Set the scene: Junior year of high school. The school choir, of which I was not a member (#tonedeaf), took a trip to Manhattan. I noted that many a female classmate who took the trip returned with Kate Spade purses when the choir returned. Previously the only previous exposure I had to the designer brand was through the pages of Lucky magazine, as I was living a rather suburban life on the gulf coast of Mississippi. Through the publication I accquainted myself with how expensive the handbags ran. I knew my parents would lose their esh if I spent so much money on one item.
To a friend, I commented my disbelief that we had classmates who were permitted by their parents to spend so much money on a bag. This friend went on the trip and witnessed several of the girls purchasing the bags from a Canal Street vendor. My reaction was similar to that of Carrie Bradshaw when she joined Samantha on a daytime sojourn to the Valley with Samantha in search of fake Fendi paradise. The bags did not look glamourous in the trunk of a clunker; they looked sad. Like Carrie, it blew my mind that anyone would be happy knowing her purse was counterfeit.
I held these purses in such high regard back then. And though my accessories budget has expanded past the price point of the brand, I still hold the brand – which has since expanded categories – in high regard.
Carrie: Ladies, I’m not Tampax central. Put on list, buy tampons.
Sex and the City, Season 3, Episode 8: “The Big Time”
Charlotte: Well, I have them at home, but they won’t fit in my Kate Spade purse.
Miranda : Kate must have a tiny vagina.
Obviously packing two SATC references in one blog post, I also hold Sex and the City in high regard. As the character with arguably the best style, Charlotte referencing the brand is beyond iconic. With that, I am rounding some of my current favorite Kate Spade Sam handbags in both classic and novelty iterations, that I could picture 1998 Charlotte York carrying.
As a bonus, Kate Spade is running a promotion: 30% off purchases over $300 and 25% off purchases over $150 with code: GETGIFTING.
