How to: A Handbag for a Hedonist
Is your handbag too functional? Revamp your psyche by refashioning your handbag- like a hedonist
Handbags and Hedonism collide with Kate Moss and a Balenciaga City Bag
We can all aspire to be a little more of a hedonist. By definition, a hedonist is a person who is devoted to the sole pursuit of pleasure.
Think, turmoil done glamorously- uncurbed partying, P.D.A., lying languid in the beating sun, archive Anna Sui and tender steak.
There is an evident correlation between It bags and indulgence. The question arises: Are handbags just a product of material hedonism? Or are we able to become hedonists with our handbags? Psychologist Marika Tiggemann held the view that fashion retained the ability to incite a hedonic wellbeing.
It is said that one’s handbag and its innings reflect our mindset. Revamp your psyche by refashioning your handbag- like a hedonist
The Hobo Bag
A life this bountiful can’t be contained in just any handbag. The handbag ought to be bulky, and able to alter it’s purpose for a dinner party, as an under-the-seat bag on a budget airline or an unexpected overnight stay and possess a resilience to being chucked around in the turbulence of a hedonist lifestyle.
My current favourite bag of choice is the Hobo bag which I mentioned in my article ‘How to Stray from Y2K’, as Hobo Bags epitomise a slice of Boho Chic. The Hobo or a certain type of Tote is slouchy, plump and factors in all of the above.
Mid-2000s Boho Chic style symbol Mary-Kate Olsen and her Hobo Bag of choice- a beat-up leather Birkin Bag
Mary-Kate Olsen and her leather Hermes Birkin Kelly Bag, styled as a staunch hedonist en route home from a one night stand with hair in a dishevelled braid and a hefty coffee in hand. As apparent on Olsen, the larger silhouette of the Hobo style connotes a crammed and unprompted yet dazzling lifestyle with the bag equipped for it, instead of sporting a measly-sized mini bag. Think, the Chloé Paddington Bag, the Mulberry Alexa Bag and the Dior Gaucho Saddle Bag.
Miu Miu Vitello Bag
Balenciaga Neo Cagole City Bag
The Baguette Bag
In contrast to the Hobo- The Baguette- A small, streamlined bag with a short strap launched by Fendi in 1997 and popularised due to the bag’s placement in Sex and the City.
On the contrary to my earlier remark that the plumper Hobo is the ultimate hedonist it bag- the baguette alludes a Trust Fund Baby-esque unemployment à la Paris Hilton. Hilton, whom once lulled in her kittenish voice on The Simple Life (2003), “I’ve never had a job”, represents the Hedonist’s use of a baguette bag in a single quotation.
For one who doesn’t require a larger bag to fit the tupperware of a packed lunch, the baguette can contain all the essentials: a zippo lighter, lip liner and a thick wallet . Breezily perched on the shoulder, the baguette displays the sleekness and slackness of a partying hedonist.
y2K Hedonist Paris Hilton and a Fendi Baguette
No one can quite exemplify hedonism like Paris Hilton on the cusp of the millennium. With a quick google search, ‘Hiltonism’ and ‘Hedonism’ combine in numerous tabloid headlines since the release of Vanity Fair’s ‘Hip-Hop Debs.’ Hilton sparked the bubblegum pink frenzy of 2000s shopping and cocaine scandals with a Louis Vuitton x Takashi Murakami 2004 baguette to match.
Fendi Baguette Bag
Gucci 1995 Horsebit Bag
The Barrel Bag
The Barrel Bag resembles it’s baguette counterpart in purpose, albeit it’s cylindrical shape. The Barrel Bag originated in 1943 when a cylinder-shaped bag replaced the potato-style barrack bag in the Second World War. Alike the Baguette, the Barrel Bag is petite and exudes a similar carelessness about functionality. The Barrel Bag is often-time overlooked and is mostly absent from Fall/Winter 2023 collections apart from notably a MM6 Maison Margiela feature of a cylinder handbag. The most famous version of the Barrel Bag was the LV Papillon Bag which was discontinued in 2009.
Bella Hadid LV Papillon Bag
A Hedonist isn’t landmarked as a partier alone- the pursuit of pleasure can be achieved with a long run and fresh passion fruit and early mornings. Bella Hadid represents this well in the above image with her L.V. Papillon Barrel Bag post-workout and sharp cheekbones. Crucially, hedonism is kickstarted in the pursuit of pleasure for one’s self.
Miu Miu Brown Leather Barrel Bag
MCM Black Leather Barrel Bag
