It's Not How You Feel...

My Coach bag.

When I worked at home, I wore fleece — every day. If it was a hot day, I would wear shorts and a T-shirt. I have a whole closet full of cotton T-shirts, fleece pants, and comfy pajama bottoms. I no longer wear any of these. After my first week of work in the "real world," I quickly realized that I would need an entire closet full of new clothes. The three pairs of nice pants and handful of corporate-type tops I had for the occasional work event that required "grown-up" clothes were not going to get me through even the first month of my new job. I needed to go shopping.

After spending more than a few hundred dollars on new work clothes, I felt I was good for a while. I supplemented these new items with two new nice coats (I only had sweatshirts and casual jackets) and a few pairs of shoes. I was set. During about my third week of commuting, a woman sat across from me on the train who was really put together. Her hair and clothes and shoes were all polished and flattering. I tried not to stare too much, but I wanted to take it all in to see if this was something that I could imitate. It was then that I noticed her bag. It was beautiful. Big, shiny, black, modern. The inside was this beautiful burgundy. I coveted her bag. Upon closer inspection, I realized why: It was Coach.

Great, I thought, no way I can afford that. I looked dismally at my functional canvas briefcase. Sigh... When I got home that night, I immediately went online to find out how much such a bag would put me out. For a large bag, the cost was around $400. Yikes. I put aside any hopes of being in the chic commuter crowd.

Months later, while shopping with my sister at an outlet mall, I noticed that there was a sale going on at the Coach outlet. When I walked in, I found out that they were handing out coupons for an additional 30 percent off. Wow, I thought, this could really be in my grasp. I walked to the back of the store where all good bargain shoppers know the real sales are. In the back corner was a shelf with bags that were 50 percent off, in addition to the coupon I had. After rummaging through tacky yellow bags or ones with too many logos, I found it — the large black leather bag of my dreams. There was only one left, and I grabbed it immediately. Even though the bag was on sale and I had a coupon, this still wouldn't be a $40 purchase. I had to be emotionally ready to put down a good chunk of change for what amounted to a glorified purse. I am not the type to do this sort of thing. I don't think I'd ever even spent more than $20 on a purse before. But, since I was now a commuter with a job downtown, I needed to look the part.

After years of wearing fleece all day and not even carrying a purse, I wanted to make the full transition into being a real "working woman." I wanted a Coach bag. So, I bought the bag and have not had one ounce of buyer's remorse. I carry it every day on the train and can feel good about how I look and the image I present. This may seem petty or vain, but it's part of what helps me get through the day. I am woman, see my bag.