A woman’s’ handbag is a guide to her style or even her soul (gasp!)

Hey yall,

It’s been MONTHS since I blogged. As you can imagine, I’ve been quite busy with lots of things, mainly great, exciting things

I decided to shift my focus back to fashion and style for the next few blog entries. Of course, I will still do movie reviews as you know they are some of my favorite kinds of entries ;)

I have been doing really well being frugal for the past few years. As many of you may already know, I stopped using credit cards about three years ago after realizing that if I don’t have cash for it, I shouldn’t even buy it. It has been working out really great since I spend only what I have money for AND I’ve been putting money in savings and just being frugal in (almost) every aspect.

I don’t pay full price for things… I always wait for sales and go to the outlets to stock up on essential clothing.

I also haven’t bought shoes in FOREVER!! I have about 100 pairs of shoes in my collection, and I keep rediscovering gems in my own shoe closet, which has been fantastic! I think I pretty much have all the styles I need… I can think of one or two that I may want to get, but nothing too crazy.

I wanted to put this out there for what I am about to talk about. I will buy good quality clothes on sale for cheap and shoes, but one piece of item that I seem to splurge on and invest is handbags.

I think a bag makes the outfit. I recently read a book, “Fashionista Files” that I bought a couple of years ago that stated “a true fashionista is the one that knows her bags and shoes”, and I completely agree. You can have the most fabulous outfit, but if you have the wrong shoes or bags, it’s over. I think bags are the first items I notice on women, followed by shoes and then the whole outfit.

I am a firm believer of investing in good quality designer bags. Honestly, people define investments differently, and some may think I am absolutely insane for spending so much on designer bags, but what they don’t realize is that I don’t buy any other bags so it all evens out. For instance, when I buy one designer bag, I would carry it for years so when you calculate cost per wear and the fact that I don’t buy any other non-designer bags (let’s say for $40/each or whatever they cost), I am actually saving money.

For instance, last time I bought designer bags (not including Coach bags in between haha) was late 08 which means it’s been 2 ½ years since I bought any bag. I have been carrying these Marc Jacobs and Prada bags for all this time AND will continue to do so, which means I’ve already gotten my money’s worth.

I highly recommend that you invest in a nice designer bag. You can start out by putting away $100/month and at the end of the year, you can treat yourself to a nice one! Besides, that’s when Saks and Nordstrom have their 40% off Designer Bag sales so as long as you aren’t buying black classic ones, which you do have to pay full price for no matter what, you can get a colorful designer bag for less than $1000!

With all this being said, I have to say I have been so good saving money and this month, I decided to treat myself to the iconic, classic Marc Jacobs Stam Bag. I LOVE IT!! I also just got another Marc Jacobs Classic Quilting Standard Satchel in turquoise color – beautiful, happy color.

Sure, I spent quite a bit of money on them both but I will carry these bags for YEARS to come so in the end, every dollar is so worth it.

I LOVE Marc Jacobs bags. His bags are so well-made, classic, and no logos. They are super chic and sophisticated. I definitely will continue my MJ collection. His quilted bags are very chic like Chanel yet somewhat more hip.

I highly recommend in investing in a classic designer bag such as Louis Vuitton Speedy 30, Marc Jacobs Stam, or any Prada bags. If you want a good quality bag but can’t afford such high prices, Coach is the best ever.

HAVE FUN SHOPPING!!