Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Purse Set #1

I've been wanting to purge my purse stash for a while. I've put it off and put it off and so now I am doing it. I am getting ready to have a garage sale and this is the perfect time to get rid of them. The only problem is that a lot of my purses have a story behind them and when I look at them they bring back memories.

Like this pink purse. I was visiting New York City for the second time with my now-husband Jere and had bought a "Prada" purse. The "Prada" is in quotes because it wasn't really Prada...It was a knock off. And also the most I have ever spent on a purse - $30! I think I even haggled the street salesman down to $30 from $40...




It's a fake "Prada" bag and very glorious in bright pink and alligator skin or is it snake skin?? Anyways, it's fake. In the upper center on one side used to be a little emblem that said "Prada", but since it's a fake the emblem fell off...

I don't know what my deal was, but I was bent on finding a "Prada" wallet to match my hot pink, alligator skin looking, huge "Prada" purse. We looked for a wallet to match my purse the whole trip and never found anything. So the last day, only a couple hours before we were supposed to leave, we went back to China Town. I was sure that I had seen a hot pink "Prada" wallet on a table that we had passed but hadn't had time to stop a few nights before. We wandered around looking for this elusive wallet that I HAD to have and never found it. What we did find was a little shop with a little oriental woman sitting in a chair. I looked at the wallets but didn't see what I was looking for. The little lady came over and spoke broken english asking us what we were looking for. "Ca I hep you fi anthin?" she said with a sharp accent. "Oh I am just looking for a pink wallet...preferably Prada" I said. I hadn't seen anything with a brand on it yet. She said "Pick a walle an I mak fo ou". I was a little bewildered as she pulled a handful of brand tags out of her pocket. They were mostly triangle shaped with different names like Guess, Prada, Boss etc. I was amazed. This would have to do. We were going to be late to the airport and I NEEDED a matching wallet!! So I picked a black wallet, figuring it would go with whatever purse I had. I watched as she cut two slits in the center of the outside flap and proceeded to slide the prongs for the nametag into the slots and secure it. WOW, I had my "Prada" wallet. I gave her a $50 bill for it and she pulled out a wad of cash bigger than my two fists combined to give me $40 in change.






The piece below is the insert to this wallet. I ended up using it more than I used the wallet itself with the precious "Prada" emblem. The zipper on my fake wallet broke and looked really ghetto, so I stopped using it and continued to use the insert for my cards, checkbook and cash.



SUCH a sad story, right? I loved walking around New York City, and buying these things...But it's time to let them go!

2 comments:

Ruth said...

Wow, that is impressive that you haven't spent over $30 for a purse. I wish I could say that!

bandanachick said...

Oh, and thanks for the info on the star. I went and bought one at Lowes and then found two smaller ones at Joannes. I am putting them inside though...even though I think the big one was made to go outside.