Status Bags and Self-Esteem

By Candy

After I graduated from college, I decided to treat myself to an expensive bag. I mean, afterall, my sweet sweet ride was no longer around to be the catch all of my many lip glosses and empty water bottles. So what better way to replace it, than with a durable and totally cute shoulder accessory? (You know you can relate to this kind of rationale!)

At the time, I just wanted a nice bag. I was tired of having to buy another one every few months one my previous cheapie purchase fell apart. Sure, it was nice to have a change, but I wanted something that would last.

So I set out shopping. I knew that I would have that feeling—that we are meant to be together instinct—when I found it. And I did… with the Anna Corinna City Tote: large, durable, versatile and better with age; she and I were the perfect fit.

It was a bit painful at the time to shell out so much cash ($396), but I was so smitten I didn’t even care. If it rained I would hold the umbrella over my bag and not myself, I would hold it close when on the train and make sure it didn’t touch the ground at bars. Of course, my overprotection faded but my love did not. As I write this, it has been almost one year since I purchased my City Tote and I have not once switched purses. (And this from a girl who has two crates full of purses.)

The Anna Corinna is an underground status bag, only recognizable by people who are familiar. Others may admire, but they are hard to come by, which is why having it made me feel so…awesome.

The last year of my life was been incredibly shitty.

New city, unemployment, no friends. When I would leave the house without a dollar to my name, I would just carry my bag proudly because it gave me something that was mine, that symbolized the passing of an era (college) and made me feel totally city chic when I was all but homeless.

It was perhaps the most well-spent $400 dollars of my life. It gave me purpose, instantly made me feel stylish in my bargain bin clothes and gave me a reason to hold my head high when I had nothing else to show for my pitiful existence.

I try not to let material things define me, but at a time in my life when everything was totally indefinable, having one thing that was mine—and that was admired by others—was just what I needed to get me through the poor, lonely days. My status bag gave me self-esteem when I felt like there was nothing else to hold on to, but I had that big beautiful leather bag and to me, nothing else mattered.