Topshop coat // Paige Flea Market Floral jeans // Skechers Skech-Flex runners // Topshop earrings // Pashmina scarf // Le Chateau sunglasses // Paige shopping bag.
Bookending my recent post about online shopping as a form of guilt-free retail therapy, hence the success of websites such as Pinterest and Lyst.com (a cure for the impulse buyer), I’m exploring the idea of the gentrification (or the brightening-up) of any old outfit with the addition of shopping bags.
Seems trite, you say? I object very much so.
Of course at the crux of this experiment are the inarguable facts that a. accessorizing has an appreciative function, when it comes to your #OOTD and b. you’re a sensible woman. If you agree, we can proceed.
By the way, did you know that in Korea there is a P2P resale market for Chanel shopping bags? Yes. Like the paper ones with Chanel printed on them that you get at the store when you’ve actually purchase something. Here in North America, some DIY-types have taken to framing their Kate Spade shopping bags and hanging them in their living rooms. Call me crazy, but I think the Koreans win.
Function aside, a shopping bag can add a missing aesthetic accoutrement to an outfit. Take my Yenta-meets-de-la-Renta ensemble – it’s peppered with mismatched prints, clashing colours and juxtapositions. But once I add a monochromatic white Paige shopping bag with their simple all-caps, all-black logo, the disparates find a sort of harmony. The shopper really grounds this whole outfit and simmers down the bag-lady vibes.
The bonus? You get that “just-shopped” look, which according to the Koreans and Sophie Kinsellas of the world, is worth saving your totes for.
And now some questions for the readers:
Would you carry a shopper instead of a handbag if it went better with your outfit? Do you take the long route home, by foot, after making a purchase just so you can parade around the shopping bag? Tell me all you secrets….
Photography by Daniel Kim of Walking Canucks.
Love this outfit!
http://fridaynightstyle.com/
Hi Justine! Enjoyed this funny article. Whether shopping bags as purses are a yay or a nay, you look on point!
Justin
Walking, Talking Style
New post: Twenty Five
I don’t even know how I ended up here, a year ago into your blog, buuuuuut shopping bags are THE way to carry extra items. I work in retail, so obviously have collected ENOUGH bags from the store I work at, and sometimes use them to carry my work clothes and lunch with me when coming in.
On that same topic, a classmate of mine used to work at Hugo Boss, and whenever she’d be heading down to Ryerson straight from her boyfriend’s, I’d catch her hiding her makeup and clothes in a crisp Hugo Boss paper bag.
So would I carry it instead of a handbag? I’d carry it in addition to a small handbag. Once the macarons were eaten, the Ladurée paper bag came in handy for my instax, snacks, and water while travelling in Paris