Requiem for a Beloved Purse

Years ago, I found a shoulder bag which I really, really liked! Of all the bags that I've owned my life, none have made me happier than this one! The brand name on it is BUENO®. The leather is so soft, the color is absolutely beautiful, it is roomy, it easily expands to hold lots of stuff on the days I needed such, and can be worn over-the-shoulder or cross-body when loading groceries in the car or I want to be more hands-free.

I have been very careful with this bag during the few years I had it, handling it gently, not tossing it around, and so forth. But, no one seems to be making things to last a long time any more, as was once the case. Unknown to me, there was only a thin layer of leather "veneer" over the top of the fabric skeleton of the bag, and it began to crack and flake-off not long ago. I kept carrying it, though, but it's getting worse and looking very bad in a few places. So, it was time to replace it... 😥

I went into three different stores and looked at other purses until I found one I liked. I really wanted one in the same style — called a "hobo" bag, by some manufacturers — but could not find one quite like this one. However, I found a differently-styled bag in almost the same color! 😍 I took that as a "sign" tha maybe this should be my new bag. They had another one in a beautiful, delicate PINK! It wasn't real leather, though, but rather a synthetic material which slipped off-the-shoulder with the slightest movement when I tried it in the store. This one is slightly smaller, seems to be of genuine leather (? it's hard to tell these days 😕) and should suffice for my needs most of the time. It is made by B.Ø.C®, a company about whom I know nothing, but hope the bag is decent quality.

The middle letter in the company's acronym is Ø, and is "pronounced as [œ], like the "œu" in the French word bœuf." ^[source] Ø is a letter in the Norwegian language, as well as the Danish language and a couple of other Scandinavian languages as well. So, I wonder if B.Ø.C might be a Norwegian or Danish company? No company history was available on their website. Is anyone familiar with B.Ø.C...?

I got this bag at a store called SHOE DEPT®, a chain-store that sells shoes and bags. Their regular price on this bag was USD $29.99, but it was on sale for only $19.97! I thought it was an excellent price!

After paying for the bag and leaving the store, I decided to take a detour to the store (GOODY's) where I bought the original bag I loved so much and see what they had to offer. They had nothing like my original bag, but they had the exact same bag I just bought — their price on it, however was USD $76.00, with a 30%-off sale, making the final price $53.20 😱 So, I got the bag for only 38% of the price the more-expensive store was selling it for, and it was the exact same bag, the same brand, and the same color! I was so thrilled that I found it so cheaply! My final price was $21.17 after the 6% sales tax for this state was added.

The strangest thing about this new purse is a hard, rectangular object slipped into a pouch sewn-into the lining of the bag. Turns out, it is a power-bank for charging a cell phone. I don't know if I would use it or not. For one thing, my cellphone is too large to fit into the pocket beside the power-bank. Also, I don't go out often so it would probably not keep a charge in-between outings... I might play with it and see how it goes. If nothing else, I could charge it only occasionally, for an especially long outing of some sort.

Now, I just need to transfer a few essentials from my old purse to this new one, and see if it all fits... 🤞 There are some things that I've had in there which probably don't really need to be transferred, so it is a good time to clean-out and pare-down.

And yes, for those wondering... buying a new bag is, indeed, a big deal for some of us and worthy of a post to celebrate. I'm not a "Mall Rat" who hangs out every weekend at the local Mall buying stuff. In fact, it has been several months, maybe a year, since I shopped for something personal like this. I no longer wander into shops, aimlessly, with nothing on my shopping list, so going to a store today (other than the usual grocery store, etc.) for a new bag was a big deal for me. Also, with the anxiety I experience in crowds, this was quite an event, going out today. So, yeah... celebrating with a post... 🎉