When fashion ebbs and flows faster than the time it takes your child to spill his cereal on the floor with some extra special milk naturally splattering onto your new suede Jimmy Choo pumps, you have to wonder how can I keep up? More importantly, why bother investing $1,000 in a handbag that will be so last season before the "last season" in question hasn't even officially ended? That's where www.BagBorrowOrSteal.com comes in.
Nearly three years ago, the site launched with the simple notion that borrowing and having a disposable closet of accessories wasn't just for celebrities -- especially when said celebs can actually afford to purchase and wear only once, but that's another topic. Now bagistas the world over borrow everything from an embroidered Isabella Fiore clutch to a crocodile Carlos Falchi tote.
So you have that special holiday party coming up and are dying to wear -- if only for one night! -- a Judith Leiber clutch? For $95 it's your to ooh and ahh over for a week. Flying out to Chicago to attend your husband's 10-year college reunion and his college sweetheart will be there? Nothing like borrowing a vintage Hermes Piano Purse for $442 a week to say, "Hello, I have the man and the bag."
Yes, that's right I did say Hermes and borrowing in the same sentence! That's because now, after countless press mentions, some investors and a few copy-cats in between, BBOS is adding vintage handbags to the mix. To make sure they have the perfect bag-a-licious selection, the company has enlisted the aid of Clair Watson, former Director of Couture at Doyle auction house. With Watson at the helm of the new Vintage Collection, BBOS is making even the most snobbish of handbag connoisseurs want to borrow. Why not change your Birkin as often as you change your hair color?
Certainly Hermes, Chanel and the likes are not fast fashion, but that doesn't mean most gals want to wear the same bag day in and day out. I'm sure this notion of disposable fashion and constant yearning for change says something about us as a culture, but I'll leave the analyzing up to the Dr. Phils of the world. As for me, a loyal buyer, a BBOS membership is looking better and better every day.