Designer Handbags: Do You Prefer Limited Editions or Classics?

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Here's a little question for the designer handbag lovers (and the designer handbag curious, ha): Do you prefer limited edition handbags or classics? What do you think the pros and cons are of each?

(Yes, yes, in part this is inspired by this afternoon's Coffee Break, which is ah-ma-zing.)

I remember being in my 20s and being blown away when a friend — who I thought was a reasonably sane person — dropped serious money on a Murakami x Vuitton bag. I just remember being so confused at the time because it felt like that was the kind of bag you only bought after owning a whole slew of classic, been-around-for-years Vuitton bags.

{related/classic Corporette: the intern with the $9000 handbag}

Cut to me a few years later when I bought a black leather epi Alma bag — super classic… but boring. (It's still available at all the Vuitton stores and online.)

I still love my Alma bag — and she still loves her Murakami bag — but they fit us in different ways. The Alma bag was kind of who I thought I should be; who I was trying to grow into, whereas the Murakami bag encapsulated a lot of the joie de vivre I generally associate with my friend — it's quirky and insouciant and a bit witty. As we've gotten older, I may “fit” the Alma bag better than I did in my 20s, but it doesn't really say anything to me other than remind me of who I thought I should be or would be. Let's put it this way: I wore it to a funeral last year and felt Very Proper.

On the flip side, when my friend looks at her bag, I hope it encapsulates that joyful, figure-it-out attitude that yes, you need in your 20s, but frankly serves you well your entire life.

So I'm curious: If you've bought limited edition designer bags, which ones have you bought — and why? Were you a huge fan of the collaborator? Did something about the LE bag speak to you in a way that the other bags did not? Do you feel like the resale market is better for a limited edition bag? (Also, where are your preferred places to buy such bags?)

Pictured at top: I don't recall the exact bag my friend got, but What Goes Around Comes Around has a ton of bags from the Murakami/Vuitton collab — this one is available for $8,650.

More Corporette Discussions About Designer Bags:

• The Best Luxury Work Bags (2023 roundup!)
• Dressing Better Than Your Boss, Designer Bag Edition
• How to Upgrade Your Handbag Collection (due for an update!)
• Designer Bags, Purses and Budgets