Everyone has things they like to spend their money on – I’ve personally always been a designer bag kind of girl. I love handbags. My first designer handbag was the Saint Laurent Wallet on Chain.
Recently, I finally took the plunge and bought my first Chanel handbag. I received so many questions on Instagram about it, so I thought this post, in particular, might be helpful for a lot of you out there.
I have bought quite a few bags to this date after that first designer bag purchase, and I wish I had known certain things before I bought my first bag. So, I hope that these tips will be helpful to you.
When buying your first designer bag, think beyond your first purchase
If you are planning on owning more than one designer bag, think about what is on your wishlist in the next 1-5 years. I am saying this because your future wishlist will impact your first designer handbag purchase. To put things into perspective, if you are planning on owning a Chanel and a Celine bag within 1-2 years, I will always suggest prioritizing the expensive bag (Chanel in this case) first because the brand, also has frequent price increases between the two.
A general rule of thumb is to prioritize the more expensive item first if you are anyways planning to own it in the near future after your first bag purchase.
Choose a silhouette
This is probably my most important tip – pick a style that fits your lifestyle.
Think whether the brand and the style of the bag align with your lifestyle and how you dress on regular basis. I hear so many people saying they saved up money and bought a certain bag, but it’s not being used much because it does not fit their personal style.
Think about what you what objectively and what actually works with your personal style. For example, I love shoulder and top handle bags and find them easy to style. I am not a crossbody bag person. So even though there are really pretty crossbody bags out there, I would not go ahead and buy them without thinking it through because I would find it hard to incorporate them into my personal style.
If you are interested in buying the Jacquemus Le Chiquito Long bag, I have a full review about it here.
Think through Colors while buying your first designer bag
If you are going to spend so much money on a designer bag, you want to make sure it will pair well with most of the items in your wardrobe. I made this mistake and went with a red wallet on a chain for my first designer handbag.
At the time I bought it, I was looking for more of a dinner, a special occasion bag. What I found was, that even though I used it for occasion wear, like weddings and dinner dates, it was hard for me to incorporate it into my wardrobe on a frequent basis.
I wanted to use it more but found it hard. And to be honest, how many times you can use the same bag even for special occasions. So, I wish I bought it in black, which would for sure be neutral and could be worn multiple times with different outfits.
I am not saying, to not buy a colorful bag at all. All I am saying is, decide on what colors you can incorporate more into your wardrobe. For me, this green Jaqumeus bag is so much easier to use compared to a red. I use it a lot on regular basis. So it truly depends on your personal style.
But, when it comes to choosing your first designer bag, I really recommend sticking to neutral tones that pair well with a variety of outfits. When you’ve grown a designer bag collection a little further, I’m all for adding pops of color, pattern, and seasonal prints into the mix.
Don’t Settle
I will be honest, I have to remind myself all the time when I am personally shopping to not settle for something else because it is taking hard to find the bag I want. A lot of the times, settling for something else will only cost you more money in the long run because you will still eventually want the original item and you will end up buying the item that was originally on your Wishlist.
For example, if you always wanted a Chanel classic flap bag but decide on the wallet on chain for some reason, you will anyways eventually spend on Chanel classic bag because that will always be on your wishlist. So have patience and don’t settle. Trust your decision-making process.
Think about what could go wrong with your first designer bag purchase
This is not an obvious tip, but while buying the bag think about what could possibly go wrong. By this I mean things like, the weight of the bag, the chain, and the way the bag stands, and will hold the shape in the future after a few uses. The leather type and how you will be able to maintain it.
While buying the bag, don’t just hold the bag, try it out. Put your things in it. Walk with it in the store. Close and open the bag a few times with the items in it, to see how easy or hard it is. You are spending your hard-earned money on it, so don’t buy it without having a mini experience of the bag in the store.
My last tip, is to not buy something just because someone has it, or it is trendy on social media. I would always suggest buying a classic item rather than a trendy bag as your first handbag purchase. Just because someone else loves it, does not mean you will as well. Don’t influence your decision because of social media. Make a decision based on your lifestyle, budget, and brand.
Let me know if you enjoyed this kind of blog post.
