Purse shopping in Hawaii

I was thinking about purses today (mainly how I should clean mine out of all that extra crap that's in them) and decided I should share an interesting story with you.

This story takes place in Honolulu, Hawaii. Chris and I were there about a year and a half ago for our honeymoon. I wasn't planning on doing all that much shopping, but figured I could treat myself to a pair of nice shoes. Now, Honolulu is a paradise not just from weather/scenery perspective, but if you're into shopping, you're in for a treat. There's luxury brands everywhere. Seriously, they are everywhere.

So, after walking around a bit, I realized that instead of a pair of shoes I should actually invest in a purse. It's something I have with me every time I leave the house and I carry a lot of stuff with me. I should just invest in a good, sturdy leather purse that will last me a long time. So, that's what I decide on and start keeping an eye out for a good one.

I decided that the purse should be tan or brown, medium sized and leather. (Yeah, that only restricts to selection to 15,000 or so). I am a huge fan of vintage, and I plan on using this purse for a long time, so I wanted a classic shape, perhaps with some old time-y flair to it. I walk around (We actually only used one day for shopping, this is to clarify before you think I spent the entire honeymoon in shops) and look for this purse. I find a few I like, but still want to walk around and compare what's out there. While I do this, I see an ad for Ralph Lauren. In this ad (which I couldn't find online) there's a woman with a purse in her hand. It looked really funky and I realized that I didn't even think to go into Ralph Lauren, I had no idea he makes purses that are that nice. So, why not drop by and see what they have?

I go in and walk around, I saw a few nice purses, but nothing that I really loved. And then, I see the same purse from the ad! Well, I wasn't actually thinking they'd have that exact one, but since it's here, let me try it out. It's this one:

It's called "Ricky", Photo from Ralph Lauren

Now, the alarm should have gone off in my head, when I see the purse is in a glass cabinet. However, no alarms go off. The lady working in the shop asks if I want to try it out. I say yes and she opens the case with a key (still no alarms). I'm carrying it around, checking out the size, rummaging through it and kinda like it. So, I ask (all casually) how much it is. And I receive the answer...

$17,000 USD

I look at the purse and laugh. I tell the lady that I am on my honeymoon and I did plan on splurging, but not like this. I give the purse back and leave.

No moral to this story. Just thought I'd share.