Do you have 350 grand to spend on a bag?
How did we evolve from practical footwear and bags to accessories priced like houses?March 13, 2007 Edition 1
Carol Lazar
So, you need a little accessory to brighten up your life? How about a Louis Vuitton Tribute Patchwork Bag. Oh dammit, perhaps it's too big. Checking it out I can see it's large, a sort of roomy tote bag, and it's not cheap at R350 000.
I couldn't believe the article I read. But it was all there in print, accompanied by an illustration of the R350 000 bag.
And it seems some women are rushing to buy this bag. Even one of our own respected designers, Gavin Rajah, has said that he knows several women who wear handbags priced at R50 000. Apparently, handbags are the new shoes for women, which in turn were what a luxury car is for men.
A strappy pair of Manolo Blahnik sandals can set you back a cool R60 000, his alligator boots sell for R98 000, or a delicious pair of red Gucci sandals are a snip at just R28 000. Mind you, they're not that available on home ground.
I popped into a shoe store at my favourite shopping centre and the most expensive shoes I could find were Ferragamos, and they were cheap at R4 700.
This is still a hang of a price when you realise that it wasn't so long ago that we walked with bare feet. When the terrain got a little uncomfortable, we tied bark and grass around our feet and women, being innovative, began to weave these materials and thus the simple sandal evolved.
Menfolk, hunters and gatherers, brought home the animals they'd killed and as nothing was wasted, the skins were used for clothing and shoes.
From these humble beginnings come R98 000 Manolo Blahnik shoes.
It makes one think.
Are some women mad? Yes, it seems, because these prices are nothing to those paid for designer bags such as the Chanel bucket tote, the Burberry Nova check papillon bag, the Chloe Paddington satchel, the Christian Dior butterfly saddlebag - all well over R100 000. Happily, for those who want to spend a little less, there's the high-fashion Woolies tote, which comes in lime green, magenta, fire-engine red, burnt orange and sea blue, for R7,99.
Bags, like shoes, were born from need and men were the first bag carriers. It seems they gathered leaves together and made little pouches, these evolved into skin pouches worn around their waists. In those days, women carried babies not bags and it was only in early Egyptian times that women became interested in sporting pouches resembling sacks.
But it was the French, who, round about the time of the French revolution, made these carrying pouches into something more practical, using leather and stronger fabric - and voilą - the handbag appeared.
I showed my little 93-year-old mother a picture of the R350 000 Louis Vuitton handbag.
"This is the world's most expensive bag," I said.
"It's hideous," she commented. "Why on earth would anyone buy a handbag so ugly?" she added.
"Well," I muttered, "I think it's disgusting spending so much money on a handbag. It's offensive when the rest of the world is starving."
"Oh, stop being so boringly politically correct," snapped my mother.
"Accept that there are some people with lots of money and that it's their right to spend it as they want. If they are crass, uncouth, thoughtless, overindulged, shallow, fatuous and totally gross, it's their problem.
"And," she smiled, "you'd better believe that anyone carrying that ridiculously large, very over-priced Louis Vuitton tote bag will develop neck strain, backache and possibly hip dislocation too.
"Which will," she added, "under the circumstances, serve them right."
The rapier-tongued great granny strikes again.
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