By Nicholette Marbley
Purses. Who carries them? Who doesn’t? I choose to dig deeper into this topic because so many women have brought to my attention that they see a growing number of ladies not carrying purses. After the 3rd person brought the handbag issue to my attention, I paused and pondered on why that was. I love my collection of handbags. My co-worker has over 70. According to a study done by NPD.com, here’s why.
NPD took a vast amount of sales data from major retailers and confirmed that handbag sales had dropped 20%, and the usage of backpacks has risen 15% in 2020. According to the site , women have shifted their priorities. We are less concerned with fashion and more concerned with wellness and functionally. The media has also played a significant role in handbag sales dropping. You see less public figures carrying bags, and the girls and women in 2020 have different lives from the ladies in the 1920-1950s. Most of us work, play sports, exercise, and have a vast amount of other physical activities we indulge in. Most of us aren’t ”socialites.” We do not have an overabundance of money to spend on designer bags. Most women have shifted their focus on better bras, workout equipment, and organic foods, which makes women lean toward online resale stores and consignment shops. When you see a millennial or younger carry a handbag, they are usually carrying a backpack, card-holder, and wallet, when you spot an older working woman carrying a bag, backpack, or tote.
The luxury market has picked up on this trend and has tried to combat it by using celebrities to promote and design handbags for their company, making fanny packs, backpacks, smaller, more accessible handbags to carry around, and by making handbags more “fun.” Coach has recruited Selena Gomez and Jennifer Lopez to design and promote limited-edition bags, and have seen sales skyrocket. Kate Spade, known for their novelty pieces, has seen sales soar thanks to their novelty bags and up to date backpack and fanny pack designs. Here is what Bruna, Julie, and my co-worker Kelly had to say about handbags.
“I only own one bag. I carry a medium-size neutral color bag. It has a lot of divisions and pockets. Inside my bag, I carry my wallet, makeup, colony card, water, and hairbrush. Because I am a teacher and I am always moving, I need something functional.”
–Bruna C. Brazilian Native
“I love bags. I own 70 and wouldn’t sell any of them. I believe they are a great way to express creativity and style. I use all of them. I have a work tote that I take to work with daily to carry all of my essentials, but I absolutely could not live without my collection of bags.” –Kelly A. My co-worker
“I finally found a purse that’s perfect after all these years of looking. I found that I like the cross-body purses. I don’t have to carry it and it doesn’t hurt my shoulders or arms. The challenge is to find the right purse that’s not too big and not too small. If you have a purse that’s too large you could end up putting too much stuff in it and cause back problems. If you have a purse that is too small, you can’t even put a wallet in it. I got this purse for my birthday. I bought it online, I just don’t remember which site I got it from. But I kind of feel like when it does wear out, I wanna buy it again. It’s that good. I usually only have one purse because I find switching back-and-forth between two is too time consuming. I just keep the normal amount of stuff in my purse; some Kleenex, cough drops and hair ties. You know, things that you might need as you’re out and about. Back in the day, I used to have a lot more in my purse, but I’ve definitely pared things down quite a bit. ”
–Julie D’Aloiso, owner of NordoniaHills.News.
“Here is how I feel about purses; when I worked in retail, I would see women of all ages buying bags of all sizes. Because women in 2020 are more active than ever before, we save purses for special occasions like weddings, birthdays, dinners, girls night out, etc.… Women have more responsibilities, so we will sometimes take the route of buying a bag from a consignment shop to pay the bills, but because us ladies love to look put together, I don’t see the handbag business going away anytime soon.” – Nicholette Marbley
