What the Rise of the Four-Figure Micro Handbag Says About Society
Or, why I haven't bought one yet, but I might
During a recent visit to a Chanel store, I asked to see a $3,000 micro Vanity handbag. It was light pink and pearlized and perfect, except for one thing: It didn’t fit my phone. My sales associate was ready.
“Where is your phone now?” she sweetly asked.
It was in my hand. She smiled with great satisfaction.
She went on to explain that people only think they carry their phones in their handbags. If you really track where your phone is when you’re out and about, it’s in your hand or on the table (face-down if you’re bothering to be polite).
I wasn’t completely convinced (and I didn’t buy the bag), but I did start to pay more attention to where my phone was most of the time, and it seemed that she was right. I started paying attention to where other people’s phones were too and it seemed we were all following a similar pattern.
If we’ve reached a point where our phones are literally in our hands more often than they are in our handbags, I would argue that we’ve crossed into a new relationship with technology. Technically speaking, our phones are not attached to us, but practically speaking, they are. And the more “attached” our phones are to us, the harder it is for any of us to “unattach” from them — even if we would like to.
I realize that the fact that we are attached to our phones is not a revelation; however, the fact that we are so attached to our phones we no longer need our handbags to hold them really struck me as next level.
The next time you head out, drop your phone in your handbag (assuming it fits!) and don’t take it out until you get to wherever you’re going. Then please let me know how many times you catch yourself reaching for it.