My black purse. Yes, AGAIN.

I bought a used Marc Jacobs Stella bag on eBay.

This is why you should be glad:

1. It is used, therefore Compact-friendly and 100 percent guilt-free.
2. It is excellent quality leather, and therefore better than my old Target knock-off, which I had loved almost to death (little chunks of the plastic were falling off and revealing its faux-ness to the discerning eye.)
3. Whoever was selling it will be OK, I hope, with the price I paid--$199.
4. I am pretty happy with the price I paid. (The Marc by Marc Jacobs bag I returned was quite a bit more.)
5. By buying a new (used) bag, I did not have to ask any more favors of the friend who already went to a lot of time and trouble to recover my wallet, sunglasses, license, etc., from the Parisian police. Have I mentioned what a swell guy he is?

Now, let's hope I like this bag. Because I feel the need to become interesting again.

I'm not obsessed. No, really.

But it's lucky that I got a letter from the police in Paris, telling me that they have my purse. Because the search for a replacement of my knock-off Marc Jacobs bag is just so ... time consuming. Because I'm finding myself being insanely picky.

(For those of you coming in late, my $25 Target Marc Jacobs knock-off bag was stolen last month in Paris, and I'm feeling bereft. That bag is like a phantom limb. I want another one--badly. I never thought I'd hear from the Paris police, and now that I have, I still don't believe I'll be able to get the Parisian police to mail my purse back to me. So I keep looking for the perfect replacement.)

So. Let's start at the top, shall we? Here's a Tod's version. It's nice, but it's made of patent leather, which I don't like. Also, it does sort of look like it should have a little dog inside it. And, of course, because it's my favorite candidate, it's the most expensive. It costs $1,450, which puts it squarely into "as if!" territory.


Then, a lightweight Prada nylon version. But it's too lightweight, Prada, and nylon. And it's $600 at Saks:


Here's a Coach version. It's ... OK. It's $425, though. And that belt thing ... will that end up pissing me off? I think so.
Click this to see another Coach candidate. OK, it has possibilities. But $658?

Then the Marc by Marc Jacobs one I actually bought. And hate.


Here's a previous season's Marc Jacobs Stella, the bag Target was knocking off in the first place. And it's on sale! I found at various sites on the web at a deeply discounted price. But that topstitching. I don't like topstitching.


OK, let's get back to earth. Nordstrom's has this one. It's patent, and the outside pockets aren't great. But it was the cheapest one so far.

Nordstrom's has this one, too. It's OK. But now I'm all depressed that I found two possibilities at Nordstrom's. Nordstrom's is so middle of the road. It doesn't matter that I bought two of my favorite suits at Nordstrom's. In my pathetic desire to remain somewhat cutting edge, I reject Nordstrom and all its merchandise, except maybe exclusive Bobbi Brown or MAC products.

The search continues.

Update on the non-knock-off Marc Jacobs bag

It's a loser.

The bag is too squashy (hey, I like soft, touchable leather as much as the next girl, but this thing feels like an elephant's foreskin) the strap is too short, the outside pockets are too big, and the lining is too loud. It's black fabric with "MARC JACOBS" in giant white letters.

Oh, and the top does not close with a zipper, but a magnetic clasp, which is a deal-breaker, So the search for a

black
tote bag
with a zipper top
and outside pockets for my cell phone and iPod

continues.

The knock off of a knock off, and other adventures

Hello, internet!

OK, yeah, I signed on to the compact, where I agree not to buy anything for a year. And I have managed pretty well, for a recovering shopoholic. Which leaves me with not much to blog about over here. Hence my lack of posts.

But then my purse was stolen. Containing everything important in my life, except, thank goodness, my cell phone and filofax. So the good news is if you were already a friend of mine and I had your number, I can still call you.

The bad news is that I am now missing the following: a big black tote bag, a combination checkbook/wallet, my prescription sunglasses, various credit cards, cash, my driver's license, and my passport, which I stupidly had with me.

So while my first order of business was to notify banks, credit agencies, and the government about my loss, my second order of business was to stop living with a phantom limb--that bag that I kept reaching for--which wasn't there.

Now the original bag was this:
a $25 dollar cheapie from Target. Except in black. It was a knock-off of a Marc Jacobs design. I liked the outside pockets for my keys and cell phone, and was big enough to carry music folders or hold my laptop. It also zipped shut, so I could stow it under the seat in front of me when I was on an airplane without worrying that my wallet or a crucially important lipstick would fall out and roll away.

The replacement, ironically enough, is this:


a real Marc by Marc Jacobs bag from Neiman Marcus.

Now, why would someone who was cheap enough to buy the fake bag pop for the real thing? Because inexpensive trend-driven stores like Target aren't selling black bags right now. They're selling summery stuff. But I want my black bag back, and I want it right now.

Also, if I buy another cheap bag, I'm letting the thieves win.

So I got the original instead of the faux.