, so I can only admire what I think I know.
What or who is the greatest love of your life? My daughter.
What is your favorite journey you have taken so far? Greece but I love all of my trips travels and purses are my most expensive habits
What is your idea of perfect happiness? To be able to work cause I want to not, cause I have to. To travel monthly and shop with no budget lol. But overall I live a very blessed life, I get to wake up every day doing work I love. Since I still have to work right now, I’m glad I enjoy it, so that’s the next best thing these purses and trips not paying for themselves lol.
Any parting words you would like to share with our readers? Be confident and do it scared and do what works for you regardless of what anyone thinks about it, you only get one life so live it how you want and if you do it right one time is enough!
I recently transferred my bags from the glass cabinet back to their dustbags. Makes me so sad because i cant see them together anymore. I saw this reel in IG an hermes collector for 30years and she said that the best way to store bags are inside their dustbags in a dark place. The light outside might cause discoloration especially if you live in a hot and humid place. Better safe than sorry.
I am so curious what her custom closet looks like. Her bio was fun to read also how she saves then spends. This woman clearly loves to use her bags as they are thrown around her custom closet. There’s a freedom to that.
Love this CC, very fun, honest and relatable. Thanks for opening up and sharing. Your collection is beautiful and eclectic. I used to keep all my bags hidden in a dark closet in dust bags and 90% still are but now I showcase my favorite most interesting ones on a book case in UV protected acrylic cases from Luxury bag Display which are very expensive but worth it knowing they are protected and I enjoy viewing them every time I walk by. They are art and make me happy to see them every day as they are definitely not every day bags.