Well, I pulled my bags out of the various closets they were stashed in. All together, I have 24. This doesn't include a few small clutches, laptop bags, and an insane collection of canvas bags, the most precious of which are obviously from the Pigly Wigly in Harbour Island (pic below), and my Vandelay Industries tote. Honestly, with those in my arsenal, why do I even have all these other bags? I imagine this number repulses some people, yet it's a drop in the bucket for others. For me, it feels like too much, but is there anything I can do about it?
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| Perhaps this should be my everyday purse. |
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| Or this one! |
White leather Barney's (despite the pen marks on it, and dye from carrying it against my jeans, I love this bag so much!)
Tan leather Longchamp (makes me feel cute, reminds me of Paris, you can fit a surprising amount in it, including the new iPhone 6+ I just got for work)
Navy pleather Zara bag (light, really roomy, don't care if it gets wet, and goes with all my navy clothes)
Black leather Cole Haan purse (can't explain this one; it's falling apart, I rarely use it, but I just love it)
Vanessa Bruno red suede mini bag (you can cram a ton into it, it adds colour to my mostly neutral wardrobe, and yes, Paris...)
I am well aware that I could get along fine with just those, and if I were a real KonMari convert, I'd get rid of everything else. But...
I have to adapt her ideas, I'm sorry. The process is fantastic, as it does at least make you face why you are keeping some of the things you are, even if you can't (yet) take the next step of getting rid of them. After some real thinking, I had to add a few categories to Sparks Joy:
Intensely Useful
Occasionally Useful
Pure, Unadulterated Guilt
Give Away/Toss
Intensely Useful includes my black and tan leather Calvin Klein tote. It's amazing for air travel, as there is a large zippered side pocket perfect for a passport and travel documents, and there's no way you can get pick-pocketed or lose them. It's also big enough for all your technology, toiletries, and another pair of shoes, in a pinch. I used to love it, I think I am just used to it. Also, an old Coach bucket bag that is great for sightseeing. Fits all you need, is a comfy cross-body, and the leather doesn't mind rain. Outside pocket for Metrocard or whatever.
Occasionally Useful is a category for things like my purple Rebecca Minkoff tote. It's almost a Sparks Joy, except the handle isn't quite long enough for my taste. I do use it and love the look of it, however. A few J Crew bags fit here, like a black leather cross-body, and a tan woven bag that I like to use on hot summer days, to pretend I'm in the Bahamas. My Naf Naf straw bag is only useful in the Bahamas, but it stays.
Pure, Unadulterated Guilt would encompass a Furla bag I got in Italy and no longer love; a Marc by Marc Jacobs bag I never did love; and a black Lancaster bag I got in Paris when I couldn't find the Longchamps one I wanted (which I ended up finding at Charles de Gaulle, but had already blown the money on the other bag. Let that be a lesson to you- only buy things you love!)
Give Away/Toss: I already gave away a Karine Dupont nylon tote, but I will add to that a red Ann Taylor pleather tote, a white Zara bucket bag I thought could replace my awesome Barney's purse, and a salmon Fossil cross-body that is lovely, but now superfluous.
There are other bags in each category, but you get the idea. I really had to think about each one individually, and not just go by feeling, but by purpose. That's the one issue I have with the KonMari method- Sparks Joy doesn't work for everything. My shower curtain doesn't spark joy, but I kind of need it, you know?
Having lots of purses is not a real problem, but going through them turned into an exercise in thinking about excess, and my part in the consumer culture. Ultimately, I think it was a successful exercise, and I would definitely recommend it. And they'll rip my Vandelay Industries tote from my cold, dead hands...
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