Wearing Your Personality on Your Handbag
The New York Times
Bag charms — or key chains by another name — have begun to rival holiday ornaments in their variety and as a form of self-expression.
It’s easy enough to picture a blue button-up shirt, a pleated mini skirt and ballet flats on a person. Now imagine the outfit on a bag.
That ensemble is one of the many ways people can dress up a handbag with bag charms, items used to accessorize another accessory. As they have proliferated, charms have started to rival holiday ornaments in their variety and availability.
The dangly products are sold at a range of retailers, including mall chains like Claire’s and luxury department stores like Bergdorf Goodman. They take the forms of fruits, vegetables, animals, robots, shopping bags — even handbags. For example: Louis Vuitton’s Speedy Monogram charm, a 2.4-inch-wide version of the brand’s popular Speedy bag. At $815, it is one of many charms that cost more than some handbags themselves.
Others include Miu Miu’s leather charms resembling a shirt, a micro-mini skirt and ballet flats (all $625 each), as well as the label’s cord-and-nylon charm ($440), which, as noted in several TikTok videos, evokes a lanyard made at summer camp. The luxury brand Loewe also sells charms like a fluffy felt corgi ($550), a leather pea pod containing resin peas ($490) and a bundle of asparagus made with beaded felt ($790).
