A Rambling Train Of Thought That Touches On Big Issues

[poliphilo]

I don't get handbags.

I mean they're obviously very useful things but I don't get why they've become such fetish objects.

craftyailz was in Wilmslow yesterday. She came back with horror stories about how there were handbags in the shops  with price tags of £800- and counting.

I've seen these designer handbags. They look like handbags. I don't think I've ever seen a handbag I've considered beautiful. 

I mean, it's just a bag.

Ailz doesn't think anyone should pay that sort of money for such a frivolous object. Not in a world where people are struggling to feed their children. I agree. 

Wilmslow, of course, is in WAG country. Lots of premiership footballers have houses round there. Omid Djalili was saying on Have I Got News For You last night that it shouldn't be Wives And Girlfriends because you can't really be both at once.  It should be Wives Or Girlfriends.

It took a moment for us all to get the joke....

Omid Djalili is new to me, but it seems he has a show of his own in the pipeline. I'm looking forward to it.

He's a British Iranian. Big and bald and beautiful. Two of the most amazing people I ever knew were British Iranians. 

Michael Hashemian and Sherry....? No I forget the second name. Sherry was short for Sheherezade.

There are several Michael Hashemians out there. One of them is a dentist in Florida. I don't think that's my guy but who knows? He was 19 when I knew him. A Greek God-  with brains to match his beauty.

As for Sherry- well, I remember discussing Baudelaire with her. I was a terrible prig and saving myself for marriage and she was already spoken for, but it didn't stop me fancying her like crazy. 

I am dreading the moment when Bush attacks Iran. If Brown backs him up I shall feel as if my country is no longer my country .

Comments

[beentothemoon.livejournal.com]

as loathe as I am to do it, I must come to the defense of the expensive handbag. A beautiful limited-run couture bag, designed by a master artist and hand-crafted by a truly gifted artisan (as opposed to an underpaid, exploited sweatshop worker) is a work of art. How is that different, more frivolous or less justifiable than spending money on a piece of artwork to hang on your wall? An immaculately made bag will last just as long as a painting or lithograph, and has the added bonus of being taken out into the world and actively enjoyed. Also like more traditionally accepted forms of art, a couture bag will increase in value.

Obviously there are some people who want a great big label to show how much money they spent on a bag. Those big label bags are known as "collection" bags as opposed to couture. They're still beautifully and ethically made, but I will freely admit there can be an element of silliness to that.
But the people who are buying couture, or even high-end collection bags are, I'd be willing to wager, not people who have more money than sense or the great desire to own something expensive so they can tell their friends about it, but people who save and sacrifice for a piece of truly beautiful art.

Maybe you can't tell the difference between a Walmart bag and beautifully crafted leather goods, just as there are people who can't tell or can't be bothered to note the difference between good wine and bad, Hershey's chocolate and Valhrona 72%, Kraft American cheese and aged cheddar or a poster print and an Old Master. That's fine.

Some people can though, and decide the beauty and joy it brings into their lives is worth scrimping and saving for that hefty price tag. What exactly gives anyone the right to judge the worth and merit of that joy? To place a value of "unacceptable" on it because it's not something you would personally do? I'm not all that interested in modern sculpture, but I'm not arrogant enough to tutt tutt and decree grandly that no one needs a funny shaped piece of clay that costs more than 25 dollars. They just need something lumpy to put in the foyer.

I have beautiful shoes and a few exquisite handbags. I work for those. I also have a trust fund. I help build and run a series of four water wells in southern Malawi with that.

Yes, there are children starving all over the world, but my purse isn't part of that economic abuse. Look where your handbag and shoes were made. Can you say the same thing?


Here is a link to the Dior plisse and samouri bags, handwoven leather, bronze and tortoise shell. Either could rightfully be displayed in a museum. http://i22.tinypic.com/727i46.jpg

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I take your point. Those are handsome bags.

But they're still only bags. They're the same shape as other bags... and, well, de gustibus non disputandam so I'm going to shut up.