What’s Really in Your Bag?
I’ve been a longtime viewer of those “what’s in my bag” videos. I’m not just talking about the ones where celebrities pull out tiny hot sauce containers or dump the entire minibar into their enormous duffle bag. I’m talking about the videos with a flat-lay thumbnail, where a young, professional woman voices over a recording of her picking up and demonstrating each item. You never even see her face, just her perfectly manicured nails as she turns over every treasure.
I can’t exactly explain what about these videos interests me so much - having grown up with a low-maintenance mother myself, part of the appeal is truly educational; what am I meant to carry around in my purse? I feel at a loss when it comes to things like this, so I find it helpful to see what other girls see fit to bring along on their day-to-day.
But I think another part of the answer lies in the voyeuristic aspects of the practice. It’s a look into a life and a lifestyle that we are often not granted intimate access to. An it-girl purse is a private space full of the tools necessary to upkeep a certain level of beauty and attractiveness. By taking a look at what is in that purse, we can perhaps get a sense of the products or items we should own and keep on us if we too want to look as effortlessly put-together as her.
On a trip to Tokyo a few years ago, I was struck by the bag culture. I noticed that the minute a woman would sit down on the train, she would dive into her purse, pulling out a makeup product, reading device, magazine. I once saw a young girl effortlessly execute a full face of makeup between three stops on the way to Shinjuku station.
Often women would pull out small pouches from their purses, within which would be another small pouch. I felt that the bag offered a space of order and normalcy amongst the chaos of one of the most densely populated cities in the world.
But when did the private space of the purse become a public spectacle? And why are we so curious to know what’s inside? They used to say, “never look through a woman’s purse.” Now, not only are we virtually rifling through each other’s bags, we’re doing the same for airport security bins, suitcases, bathroom cabinets, bedside tables. What is the fascination with these private spaces, and what is the appeal in sharing them?
In the most basic sense, these spaces can tell the world a lot about us and what we value: our hobbies, interests, products, preferences. However, the lens of observation changes these spaces to become opportunities to tell the world a narrative about who we would like to appear to be: organized, feminine, beautiful, elegant. Or perhaps, artistic, whimsical, creative, quirky. Or simplistic, minimalistic, laid back, “clean girl”. I wonder, as I describe each of those groups of characteristics, does a bag come to mind for you? I bet it does.
And I think an obvious extension of this is the opportunity to monetize this current fixation on “what’s in our bags.” If you think about it, so many categories in the fashion and beauty space can adopt this format. For bag companies like Coach, it’s all about what the bag is, and the contents tell the story of the type of girl who owns it. For makeup companies like Glossier, the brand’s items are in conversation with the other contents of the purse as well as the purse itself to tell the full story of the owner (the type of person to shop Glossier). Even if viewers don’t own that product, they may see themselves in the bag they are contained in or the other items in it, and make the connection that that item would look great in theirs too. Or, better yet, perhaps the viewer aspires to be the type of girl who owns these items or this purse, and believes that to have that product knocking around in the bottom of her Coach Brooklyn purse will bring her one step closer to the person she wants to be, or wants to be perceived to be.
Lately, it feels we’re judging people less on the content of their character than on the content in their possession - as well as how they personally brand these processions on social media. Since when has it been okay to allow items to define so much about ourselves? Is it materialistic, or an assertion of self in an increasingly online world? I think it might be a bit of both. But at the end of the day, the bag and what’s in it should be a tool to facilitate the life you’re leading outside the house. It collects the detritus of that life, and this is where the truly interesting and insightful portraits come to be.
If we’re honest about what’s in our bags, I think the overhead shot would look more like a game of eye-spy than tetris. Carmex rubbing elbows with grocery receipts, a pill case full of crushed Advil, a couple of lighters, your ratty old wallet. It might be messier, less sequitur, less aesthetic. But every good story needs texture, layers and complexity, and the messy purse reflects this poignantly.