Grooming Bag

  Like many of my current love affairs, they find their roots on Instagram. With cool people taking pictures with other cool people in effort to make other cool people jealous (#FOMO ?), there is always bound to be a serial search unto the lives connected by this endless network. Naturally, as these networks unfold and my perusal grows deeper, so does the exposure to more and new consumer goods (see: handbags, shoes, leather jackets).
   About a week ago upon scrolling down the homepage of Instagram, I came across this photo taken at the hip downtown spot, The Butcher's Daughter.

from @intothegloss on Instagram

 

Cool bag, I thought. Really cool bag. But, what was it about this bag that made me want it more than any bag before? Truth be told, I've never been one to obsess over handbags. Rather, if it is small enough to not be a menace yet large enough to carry my things, then I'm on board. But back to the point, this bag was inscribed with branding, no less, making it an extra peculiar choice. Yet, the little round, canvas bag with the pretentious label was yelling at me.

 

  A few hours later the owner of the bag - stylist extraordinaire, Stevie Dance - posted a photo of herself in the most perfect summer outfit with the bag in the foreground. For one, her outfit resembled that of a 1970s Birkin, MacGraw, ever complimenting the bag in her simple red shirt and denim cutoffs -- not to mention the gold chains. And the bag held things! Water bottle - check. Sweater for when it gets cold - check.

 

from @stevie_dance on Instagram

 

    I began frantically searching the web with the words I had seen on the bag, finding  surprisingly few results that proved semblance. But finally, I came across the bag on the Hermes site. It was a mere $1,575 which seemed like a nominal fee compared to the lifelong saving and waiting for their more famous bag, The Birkin.  But as I perused the page a while longer, I realized it was under the 'Equestrian' section, and further under the 'Grooming Bag' section. What, now, was a grooming bag? It was hard to imagine that this bag -- in its native state of use -- would be created primarily to hold the likes of smelly, hairy horse combs or sheers. But then again in this backward world, racing horses often find themselves in much more luxurious situations than most of earth's citizens.

      This all stirred a pot that Leandra had previously stirred. Did I have a case of Blinded By The Brand? If I had seen this little canvas bag at a boutique for $50 with, say, just Sellier (French for Saddler) on the front, would I purchase? I'll answer my own question, one-hundred percent not. I came to the conclusion that there was something magnifying about the simplicity that this little Hermès, especially with the brand's storied history. And, of course, the fact that some of my idols, Stevie Dance and Emily Weiss, were approving the bag only amplified the love.  After seeing the photograph - or rather, 'Gram - of Ms. Dance with the bag in her 70s-esque get-up, I started to envision the aforementioned style muses actually carrying around the canvas horse bag.

   Bottom line, though, is that Instagram has made me fall in love with something almost at the same speed it takes to upload a picture, which is to say instantly. So while the bag won't become mine due to the price tag anytime soon, as long as horses keep getting knots on their tails and owners are willing to keep their brushes in this piece of Hermès, then I suppose I can find it somewhere down the road. For now, envisioning Jane Birkin give her basket a rest for this little guy is a really, really nice thought.