My First Designer Purse

I grew up in a moderately conservative upper-middle-class family by today’s standards. I have always had access to the amount of money needed to buy luxury goods even as a teenager in the ’90s, but I never did because my parents were hardworking immigrants who ingrained in me the value of money. Money was always in short supply for my parents growing up, and so my parents worked hard to provide a better life for me and my brothers by taking that out of the equation for us. 

I didn’t buy my first designer bag until college, and even then, I felt guilty spending my parents’ hard-earned money on a “splurge” for myself. It was a simple black nylon Prada purse that all the “cool” girls at my university were using for clubbing or going out with friends. I specifically remember wanting it in black so that it would match a lot of the clothes I already had.

Wearing that bag made me feel more confident when I was out and about in my 20s. I even left the Prada authenticity card in my purse to prove it was authentic if anyone ever questioned its authenticity (spoiler: no one ever did).

If that bag could talk, the stories it would tell.

I wore it out so much that eventually the strap broke, and I stopped using it. At the time, I didn’t know if it could be repaired because I had no clue who to contact to even get something like that done. Could you look up “purse repair” in the yellow pages back then in our more analog days?

So for years, it sat in the back of my closet in my childhood bedroom at my parents’ house. The next time I saw it was when I was cleaning out my room right before I finished school and got married at age 27. The minute I saw it, it brought a wide smile to my face. I could still remember all the good times and adventures I had with that purse in my early 20s.

I never did get that Prada purse fixed, and it’s still probably in my childhood bedroom closet.

Last year I came across Prada's Re-Edition 2000 version of it, and when I saw it, I knew I had to get one for old times’ sake. That bag is low maintenance, water-resistant, and easy to carry when going out for errands or on a date night with my husband. It’s a very practical utilitarian purse that was well designed and constructed.

To me, it screamed “quiet luxury” because it didn’t have brand logos. The purse was basic, black, and had a small metallic triangle on the front of the purse with the name of the brand.

That’s when it dawned on me. True luxury doesn’t need to scream to be noticed; it’s more akin to a whisper. Luxury is buying what makes you happy and what you will actually use in your daily life, irrespective of the hype, the brand, or the latest trend.

Lady Astrid is an independent contributing writer to RETRO//VRS. The views and opinions expressed in Notes From a Founding Collector are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of RETRO//VRS.