I'M NOT A COPY CAT....

I was so pissed to read Ruth La Ferla's piece on the must have bag:GOYARD. I have been having a love /hate relationship with it for about 2 years now ever since it exploded onto the Status Slag Bag charts. I looked at them sideways, over my shoulder, askance and downward . All along trying to figure out their appeal. The colors are wanting and the logo / print motif is less than original, but there is a little something that captures the imagination. They got me with"the leather strap"
Yes it was the strap that won me over. Skinny like a super models gams and stitched artfully to the bag with an absolute minimum of fuss. Now I'm not saying it's great or a GOTTAGET, just that it's a wee bit on the charming side.
I started asking women and the regrettably misguided occasional man why they liked, had or bought one. 9 out of 7 people all said that they were gifts. They seemed to feel a little queer wearing a status bag with an increasingly recognizable logo, but what the hell. A few admitted to buying them because they were so practical. You tell me what's practical about an unappealing printed plastic tote( with a fab handle) for a $1000. That is a classic case of denial . The men were even more disingenuous. They ALL claimed their little totes, so sissy, or attaches, so FAY, were gifts. They all looked sheepish while explaining away that overpriced little catch-all.
I felt I had to get to the bottom of this conumdrum. So I became more aggressive with my questioning, and started to get answers.....consistently the same answer. Why so much $ for such a bag? and where did they get it? Guess what the new test group said? They ALL bought the PLACEBO! I'd say 8 out of 10 I stopped said they bought them on Madison Ave, but not at Barneys or Bergdorf's .Instead, on the corner from a charming salesperson, who actually could adjust his retail prices. I was flummoxed. I laughed out loud along with the test subjects. We both agreed counterfeit goods are wrong, but a fab deal on a euro bloated product is just too hard to pass up.
After all , our new mantra is 'YES WE CAN".