Rent Don't Buy

My newest obsession is Bag Borrow or Steal. This is the rental site which offers high-end handbags, jewelry, and accessories for rent by the week, month, or season.

I started with a Gucci handbag, moved on to a vintage Kenneth Jay Lane coral necklace, and am now carrying an LV tote, and sporting a vintage Dior cuff with my sweatpants, that's how much I love this bracelet.

Since, I can't justify paying $1800-4,000 for a purse, I've been renting some mid-range bags just for the H of it. Now, a girl truly can dream.

The bad thing is, my necklace (shown here) has received so many compliments since I started wearing/renting, it makes me want to by it very badly, and start my vintage jewelry collection.
So far, I have no pieces. A slow start yes, but I've always wanted to collect something, and since my vintage trophy idea isn't panning out very well, I might as well collect great pieces for myslef, and for Lyla to wear when she's older.
NOTE: This is also the reason I use to justify buying designer shoes and clothes. I keep saying I'll put them in my archives like the celebs do. Too bad my basement is already piled floor to ceiling with exersaucers, and other plastic monstrosities that will surely last beyond the apocalypse. There are also about 50 gallons of used/unused paint, a bunch of those dark brown soup crocks, games like Pictionary and Scattergories I also vow will be played, an exercise bike I begged Trent to buy me while I was pregnant that I've used five times because it hurts my butt, and about 50-60 bags and bins of baby clothes and linens down there. So, I don't know where my archive should be. Maybe I'll start to put it all up on the third floor with my extra antique chair purchases and the bathing suit bins I swear I will pull from when I lose 30 pounds. Hmm. More on that later.

So the coral necklace is available for purchase for $750. More than I've ever paid for any piece of jewelry by about $500. I just don't have any really nice jewelry (that I've bought myself). I would easily spend this in two visits to Target, BabyGap, or a local boutique, but for some reason, the whole amount seems higher than anything in the world. Why is that?

The Dior bracelet pictured here is not available for sale, THANK GOD. I am so in love with it. It looks great with everything, and makes me feel like old Hollywood. I feel like I should be wearing it in my navy blue and white dressing room with white leather chaises and mirror tables. That's how awesome this thing is.

I really like Louis Vuitton signature bags. Even though they've been copied, and every cheesy B celeb has one, and girls with fake french manicured nails sometimes also have them, I still love the clean look. So, whatevs, I rented it. I love a bag with a lot of room without my stuff getting lost in it. This bag is big, with two big outside pockets that don't swallow my phone or sunglasses.

The Gucci bag I rented (because this one was on a wait list) wasn't comfy on my arm, and everything got lost in it. The LV allows easy access to everything, and slips gracefully on and off my shoulders. I can also store Lyla stuff in there, which allows one less bag on outings.
The weird thing is, Fil who I work with said he didn't see me carrying a bag like that. Which struck me, considering he never knows what I'm talking about when I prance around the office in something new, he inevitably asks me how much it was, and I say something like, "I had to buy these Prada/Christian Louboutin/Jimmy Choo shoes, they were on sale for $400!" Not sure why I didn't probe him about why he doesn't see me with the bag. Maybe it's because he's seen girls wearing the LV bag and a Ravens jersey at the same time? That would be tragic, but so fitting here in Baltimore. They don't call it Charm City for nothing.
Then, I went to my cousin's baby shower last weekend, and my sister told my Mom she couldn't see me having that bag either (she didn't hear the Fil story either). Interesting. Maybe it's because I'm usually carrying some canvas recycling bag, and playing it off like it's a purse. Or, I'm carrying my Mom's sewing bag from the 70s made from two wood spools wrapped in brown and green printed fabric.
Whatever the reasons may be, people find this purse unsuitable for me.
Another great reason to rent I say. If no one likes it, I just send it back.

Maybe one day I will find the right purse for me, or I will invest in my first vintage jewel. For now, as the Stereophonics would say, "I'm just looking, I'm not buyin'"