Unpopular Opinion: Don’t Overdo Your Bag Charms

Is it just me, or are AirPods simply not giving? 

Think about it. They’re perpetually plonking out of your ear canals, disappearing deep into the billowing bowels of your handbag (case and all), or are otherwise involved in some form of confounding shenanigans.

Not to mention the buttons – or lack thereof! Never in my life have I suffered more acutely from a dire deprivation of buttons than when I’m in public frantically swiping across my ears, praying that some divine intervention would shuffle my playlist and liberate my senses from that new Bruno Mars song.

No shade to Bruno Mars fans, but it’s inescapable.

All this to say, enough with the AirPods praise already – they’re too tiny for their own good. Instead, give me one of those deliciously retro over-the-ear numbers that make you feel like an off-duty DJ fresh out of a gig, sweaty, hot, and pumped.

Even better are those wired headphones, the notoriously nostalgic relic of the bygone days on the cusp of its very own comeback thanks to the championing of off-duty lewks à la Bella Hadid, Zoë Kravitz, and Lily-Rose Depp.

And the best part? You can loop them around your handbag and design your very own bag charm – and maybe forego Miu Miu’s luxe leather version instead. Trinkets, after all, might be trending, but that $1,550 charm sure doesn’t sound so charming!

A Purse For Your Purse

Miu Miu’s mini Aventure bag-shaped leather trick clipped onto an actual Aventure bag might seem like a novel (read: kooky) take on the trend.

But believe it or not, bag charms didn’t quite fall out of a coconut tree; they’ve been (for the most part) peacefully co-habiting the cultural sphere thanks (in no small part) to Hermès and its biggest muse, Ms. Jane Birkin. Famous for festooning her Birkins with swathes of stickers, charms, tchotchkes, keychains, watches, and the like, the Anglo-French chanteuse’s bag resembled less a purse and more a mobile office, going by the ethos:

“There’s no fun in a bag if it’s not kicked around so that it looks as if the cat’s been sitting on it – and it usually has. The cat may even be in it!”

It’s likely that which inspired Hermès to begin offering charms in the first place – silk Twillies, animal face-cutouts en cuir, the Quelle Idole, whimsical padlocks (the Cadena), and more recently, miniature Oran sandals, and the equestrian Rodeo.

Other brands, like Coach, started off with leather hangtags (originally in the shape of a baseball) that allowed buyers to feel their way through the fabric before purchase – a marketing tactic that has now become integral to the brand itself!

But the trinket itself dates back much further. Its talismanic presence has long served as a form of psychic protection and a harbinger of good fortune, which, in turn, was the original rationale behind Ms. Birkin’s treatment of her namesake carryall.

And fashion’s love affair with the metaphysical, of course, is nothing new.

From Trash to Treasure

So, when exactly did this footnote from the annals of fashion history morph into the frontispiece of pop culture? Well, we do not have purses, but phones to thank for that!

Specifically, it was those raunchy risqué flip phones from the early aughts with their own bedazzled, bawdy, or otherwise blinged-out charms that made way for the likes of Fendi to formally begin showcasing its furry Monster charms on the Fall 2013 runway or for JW Anderson’s interpretation that left little to the imagination, simply reading “It’s not the size of the bag charm that matters” on Nordstrom.

But with quiet luxury being the cornerstone of 2024, how is it that the trend that one editor literally coins as “loud garbage” has the TikTok girlies in such a chokehold? 

Perhaps it began with Ms. Birkin’s passing in July last year, when everyone began to Jane Birkin-ify their bags as an homage to the woman who started it all. Or perhaps the DIY friendship bracelets circulating among the Swifties in the wake of the Eras Tour eventually ended up on their purses. 

Perhaps it was Ms. Prada’s invitation to stop hiding the evidence of our messy, bustling lives on the Miu Miu runway that provided bag charms with that much-needed impetus. In the process, she influenced her peers over at Balenciaga, Bottega, and Coach to also embellish their handbags with all manners of clip-ons, keychains, carabiners, baubles, paperweights, and even coffee mugs.

Plus, the celebrity co-sign from the likes of Jacob Elordi, Gigi Hadid, Emily Ratajkowski, and Kaia Gerber surely couldn’t hurt.

But regardless of whether your charms originate in the spiritual realm or from TikTok territory when Libby Rasmussen from NPR’s Morning Edition suggests that you hang mini cheese graters off your handbag, you know it’s time to stop.

Luxury’s New Gateway Drug?

Journalist and influencer Susanna Lau offers a core piece of advice when it comes to bag charms: “There is no right or wrong when accessorizing your bag. As long as you love it, then that’s the most important message your charms should be sending.” 

But it was also Mademoiselle Chanel who proclaimed, “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take at least one thing off. ” She’s turning in her grave right now as you’re hanging the weight of 10,000 different things off your bag. 

And while not a charm-afficionado myself, I understand the essence of joyful dressing it espouses for those who are; a “delightful rebellion against the conformity often imposed by digital algorithms,” notes Ashley Harris of Don’t Let Disco.

That is, as long as this doesn’t become the next revenue vehicle for XYZ luxury conglomerate. After all, fashion has a curious way of commercializing the original such that it eventually strays from the remotest semblance of originality. 

Additionally, with luxury price hikes across the board, bag charms appear to replace purses as the gateway product into the luxury market for the aspirational consumer, who’ll likely take these trinkets right off once the trend has subsided.

So much for a personal touch.

Because, at the end of the day, it is up to us to imbue meaning to our charms. My dangly white wired headphones, hastily coiled around my Proenza Schouler, speak of a frazzled young person walking in late to work following a grueling commute where music alone offers some much-needed reprieve.

Because it represents a pursuit that ultimately ends in a story.