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I had a coach purse once. I also had a Dooney and Bourke. I must admit I bought them at TJ Maxx, but they were the real deal with the proper little accessories that go along with these items. I was under the illusion that owning these items would make me hipper, look smarter and give me some oomph as I charged through life. While I probably could have afforded to buy these items from "legitmate outlets", many of the people I knew and know who cannot afford these bags do buy them from the Coach store. These people would work overtime, juggle their bills and scrimp in order to join the designer handbag club. And then there are the accessories....who wants to whip out an ordinary wallet or a Bic pen from a Coach purse? Won't you need an expensive wallet and a Mont Blanc next?

Somehow the folks who think they must have the newest version of these bags think as I did; they think having these status symbols causes them to appear successful and smart. But how much of this mindset is due to the fact that they feel as though they need external trappings to define themselves? How would they feel if they had a bag from WalMart or the thrift store? Would their self image suffer? If so, what does this say about the depth of their character? Do women really think they need to be defined by spending way too much money on something that they aren't going to keep for any length of time?

The money spent on a large Coach purse could buy a piece of furniture. It could feed a family for a while. It pay for gas for at least a month. It could buy airfare for a great trip.

Coach purses are at least partially made of leather. Leather is expensive and it comes from animals whose existence produces significant amounts of greenhouse gases. These same animals have to be killed in order to obtain this leather. Granted they probably are not killed only for their hide, but still they have to be slaughtered. Five years from now, your expensive coach purse with the gold leather trim will look as dated as a Pinto.

There is a darker side to the designer bag craze. For those who cannot or will not fork out the money for the real thing, there are some pretty good knock offs. Unfortunately in most cases the knock offs are marketed by terrorist organization. How ironic that appealing to women's vanity would fund IED's?

I absolutely do not want to turn this into a political forum, but is appearing to have a designer bag important enough to fund these groups? Do yourself a favor. Think about spending that money on something else. Treat yourself to something that you can use or remember for a long time. YOu'll be glad you did.

Learn more about this author, Aimee Mendel.
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