Store Appeal

Would You Buy This Prada Transparent PVC Tote?

Prada Transparent PVC Tote, $1036

The number of women who could afford to spend $1000 on a women’s handbag  is a lot less than the number of women who actually buy such things.  For women, not just in the US but around the world, designer handbags are a social currency - an expression of  style, status,  or even desire.  The simplest outfit can be transformed by the right bag.

I am a big designer bag fan, and typically purchase quality quality leather bags that I know will withstand the abuse I will give the bag in its lifetime.   But one trend I have never understood in designer handbags is the purchase of bags made out of cheap or synthetic materials.  Yes, you’re paying for a label, but beyond that you should at least be paying some of that money for a butter soft leather, or an embossed dyed alligator, or something equally premium.

The Prada Transparent PVC Tote, pictured above and avaiable from Bluefly.com  is the opposite of everything I want in a designer bag, and yet I still admire it aesthetically.  However, admiring a see-through bag when it is empty is far different than liking it when its full.  The appeal of the bag’s design would be completely thrown off by the items  inside.  I try to keep my things neat in a purse, but even still I don’t invite people to look inside.  This bag reveals all your secrets – what medicines you’re carrying, what kind of phone you use, and forget about anything like feminine products having a place in there.  Is it a practical handbag? Definitely not.

Plus it’s got no zipper, no pockets, no convenient cell sleeve or key holder.  And it’s made of PVC.  Yet because its Prada it’s over $1,000.  Would you purchase a bag like this?