I bought my first designer(ish) bag in my early twenties. I was working as a Marketing Assistant in an entry level job and hadn't planned on dropping 4-bills on a purse. At the time my boyfriend, now my husband and I, had just come back from holiday in Miami where I had seen an amazing Marc By Marc Jacobs bag on sale at Barneys for $150! It was a small duffle in a rich brown leather with cute MBMJ branded hardware. I drooled, cried and threw a tantrum over the bag because he had dissuaded me from buying it. We'd just stated planning our wedding and a designer bag wasn't in the budget. 

When we got back home we made a trip to Holts where naturally, I led him to the handbag section. I came across this cute yellow and blue jacquard bag with a subtle L.A.M.B logo all over the fabric. (Gwen Stefani was all of the rage back then.) I thought to myself, "I am my own woman, I can spend my money how I want" and then I turned to my BF and told him I was buying it. When he realized I was serious, the blood drained from his face and he went to sit down and twiddled nervously with his hands as I paid. I was the first of his girlfriends with a penchant for designer bags and this was a whole new nightmare for him. I still laugh when I think about it and he still shakes his head. 

These days I'm much more careful when I buy a designer bag. Typically I don't pay full price because: A) I prefer to save a bit of money. B) I've learned the hard way that unless it's Chanel or Goyard, most bags WILL depreciate in cost. Remember that really popular Alexander Wang Diego from back in the day? I've been trying to sell that sucker for super cheap well over a year now with no leads. Why? It's no longer "on trend". My closet now holds Givenchy and Saint Laurent (all purchased on sale thank you), but I'm not the type of girl to drop 4k on bag. Not now anyway. When I'm ready to drop mad dough on a bag, it'll be a Chanel. In the meanwhile, you'll find me in the sale section. As for the bag in this post, it's from JCOS Studios, not Celine. It's leather and costs well less than four grand, meaning I have money left over to put in my savings jar.

xo, Nathalie

WHAT I'M WEARING
Free People beaded jacket (circa 2012).
Mackage leather jacket.
Rag & Bone zippered skinny jeans.
Alexander Wang Nadine cut out ankle boots (circa 2013). 
JCOS Studios medium box bag.
Lisbeth Jewelry star and bar necklaces.
Artikel gold toned cuff and rings.