In today’s installment of Closet Confessionals, we meet a collector living in Dallas who has been collecting bags since she was 8! What began with Prada Nylon has led to a collection of Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and more.
CC 275 loves shopping in stores rather than online, and working in luxury, she feels it’s essential to carry designer brands. While CC 275 places a lot of sentimental value on the Louis Vuitton bag that was passed down to her by her grandma, she still dreams of one day owning a classic Fendi Peekaboo.
Read the full CC below!
Basic Bio
Your Age? 34
Your Gender Identity? Female
Where do you live? Dallas
What is your occupation? E-commerce marketing and operations director
What industry do you work in? Apparel
What is your annual salary range? Total household income? $500,000
Are you a PurseForum member? Yes
Onto The Bags
How many bags do you own? 20
What bags are in your collection? Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Jimmy, Gucci, Fendi, Anya Hindmarch, Prada…
How much is your collection worth? A lot
What is your most expensive bag? Chanel
Do you ever experience buyer’s remorse after purchasing a bag? If so, how do you deal with it? No
Do you feel a desire to downsize your collection? If so, what factors are driving that decision? No, because each bag is so different.
What age did you get your first designer bag, and what was it? Age 8 – Prada Nylon.
Is there a specific bag you are looking to purchase next? No I’m so spontaneous, and don’t plan it. The bags speak to me.
Do you have a ‘holy grail’ dream bag you’ve always wanted to own? Large Fendi Peekaboo in pebbled leather with whipstitching. I almost got one, but the price had just gone up, and I got a Chanel instead.
Any particular bag that holds a special sentimental value? My classic Louis LV Canvas with black leather accents and matching wallet. I went shopping with my grandmother to help her pick out a bag at Northpark Mall when I was in middle school, and we decided on that combo, and she left them to me.
Do you feel like your bags change people’s perceptions of you or how you’re treated? Oh, yes. My Chanel fuchsia (hot pink) mixed metal shoulder bag definitely has. People were trying to buy it from me at the Chanel store. I’ve tried to find it online but have only seen the black version. If I wear it people think it’s fake, if they don’t think it’s fake they think I have bought so many Chanel’s I had special privilege.
How do you take care of your bags? Keep in boxes, stuff with tissue.
On Shopping
How often do you buy new bags? 2x a year
How has your bag collection changed during the past few years, and why? It hasn’t. I always try to think about getting practical bags and then end up being impulsive. But my impulsive bags end up being the ones I wear the most and hold up so well.
Do you prefer shopping for bags online or in-store? Why? In store.
Which stores do you frequent the most? Fendi
Have you ever returned a bag after purchasing it? Why did you make that decision? No
Do you ever donate or gift your old bags? If so, to whom? Yes. To my girlfriend’s daughter. Just gave her an early 2000s Gucci logo, I kind of regret it.
Do you feel that social media or influencer culture pressures you to buy more bags or certain brands? No
Do you consider your bag purchases financial or emotional investments? No
Do you follow the latest fashion trends when deciding on your next purchase, or do you prefer classic styles? No
Are sales associate relationships instrumental to your shopping? No
Do you enjoy shopping beyond just acquiring something new? No
Have you ever felt you received inferior service at a store or boutique due to your appearance, ethnicity, or gender? Oh yes! Omg it’s so funny. I go shop in workout clothes and the new SAs won’t look at me. I’m like hello! I’m here to shop!
What factors may dissuade you from buying a bag, even if you like it? Price, or too trendy.
Is there a brand you outright refuse to buy? Why? Coach. In high school, it was the loser brand to carry.
Do you ever rent designer bags? If so, from where? No
How do you feel about the concept of “quiet luxury” vs. “loud luxury”? Buy what you love and wear it!
On Budgeting & Perceptions
Who pays for your bags? My boyfriend and me.
Do you set aside a budget for your bag purchases? No
Have you ever purchased a counterfeit because you couldn’t afford a designer item? In middle school.
Do you use financing or payment plans (like Afterpay or Klarna) for bag purchases? No
Do you think owning luxury bags helps you in professional or social situations? How so? Kind of. I work in a luxury apparel space, so I think if I didn’t have anything designer, I would be questioned. But that’s the same reason I don’t like to wear things with logos. It’s about quality.
Do you ever hide purchases from your significant other? Have you ever lied about the cost of a bag to avoid judgment? No
Do you ever resell bags on platforms like The RealReal, Fashionphile, or Vestiaire Collective? No
Have your friends or family ever criticized your bag-buying habits? If so, how did you respond? No
Do you think your shopping is ever a problem? Have you ever felt like you were struggling with a shopping addiction? No
Let’s get personal…
What is your greatest extravagance? Jimmy Choo white bag with calf skin printed in cowhide
What is your greatest fear? Someone will steal my bags.
What is the trait you most admire in others? Empathy
Which living person do you most admire? Trump
What or who is the greatest love of your life? Sam
What is your favorite journey you have taken so far? Moving to NYC at 21 with no belongings, then renting a U-Haul to drive to Dallas to open an international online sales department, and winning awards with my English bulldog who had pink painted fingernails.
What is your idea of perfect happiness? Fulfilled through making the right decisions and being at peace.
Any parting words you would like to share with our readers? You should see my pink Chanel bag, I can’t even find a picture of it on the internet.
Posting this……was a choice. Not a good one, but definitely a brave one
Only fools do not know fear…
The trait and person she most admires are in misalignment. Answers are interesting…and not in a good way.
I don’t think Coach is for losers, they have also made quality bags. That comment is kind of a turn off.
One of many questionable statements in this confession.
Trump supporter. No wonder this person is so vapid and judgmental. If her greatest fear is someone stealing her bags, she still has a lot to learn out of life.
Wooooof this person sounds awful to be around. Vapid, shallow and mean. Also someone who clearly doesn’t actually know the definition of the word empathy lol. Definitely a choice to post … but sadly probably representative of more people in the luxury loving space than we’d like to admit
This is ew . I think PB should take this one off
Yikes! I guess I was a loser because carrying Coach bags was all the rage when I was in high school (and I’m only a few years older than the poster).
Am I a loser? I have fond memories of my mom buying Coach bags for me when I was in high school, and while I own more expensive purses now, I still enjoy buying Coach bags once in awhile.
Nope because I was proud of carrying Coach and as 37 year old I still am. Everything about this confessional gives me the ick.
I loved my Coach Bags, too, and while I disagree with that comment, I wonder if that was less of an age thing and more of a location thing? I am basically the same age as CC 275 and grew up in the Northeast. Coach was IT! Where did you grow up?
I’m the same age as CC 275 and I also grew up in Texas. Coach bags were something to show off. They fell out of fashion for a while but they still make great bags. I was happy to see their resurgence, especially since they’re a mid-tier brand who don’t do outrageous price increases for a quality product.
CC 275 sounds like she was a snob in high school and never grew out of it.
I grew up in semi-rural Pennsylvania where it was perfectly normal for everyone to buy their clothes (and bags!) at Sears and Penney’s. The fashion forward shopped the Spiegel catalog 😀 The main Hess’s department store had a section called The French Room, which carried top European designers like Gucci, Dior, Celine, etc. My teen-age friends and I were terrified of even putting a toe in that section. Those memories make me smile every time I walk confidently into a store on the Avenue Montaigne in Paris or Bahnhofstrasse in Zurich.
Coach bags (back during its years as a true American brand) were considered classics, bought by wealthier women looking for quality and lasting value.
It’s time to end the closet confessions. They are disgusting vanity projects. This one is hard mean girls vibes.
I agree about some of them but others have been heartfelt stories along with insights into how and why they acquired their bags.
I share your sentiment about this. Not all doing this for show-off etc.
I even had a few attempted starts but each time about 3 questions in I stopped at the thought how easy for all of it to become a gratuitous target. It is tempting to write about this very trivial aspect of my life because there’s no other way to share the joy. Discussing this almost feels like a “justification” to even the closest relations. It’s a relief valve for me but it already sounded so “tone deaf”.
I wish I am more into stamps so that collection and the passion can be shared more conventionally and without landmines. (I actually do like them but far from a devoted philatelist.)
Same. I started to write one then it becomes very vapid.
Of all the choices in the world, the orange menace is who you most admire? Give me a break. I think we’ve been trolled.
It’s so weird that CC275 works in apparel and is unable to find her bag or even a pic of it on the internet. I found this within 2 mins of searching: https://www.jolicloset.com/en/designers-women/chanel/womens-bags/handbags/chanel-19-as4638-shoulder-bag–2334336
Thanks.
At this point the amount of bullets Purseblog shot themselves in the foot is impressive. A wonder you’re still standing.
I liked this one because it is different. Women are always supposed to be so “sweet” and never show or say anything that might upset or offend anyone. So I find it funny/refreshing when someone does! It’s very different from how I operate, I’m more on the careful/”sweet” side so when I read this it obviously stirs me a little bit. But different opinions, views on life, etcetera, is a good thing.
I disagree with a LOT in this CC but I have to say, if many of my friends and family members knew how much time I spent looking at, buying, and reading about handbags, they would be AGHAST and think the same things of me that some of these commenters are saying about the author of this post. But guys: we’re on a handbag blog here. Maybe at other times of the day we’re on websites on which we’re making donations to feed starving children, but we’re HERE to interact with people with whom we have one thing in common.
So I also appreciated that purse blog shared this because it should remind ALL of us that no matter how abhorrent we find someone’s view on one thing, they are a human, and we should be able to find some common ground.
To quote the Beatles song title “I’m a loser”.
Yikes, this woman can keep her hot pink Chanel. I know women from Dallas and they have more sense and style than this! And why the hate on Coach?? I’m 40 and a Coach or Kate Spade bag were holy grails!
My two cents worth…Regarding this CC, I was taken aback by the comment about Coach being “the loser brand to carry.” My first “luxury” bag was a black Coach City bag that my then boyfriend bought me for Christmas when I was 25 years old. I loved that bag and at the time, I thought I’d hit the lottery. I even hid it every night before I went to bed because I worried someone might break in and take it.
TBH, when I was growing up, my family didn’t have a lot but my parents did the best they could. It wasn’t always easy but I credit them with a lot. The one thing that was instilled in me as being the most important was to help others, whether it be someone in crisis or others who just need a chance, or maybe a smile. That, no matter how lean things were for me earlier in life, so many people have it so much harder than I ever did. Empathy, kindness, compassion and humility towards others was and still is what I strive for.
Here it is, decades later and now I have the means to buy whatever I want. You know where that old black Coach City bag is? Displayed in a place of “honor” amongst the YSL, Chanel, Chloe, Balenciaga, and Alexander McQueen. I see it every time I walk into my bag closet. Because no matter what I have access to or can afford now, it’s there to remind me that regardless of anything, I’m still that same girl who was over the moon about that Coach bag. I love my bags but don’t carry them to impress anyone. Each one of them reminds me of a certain time in my life. They definitely don’t define who I am as a human being.
For whatever it’s worth, my political views couldn’t be more different than this CC. 💙 But, to each their own. 🙏
Kimberly in Dallas
I love this comment, you seem to be an amazing person.
And the same with my first black Coach bag. A graduation gift from my grandmother, in the closet with a few other vintage bags from her, that I will always love and honor. 💜
Such a beautiful comment. Much better than this CC. I’d love to see your black Coach!
Bless your heart, CC275…
Also from Dallas, and my apologies for the lack of Southern hospitality displayed. (And as many of you probably know, “Bless your heart” is the Southern way of expressing a not so nice sentiment.)
I have Chanel, Gucci, Prada, LV, and I recently bought a beautiful Coach bag (their shoes are great, too). It was also the first designer bag I received many, many, many years ago when it was “the bag” to have. I carried that bag every day for over 5 years through everything and it still looks close to perfect and has that yummy leather smell. I still use it from time to time.
I won’t even start on the person to admire…but just know that the majority who live in the city I love most definitely do not feel the same—or at least the 60 percent that chose someone else. (Dallas is not a conservative city.)
I’ll say again…bless her heart.
😬
Entertaining read.
What a B**otch. So pretentious, ick! Calling Coach bags for “losers”. She lost me there. She should admire empathy because she has little to none, you can tell. Interesting that she does not mention family (with exception of husband) as being important. She is obviously VERY immature and childish. Good thing this world is as big as it is. I won’t ever have to waste any of my precious time meeting her.