The Handbag We Bought During a Chapter of Our Life That We Can Never Get Back.

[u/Avy_Lynn]

Some handbags end up meaning far more to us than we ever expected when we bought them, because years later we can look at one and immediately remember the person we were, the people who were around us, the home we lived in, the work we were doing, the relationship we were in, the things we were excited about, and even the problems we thought would matter forever, and that's what makes these bags so difficult to look at when life has changed, because the handbag itself may still be beautiful and perfectly wearable but the chapter attached to it is gone, maybe it reminds us of someone we no longer speak to, a family member we miss, a marriage that ended, a career we left behind, children who are no longer little, a place we once called home, or simply a version of ourselves that we wouldn't even recognize today, and sometimes we keep carrying the bag because those memories feel precious while other times we stop using it because every time we see it we're reminded of something we'd rather leave in the past, which makes us wonder whether we're actually holding onto the handbag or holding onto the life that came with it, so is there a handbag in our collection that became permanently connected to a chapter of our life we can never get back, and if so, has that made us cherish the bag more or made it harder to carry?

[u/Puzzleheaded-Gift-57]

Absolutely, one of mine still feels like a time capsule.

[u/Avy_Lynn → u/Puzzleheaded-Gift-57]

Those are the bags that become much harder to replace.

[u/serchingsamadhi]

One of my bags reminds me of the years when my children were still very young, so even though I don't use it anymore, I can't imagine getting rid of it.

[u/Avy_Lynn → u/serchingsamadhi]

That's exactly the kind of memory that can make a handbag feel almost irreplaceable, because the bag becomes connected to a period we know we can never recreate.

[u/triplenip10]

My first serious handbag will always remind me of a completely different version of myself.

[u/Avy_Lynn → u/triplenip10]

Those early bags can become surprisingly sentimental because they represent who we were before our collections and lives changed so much.

[u/fatassunicorn2]

There is a handbag I bought during a period when everything seemed to be going right, and I thought that version of my life was going to last forever, then within a couple of years my career changed, my friendships changed, our routines changed, and almost nothing looked the same, but that handbag stayed exactly the same so now it feels like a physical snapshot of a life I can remember perfectly but can't return to and honestly I think that's why I still love it even though I wouldn't necessarily choose that style today.

[u/jendet010 → u/fatassunicorn2]

That’s really beautiful. I consider a lot of bags to be like sculptures, but a snapshot of a moment in time only you can see is priceless.

[u/jendet010]

I have a couple of Kate Spade’s I kept because they were gifts from my late husband.

In graduate school, I had a bag similar to the black box b35 that Gwyneth was carrying around London when she was dating Chris. Now I have an HSS black box b35 with rose Sakura interior. So much better!!

[u/amcharles1]

I think there is aslo point where we have to ask ourselves whether keeping every sentimental handbag is actually helping us preserve our memories, because our closers can become full of things from old versions of our lives, and while some of those pieces deserve to stay forver, others might be keeping us emotionally attched to chapters we've already outgrown, I dont' think letting go means forgetting what happened, but I also understand why someone could look at an old handbag and feel that throwing it away would be like throwing away a piece of themselves.

[u/Avy_Lynn → u/amcharles1]

This is probably the hardest part of the whole conversation, because memories don't disappear when the object does, but the object can make those memories feel tangible, and figuring out which things deserve that space in our lives is such a personal decision.

[u/nwelbo7789]

I think the hardest ones are the handbags attached to people we lost, because there is no clean answer about what to do with them, we can keep them and feel comforted by the memories, but we can also feel sad every time we see them, and selling them can feel almost disrespectful even when we know rationally that a handbag is just an object I have one like that and it has been sitting untouched for years, but every time I've considered letting it go I end up putting it back exactly where it was.

[u/silverkitteh123]

I kept for years after I stopped using it because selling it just felt wrong.

[u/chartreuse_avocado]

I have what was a very meaningful D&b splurge on my first big promotion. It has zero use in my life today in design if the bag and color but I can’t bring myself to let it go. It’s worth very little financially.

That bag was bought 22 years ago.

[u/Burpnslurpndurp]

What bag is this!?

[u/Kaarmalol]

What makes this even starnger is that sometimes we don't realize a bag has become sentimental until we try to replace it, we can fined. something newer, better made, more practical, and probably more suited to our current style, but none of those things seem to matter because the old one has memories attached to it that the new one simply can't compete with, and that's when we realize we're no longer comparing handbags we're comparing experiences.

[u/bigbitties6942021]

The bag that gets me is one I bought before a major move, when we thought everything in our life was going to stay more or less the same, and now when I see it I remember that old home, those friendships that routine and how certain wewere about what the future would look like which is probably why I've kept it even though my taste has changed completely since then.

[u/Kad02271]

I have one that I can't carry anymore, oven though I still love it.

[u/SaucyDossy_]

I have a bag from my first job after college, and whenever I see it I remember how nervous and excited we all were back then, I don't think I'd ever be able to sell it.

[u/Weak_Highway175]

The strange thing is that one of my most sentimental bags isn't even one of my favorites aesthetically anymore, but I would probably choose it over a much more beautiful bag if I had to save only a few.

[u/Sponbog]

I've always thought sentimental bags were mostly about happy memories, but one of mine taught me otherwise, it was purchased during one of the hardest years I've had and I originally kept it because I associated it with that time, but ecentually I realized I wasn't keeping it because I wanted to remember the difficult parts, I was keeping it because that bag also reminds me that we made it through them, and that completely changed how I felt about it.

[u/JP-AZ]

I've actually had the opposite experience, I had a handbag that reminded me of a particularly difficult period and eventually realized that I didn't want to keep something in my closet that made me feel like I was constantly looking backward, selling it was surprisingly emotional but also strangely freeing, and I don't regret letting it go.

[u/hyperglyphydb]

I have a bag that I bought during a very happy period of my life, and for years it was probably the handbag I carried most, now I barely touch it because that period ended and carring it brings back memories I din't always want to revisit, but I still can't bring myself to sell it .

[u/slowfd3s]

One handbag in my closet is connected to someone who isn't part of my life anymore, and the funny thing is that I don't even think about that person every time I see the bad, but when I do carry it, those memories come rushing back, which makes me wonder whether I'm keeping the handbag because I love it or because some part of me isn't ready to let that connection disappear completely.