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More thoughts on Chic Not Shouty bags

— by Alyson Walsh

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Photo: Zimbio

I did get excited about a designer handbag once. It was six years ago, when I met Jane Birkin. This was at Vogue Fashion’s Night Out, where we chatted for 15-minutes – and she didn’t call security. We talked mainly about her work as a campaigner on social issues and Aung San Suu Kyi, who was still under house arrest at the time. One of the highlights of the encounter was when Birkin reached under the table and pulled out this little number:

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That IS My Photo

The Real Jane Birkin Bag. Just look at the casual way it’s accessorized with beads, stickers and what- not. I had to take a photo. Birkin herself definitely falls into the Chic Not Shouty category and has used accessories to conceal and quieten down the eponymous bag. The most expensive bag in the world is a Hérmes Birkin bag and therefore I would say ownership of one is giving the world a loud, loadsamoney message (Victoria Beckham’s collection of Birkin bags is worth over 1.5m million). Having said that, a study reported in the Telegraph says that over the past 35 years Birkin bags have ‘performed better than the American stock market and the price of gold.’ And the way the pound is heading right now, I’ll need a bag the size of a Birkin to carry my money in when I pop to the shops for a pint of milk and some teabags..

Thanks for all your feedback on the previous Chic Not Shouty bags post, I’m trying to figure out if there’s a nifty way to include something in Book Number Two. And also for bringing Agnes Badoo’s gorgeous bags to my attention (apparently Jenny Howorth was carrying one). I’ve noticed that Me + Em’s chic leather saddle bag (available HERE) comes in under the APC version and that Toast has a couple of lovely leather saddle bags and totes. Here are some Chic Not Shouty non-Birkin bags (no waiting list required):

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I did get excited about a designer handbag once. It was six years ago, when I met Jane Birkin.