A Curious Phenomenon: Renting Handbags?

From time to time things come along that, I must admit, totally astound me. One of these phenomena is renting high-priced designer handbags. In fact, one is not limited only to handbags; one can also rent designer sunglasses. So many women are doing it apparently, that it has been featured in the new Sex and the City movie, presumably to market the service to yet more women who would like to have the bags but cannot afford them—or at least can’t afford more than one. I must be rather out of fashion these days, and the fact is that it has been some time since I especially cared whether I was au currant or not, but be serious—RENTING handbags?

I have noticed that a number of my co-workers (I work almost entirely with women in my office) are caught up in the designer handbag thing. Some of them can afford to buy them, though they usually drive miles out of their way to buy them at outlet mall stores. Yes, the bags are attractive, and I don’t mean to step on the toes of women who really want to own designer handbags—hey, it’s your money honey! It’s just that I don’t personally understand it. I have to admit there is one Chanel makes that I wouldn’t mind having, but it goes for $600—a price that I find exorbitant and refuse to pay for an item to carry my clutter, no matter how attractive it is. Besides, I have no reason to impress anybody on that level, nor have I ever wanted to be a walking billboard. Am I impressed that somebody has a $600 handbag? I suppose I am, but it is not with the handbag, and I wonder how much better the $600 might have been spent. Charity? Retirement fund? Don’t get me wrong. I am not known to be a tightwad or penny pincher and will drop $500 at the drop of a hat if it’s something I want. If you’ve seen my dog, my car, or all the equestrian apparel and tack I own, you know it’s true!

I have several handbags, including some I have made. My favorite is a little black leather shoulder bag made by Koltov that I bought at Fred Meyers for $30 about four years ago. It carries everything I need, is not clunky, and does it in style. Another favorite is a designer Coach bag that I bought at Value Village five years ago for $2.50. It is indeed the real article, and I almost went into shock when I found it, but I snapped it up as though I were sinking a fly on a lunker. It was in almost perfect condition, showing a little wear along one outer seam, but that was all, and I happily plunked down my $2.50—one hundredth of what that particular handbag normally sells for. It is a pretty bag, being one of the smaller ones Coach makes, and I might have bought it anyway for the style, but what really tickled me about this particular purchase is that I made a huge score. I have a cotton string bag (made out of ordinary cotton kitchen string) I crocheted that is perfect for summer and which took two days to make. One year for her birthday I gave my boss at work a black suede yarn evening bag that I made—and I liked it so much that I made another one for myself.

As for me, I need to have more than one bag, so I guess women who rent the designer bags also have ordinary ones that pinch hit when the designer ones won’t do. While I no longer try to match them to my shoes or outfit, one handbag is not appropriate for all occasions. If I get bored using one handbag, I simply switch to another one, or if I need to carry more items with me, then I use one of the larger carry-all tote bags. Since mine are less expensive, I can afford to have several and use the one that suits my needs for the day, rather than waiting for a new designer one to come in the mail or by Fedex. I just go get a different one out of the closet! Since I have made handbags of my own (it’s not very hard folks), I have done so when I needed a new one rather than go down and buy another. It’s fun and creative, so if you are capable of sewing, knitting, or crocheting, why not? You will truly have an original plus the satisfaction that goes with being able to say, “I made it myself.”

This summer I’ve tried getting along without handbags entirely. My success has been limited, but it’s one less thing to keep track of. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve misplaced my handbag or left it behind in stores, and since it’s very distressing (your whole life is in there, not to mention all your important make-up), I figured out how to do it when I didn’t need to take very much with me. Men don’t use handbags, after all, so I believed it must be possible.
Eliminating money and carrying only plastic got rid of the wallet. All I needed was a card case with a zipper compartment for storing change. I needed my keys, sunglasses and some lip gloss, too, but those items could all either be worn or stored in pockets. Now I know why jeans have five pockets and jackets have one out of sight inside the lapel. I felt so clever about this, until one day I was at the grocery store and realized that I had neglected to bring my card case with my driver’s license, debit, and credit cards. Oops! That was embarrassing, but what made the clerk think I was insane was that I was trying to get along without a handbag.

There are many aspects of human behavior that I cannot fathom and never will. Renting designer handbags is one of those phenomena, so I’ve given up trying and just say, “If it makes you happy, you can afford it, and it’s your money, then I guess you can!”