Friday, August 10, 2012

OK, so maybe I don't get fashion

Short of donating to an objectionable individual or cause, this - a clutch, which is always ridiculous, a bag without a strap or handle, and in a hideous, unclassifiable color that would be impossible to coordinate with anything, and no, I don't mean match, just coordinate - is easily the worst use possible for $16,750.

7 comments:

Miss Self-Important said...

Nonsense! Finally something I'd wear appears on WWPD and only to be trashed. That clutch looks perfectly nice. Clutches have useful functions - you can't wear a cross-body messenger bag over an evening dress, and even a thin purse strap is often too much, depending on the dress. Also, clutches show off nail polish shades, and I was under the impression that WWPD endorses loud nail polish? The color is also totally identifiable - wine or burgundy. Goes nicely with cream, gray, navy blue, sometimes tan. Price could be lower, but no purse would be a *prudent* use of $17k, so moot point.

Phoebe Maltz Bovy said...

Hmm. It could be that I'm somewhat color-blind, but I saw it as brown, then purple, then brown, and couldn't make up my mind which it was shooting for. Dark red, definitively purple, or a dark, equestrian-style brown I could understand, but this shade continues to baffle me.

As for useful functions, I'm not aware of when a purse you'd at the very least hold by a handle wouldn't be sufficient. I don't attend a lot of super-formal galas, so maybe there are dress codes where you need this. And while I'm pro bright nails (not necessarily nail art, which is another story), I don't think I'm pro being that uncomfortable to show it off. And as for $17k, I don't have any qualms about imaginary-owning fantasy items that could give-or-take fund a grad student for a year. That's what Pinterest is for, kind of. But it needs to be something amazing, beautiful. This just seems like something you could get at Banana Republic or at the very least Coach. I can't imagine taking that much pleasure in owning it.

Sigivald said...

Unclassifiable?

Looks like dark plum to me. (Though MSI's suggestions are equally valid.)

As a male person, I don't remotely claim to understand the clutch qua clutch, however."

Miss Self-Important said...

Clutches are comfortable at occasions where you don't want/need to haul your whole life in a bag, and where you can put then down w/o fearing their theft--so weddings, nice restaurants, etc. Also, many of them have wrist-straps, which are also useful. Carrying is not uncomfortable since they're never heavy. But yes, in general not everyday items, at least not for my life. And this one does not look particularly stunning to me either, but it is at least inoffensive.

Phoebe Maltz Bovy said...

Sigivald,

What I understand even less than clutches are men who comment on posts about fashion to explain that they're men so they don't understand this fashion stuff.

MSI,

I don't see this as a life-in-a-bag vs. clutch issue, more like a dainty purse with strap/handle vs. clutch. But if there's a wrist-strap, then there is a strap, and I no longer object.

"And this one does not look particularly stunning to me either, but it is at least inoffensive."

I think that's what bothered me about it. If something's going to cost $17k, I'd almost rather if it were a bit more distinctive. (Because sellers of $17k bags really care what I think, but moving on.) Either it should be super-classic, wear-it-with-everything-forever (which I generally don't think exists, but maybe with certain handbags?), or it should be, like, Art. This just seemed unadventurous, yet too particular to be all that versatile.

PG said...

Agreed with MSI that this is an identifiable color (but with Sigivald that it's plum -- not enough red to be any wine color) and would go with lots of things, though I'm doubtful about navy blue. I think it would be a great contrast with a pale yellow silk dress that comes out for spring and summer weddings. The eye-popping price seems to be based on the crocodile-leather material; the company sells normal cow-leather bags for $1500-2000, which is still expensive but pretty typical for brands like this. (Is bramble a color or the breed of crocodile?)

Phoebe Maltz Bovy said...

PG,

You've inadvertently hit upon yet another reason I think the bag didn't do it for me. If something's going to be outrageously expensive - and as I've said, my objection isn't to that in all cases- it should be not only made from good materials and well-put-together, but also well-designed. That could be a great execution of a classic style, or something more original/creative. But when the approach is to make something ordinary-looking out of a surprisingly pricey material, this just seems like a way of getting a lot of money from people without much taste. And not even in the "nouveau-riche"/"good" taste sense of that, but as in, people without much interest in fashion-and-style. It's like the diamond (or crystal?) or whatever bra from Victoria's Secret that I can't be bothered to Google, when it will cost a million dollars, but it's just this bra from a so-so retailer. I mean, I'm sure this is made at least as well as the same store's $2,000 bags, but it just doesn't seem like something I could imagine anyone getting excited about. More like something you'd get if you were someone who assumed the most expensive of X is by definition the best.

And this isn't even getting into the obvious problem with an "investment piece" bag that's a clutch (no strap, only to be used when drinking, basically), namely that you will lose it.