My pocketbook collection is sizable. In fact it is so substantial that I can not put it in one place.
No Room for Storage I can’t store it either. Therefore I have come up with a unique solution. Since I can’t store them, I decided to display them. And this post is a tour of the collection display I created.
What They Are I have limited my collection to a few brands that are my favorites. Some of them were expensive when I could afford such a luxury. But now I have become a thrifter in my collecting habits.
An Economical Hobby It comes as a surprise even to me how economical my hobby has become. These days it is required that any addition to my collection be a fraction of its original cost. Even with that constraint, I have been able to get quite a lot of very nice pre-owned and vintage bags.
Where I Get Them – New from Catalogs My collection’s history could be described as a pyramid. For example, it started with a few new retail bags available through colorful mail order catalogs. These included Coach, Dooney & Bourke, and lastly Kate Spade.
Outlet Store Malls In fact, the above collections now have outlet stores with discounted new handbags. Once I even treated myself to a bag from that venue.
Where I Get Them – Pre-owned But since then I have progressed to pre-owned bags. It is like hitting the lotto because this method includes an abundance of online stores like Poshmark, Etsy, eBay, Mercari and more. Least I forget thrift stores, fundraising events and even garage sales.
apartment layout for pocketbook collection tour
THE TOUR
Here, There and Everywhere My pocketbook collection is displayed in just about every room in our apartment. In fact, one is welcomed immediately to my collection upon entering our foyer.
Exclusions Actually the only two rooms excluded from the display tour are the kitchen and bathroom. This is for sanitary reasons that I have not hung any of them there. But let’s continue with where they are.
Repurposed media racks make perfect display unit for some of my vintage handbags
1.Hallway Racks Welcome to our apartment and the first pocketbook collection in the display. As you can see, they are showcased on two sets of video cassette racks repurposed ideally for this task.
2.Small Hallway Petite Bags This part of the collection consists of small, mostly monochromatic patent leather vintage Coach bags. In fact, they were mostly thrift store finds.
Hallway Tour Continued These are actually the second set of bags displayed to welcome tourists in the small hallway on the way to the bedroom. For contrast to the purses, their background is a vintage red and gray tablecloth.
3.Bedroom Corner Here a colorful and varied part of my collection resides. For example, there are Very Bradley bags, Arcadia bags, and a variety of other bags accompanied by matching hats.
4.Bedroom Wall This is where the second largest part of my collection on tour is located. Specifically, the east facing wall is where it is located.
Mostly Dooney & Bourke bags with a great plaid cloth behind
5.The Living Room/Studio To conclude the tour one moves on to where it all started. Before being the display’s focus, this was a living room. But now it isn’t a traditional living room at all.
Where the Tour Originally Began
The End Is the Beginning
The end is where I originally started displaying pocketbook. In other words, it is how the tour began. I’d ask, “Would you like to see my pocketbook collection?” And into the living room a guest and I would go.
This wall displays most of my Coach Bag collection as well as others and is the view on my studio wall
Where Will It Go Next? As I mentioned earlier, the kitchen and the bathroom are not part of my pocketbook collection tour. In fact, they never will be. Since they are the only rooms without a display, I don’t know where I will go next. But I never imagined what I have accomplished so far. Therefore you never know where I will go next.
My pocketbook passion started about 30 years ago. Each year, I would buy myself a beautiful, popular, designer purse. To start my collection, I purchased numerous Dooney & Bourke bags, Coach bags, and then some Kate Spade bags.Vintage Dooney & Bourke Teton Style Multi Color bag from vintagedooney.com
My Passion and My Search
I began my journey searching for and purchasing the most attractive Dooney & Bourke ‘All Weather Leather’ bags.
Since the Internet was not yet a means of advertising and purchasing, items were available from beautifully designed mail order catalogs.
In fact, this is where my passion for pocketbooks began. The handbag at the left is very similar to one of my first purchases.
FAST FORWARD: Outlet Malls and The Internet A photo of a Tanger Outlet Mall with plenty of parking and discount upscale stores.
Over the years, the technology for shopping has become more sophisticated, appealing and convenient. If I want to make a purchase without leaving home, the Internet has become the place to go. If I want a feast including entertainment and purchasing delights, destinations like the Tanger Outlets are the ideal place to go
INTRODUCING: 21st Century Shopping – POSHMARK
There is no end to what I have been able to find online, at upscale mall shops and at mall outlet stores. But isn’t that the whole idea of retail shopping today? The possibilities are endless.
Here’s a video about the fascinating story of the immensely successful online social marketplace community known as Poshmark.
One brand, in particular has become my favorite vintage pocketbook passion, Italian made ARCADIA. This brand is one I recently discovered from the gangbuster technology for feeding my passion, online search and research. In fact, my favorite place to ‘window shop’ and purchase is on Poshmark. It is the hottest spot of them all. I visit almost daily.
Four of my favorite vintage Arcadia handbags found on Poshmark.com
The Evolution of How to Go Shopping
There is an evolutionary path to this search for collecting both new and vintage handbags. Collecting new handbags started with mail order catalogs and stayed there for many years. Then as technology was embraced, it evolved into the Internet.
Out of curiosity, I have even visited one of the Tanger Outlet Malls I had heard so much about. Of course I made a purchase. The mall was an appealing, well designed shopping village. In addition, it had a movie theatre so no parking space was wasted when shopping hours waned.
Three Primary Venues
At present, three venues have become my primary sources of feeding my pocketbook passion. They are online discount sources, like Poshmark, online company websites, and thrift stores.
Thrift stores are a great resource and a way that many non-profits raise money
My designer purse gems were not difficult for me to select from my rather large collection of favorite designer and style bags. Some are on my studio wall to provide a decorative view of this room. Others decorate my bedroom, and the rest are housed in their own cabinet. Four of my designer purse gems are featured in this blog post. Indeed these four are my favorites even though I have many others that I love.
For example, I own about a dozen Coach bags. These and others purses are the ones that serve as decoration on my studio wall. They are all still usable as pocketbook. They are truly my designer purse gems.
This wall displays most of my Coach Bag collection as well as others and is the view on my studio wall
My Gems
From the above and other purses that I have collected, there are four that are the absolute gems. The images below or either from my own collection or from the companies themselves. How I wish you could see them and touch them. Maybe one day, they will all be in a design museum or a handbag collection in a interdisciplinary one. Museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Museum of Modern Art, also in New York and The Smithsonian in Washington D.C. Then you will able to see them in person.
These are pictures of the bags that I posses or similar ones to my own. From left to right, Coach original Wills bag, new Coach Willis 18 bag, Dooney & Bourke teton bag, and the Furla round bag.
Public Gems
Did you know that there are other museums that do house outstanding everyday objects of superior design? Well, there are. Even though some of my bags are design to last ‘forever’, I hope that as many people as possible will be able to enjoy them by experiencing them. Then my designer purse gems, will be your design purse gems, too.
