My bags
Since Designer Ella asked to see them, The Bargain Queen's decided it's OK to show off her bags just this once.
If you haven't been reading long, The Bargain Queen is obsessed with Longchamp bags. They're one of her few splurges, and she makes a whole bunch of budget trade-offs to afford them. She's a tightwad about things that are no fun so she can buy things that are - life's too short not to have some luxuries.
But enough talk, on to the bags!
Firstly, this is the whole collection - a whopping three bags. The Bargain Queen's on a budget :)
Her first Longchamp bag was the one below. She was a finallist for an industry award and had to look nice for the ceremony just in case. Instead of spending her budget on a dress she'd wear once, she bought this bag ($225) and some nice heels to dress up something she already owned. She didn't get the award but she's still got the bag!
The Bargain Queen's second Longchamp bag was a great sale find. She'd been using the one above every day for a year and it's fantastic. It's great for both day and evening, and the perfect size for a wallet, phone, PDA, makeup and keys. The only downside is that A4 papers only fit in it if they're folded.
So, The Bargain Queen spent a year carrying a daggy plastic file envelope in her hand all day when she needed to take papers with her. The obvious solution was to buy a cheap disposable tote, but with her newly-developed taste for Longchamp, no cheapie was worthy of her arm. Then she found the one below, reduced from $500 to $200. Due to all her other budget finds, she had the money to grab it on the spot. Fantastic!
Finally, less than a month after she bought bag #2, Mr Bargain Queen decided to buy his lovely wife a super-nice Christmas present. He took her to a duty-free store in Noumea which has a WHOLE WALL of Longchamp bags and said she could choose anything she wanted. In a mere hour - a record for a Libran - she picked the one below. She's carried it practically every day since. It was about $500 duty free, which was able to come from Mr Bargain Queen's clothes budget because The Bargain Queen is an outlet shopping maven and saves him a lot on his jackets, pants, shirts, underwear etc
It's also the only one she knows the name of: it's a Longchamp 4x4 in chocolate.
The photo doesn't really do it justice - the leather is gorgeously soft, not plasticy like it looks here. (For that matter, all the photos are a bit crappy. Sorry about that!)
So yes, The Bargain Queen is human, she has vices and she REALLY likes Longchamp bags. If you want more Longchamp porn, they have a fantastic web site with pics of their whole range. Yummo!
Or if bags aren't your thing, no problem. Everyone has different priorities and as long as your spending reflects yours, you're doing great.
If you haven't been reading long, The Bargain Queen is obsessed with Longchamp bags. They're one of her few splurges, and she makes a whole bunch of budget trade-offs to afford them. She's a tightwad about things that are no fun so she can buy things that are - life's too short not to have some luxuries.
But enough talk, on to the bags!
Firstly, this is the whole collection - a whopping three bags. The Bargain Queen's on a budget :)
Her first Longchamp bag was the one below. She was a finallist for an industry award and had to look nice for the ceremony just in case. Instead of spending her budget on a dress she'd wear once, she bought this bag ($225) and some nice heels to dress up something she already owned. She didn't get the award but she's still got the bag!
The Bargain Queen's second Longchamp bag was a great sale find. She'd been using the one above every day for a year and it's fantastic. It's great for both day and evening, and the perfect size for a wallet, phone, PDA, makeup and keys. The only downside is that A4 papers only fit in it if they're folded.
So, The Bargain Queen spent a year carrying a daggy plastic file envelope in her hand all day when she needed to take papers with her. The obvious solution was to buy a cheap disposable tote, but with her newly-developed taste for Longchamp, no cheapie was worthy of her arm. Then she found the one below, reduced from $500 to $200. Due to all her other budget finds, she had the money to grab it on the spot. Fantastic!
Finally, less than a month after she bought bag #2, Mr Bargain Queen decided to buy his lovely wife a super-nice Christmas present. He took her to a duty-free store in Noumea which has a WHOLE WALL of Longchamp bags and said she could choose anything she wanted. In a mere hour - a record for a Libran - she picked the one below. She's carried it practically every day since. It was about $500 duty free, which was able to come from Mr Bargain Queen's clothes budget because The Bargain Queen is an outlet shopping maven and saves him a lot on his jackets, pants, shirts, underwear etc
It's also the only one she knows the name of: it's a Longchamp 4x4 in chocolate.
The photo doesn't really do it justice - the leather is gorgeously soft, not plasticy like it looks here. (For that matter, all the photos are a bit crappy. Sorry about that!)
So yes, The Bargain Queen is human, she has vices and she REALLY likes Longchamp bags. If you want more Longchamp porn, they have a fantastic web site with pics of their whole range. Yummo!
Or if bags aren't your thing, no problem. Everyone has different priorities and as long as your spending reflects yours, you're doing great.
posted by Sara @ 8:52 am
6 Comments:
At 10:28 am,
Rebecca said…
Thanks for sharing!
I am also able to spend a bit of my husband's clothing budget, but not as much as he would like. Unfortunately, his sizes aren't as available at a discount as mine are (he's 6'3"). But he is willing to get by with not too much, and he really doesn't like me to spend much on him.
It's great to be married!
At 4:43 pm,
trelif said…
I enjoy seeing and reading about the special items like these -- it's so personal and individual. I would need to think long and hard before I could come up with the pieces that are my obsessions ... I really like my Viv Tam and Milly apparel, and I guess they are my biggest clothing/accessory splurges. Hooray for well-planned budget compromises!
Yep, thanks for sharing. :-)
At 10:33 am,
Sara said…
Rebecca - Mr Bargain Queen's 6'3 too and there's always great things in his size at the David Jones warehouse near our place (David Jones is an upmarket department store here). Maybe there's something similar near your place?
Mr Bargain Queen's very slim though (34" waist after putting on weight!) so he fits into the designer left-overs. I've helped bigger boys shop before too and it's so much harder! So Mr Bargain Queen's not allowed to gain weight lest I lose my reputation ;)
Henri-V - We don't get Viv Tam in Australia so I took a look at her web site and the clothes are gorgeous - so feminine and classic. I love designers whose work never screams 'this season' but makes you look like a well-dressed woman instead.
Thanks for sharing!
At 10:44 am,
Anonymous said…
I ran into this blog posting while surfing teh googles on Longchamp bags. I also accidently stumbled into Longchamp fandom when I was browsing for wallets and found exactly what I wanted only in Longchamp. Fast forward a couple of years, and I was tired of gettign messenger bags and urban bags all the time. But on the other hand, I have lots of gadgets - an ipod, a pda, a cell phone, and of course the wallet and such. I needed a bag with generous inner pockets a long shoulder strap for across-the-shoulder wearing, and I wanted it to be stylish.
It's tough to find all three, but the only one locally who manages that is Longchamp. So I got my first Longchamp bag today, also a 4x4, but a little bit different. Browse Longchamp's US online store under the 4x4 heading, and you'll find it. It's the plain one, the one that looks like a pouch with no hidden pockets inside. Pictures don't do it justice. It's just really really nice. Unlike the picture, mine has a full-length zip pocket on the back.
I called mom excitedly to tell her of my awesome find, and she said "What's Longchamp? I would have gotten Coach!" :(
At 9:59 am,
Anonymous said…
I actually prefer that Longchamp's less hyped and I don't mind that people don't always know what it is. The people who are into expensive bags get it; those who aren't don't know it's expensive so they don't tell me off for spending so much on a bag.
Whereas an obvious 'status symbol' bag like a Louis Vuitton? Boy, do they attract some derision... that is, if people don't think it's a fake!
At 10:23 pm,
Anonymous said…
Just to let you know - I'm a fellonw longchamp addict too!
I've got 7 bags and counting!
That's not a patch compared to my friend's 49!!!! bags!
I kid you not. She's been collecting for years.
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