Bad Bad Bad

Today was my first day back to school and teaching.  I had butterflies last night and this morning, but once I met my class and got the ball rolling, I was fine.

I decided to wear a very proper and sedate black dress that I found at the Goodwill a couple of weeks ago.  It's a Karen Alexander for Boston Proper dress.  I think its very ladylike and the cut is very flattering to pear shaped figures.  How I love my simple black dresses.

Lia Sophia 'Cabana' necklace

To add some color and interest I layered two Lia Sophia necklaces; the one that I won at the big LS event last month and the one that I purchased at that event.  

Now this is the Bad Bad Bad as noted in the title of the post.  As thrifty as I have been in shopping for clothing this year....I was still willing to splurge (and splurge big) to purchase a new bag.  I really like small bags, but they usually aren't roomy enough to hold everything I need.  I don't carry a lot in my purse, but I need to carry my invisalign retainers in a case and I want to carry my Kindle Fire in my bag.  I could fit most things in the very small mini-bags that I typically carry, but it was awkward because everything had to be placed just so and I was always checking the contents to assure that I hadn't dropped anything.  As much as I love tiny purses, they just are not functional for me.

I told myself that I would pay a good chunk of change for a purse IF it fit all of my necessities comfortably, was beautiful, functional and had a cross body option as well and short handles.  It also had to be well made, leather with a pretty fabric interior and medium in size.  Oh, and it had to have several interior pockets, a structured design, no ostentatious logos and be either black or a deep, dark burgundy color.  Sigh....I found it.  Ouchies on the wallet.

T.J. Maxx has this deeply discounted past season Rebecca Minkoff and it fit every single requirement on my list.  I'm in love, but the price, even discounted, hurt.

If that was not bad enough...I was also in need of a new book/work tote.  I had basically the same requirements as I did for the purse, but it needed to be large enough to carry my school supplies.  Double ouch.  This bag is by Pulicati, an Italian designer I had never heard of. It was so beautiful and well crafted that I decided to take a chance. This bag is a keep forever bag.  The leather is supple, smooth and strong.  The colors are so rich.  I think I'm in love. This was also deeply discounted, but a pretty big splurge.

I'm very, very particular about bags.  If I settle for less than what I think works well for me...I'm replacing them in no time. I am willing to spend more on bags that meet every point on my list...and both of them did.  I thought long and hard about purchasing these two bags.  I decided to do it because I'm looking at them as high quality investments that will stand the test of time.  

I'm tired of replacing my bag every few months because it is functional or durable enough.  It was time to step up and choose quality.

I won't say how much I spent today, but I will say that I've never spent as much on a bag as I did today on each of these bags.  Ouch.   I feel bad, bad, bad.

When I sold my royal blue ballroom dress a few weeks ago, I had decided that I wanted to use the money to purchase something that had some meaning and was not frivolous.  I wanted to replace something very meaningful to me (my first real ballroom gown by a known dress designer) with something that would have some degree of importance to me.  

I'm not a designer name kind of girl when it comes to bags.....but I do like a quality bag and I do have strong attachments to my purses. I won't thrift a purse no matter who the designer is; my purses are too personal to me. While bags this expensive may seem frivolous, if they last and I still love them in three years...I will have done well.

In the meantime...I'm going to be smarting a little bit over paying as much as I did.

I'm just going to allow myself to feel Bad, Bad, Bad for a little while.