The coach bag arrived and I have kept it.
Honestly, my initial reactions were mixed. I adore the color. It is the perfect size: big enough to carry everything that I might need, especially when I am running around with G, but not so large that I feel like I am leaving for the weekend. On the downside, I am not thrilled with the chains on the handle or the metallic logo. My red Coach bag was more subtle. But they aren't that bad, and the chain straps will wear better than the straps on my old red bag which started to crack and fray almost immediately.
This tote is not as elegant as the Akris Ai bag I posted last week, which I still love for its sleek elegance. But that bag speaks to some inner fantasy me, the one who carries sleek bags and dresses in Akris and Chado Ralph Rucci with a few pieces by Dries thrown in for fun. That me doesn't really exist and I am not sure she ever would really exist, she is just a piece of the puzzle that is me. Besides, that bag doesn't really fit my actual life, whereas this new Coach bag does. It can easily go everywhere I might go.
Besides the color is perfect. It works well with the marjority of my Soft Summer palette. And I have been steadily building my wardrobe in my colors. Not every piece I buy or wear is actually in my palette, but it all works with my palette, it blends or coordinates in a way I find harmonious. I have found that this feeling of harmony makes me happy. I am no longer fighting with my various images of myself, they can all fit in one package. Apparently part of the trick is finding the right package, even if that means abandoning a few of those shiboleths that were drummed into my psyche from an early age. You know the ones I mean, the things your parents and grandparents told you, either in words or actions and reactions. Among mine were: "Our kind of people don't....wear polka dots, or purple, or drive yellow cars". I'm sure yours were totally different. But in the end what does it matter? We each have to live with our own truth and inhabit our own lives. My truth apparently includes pretty colors and purple handbags.
