Going to Hell in a Handbag

It's the end of the world as we know it. Like a very tardy Chicken Little I have only now discovered the $1790 Balenciaga trash bag. It popped up yesterday on my Facebook feed but has been collecting derision and debris since August 2022.

Perhaps that is even more astounding. This affront to good taste and raspberry to consumerism is still on the Saks Fifth Avenue website as well as others, including Balenciaga's own. In fact a used trash bag costs even more ($1980). Maybe it briefly carried a celebrity's trash. I didn't investigate.

I can be a fashion jokester. My favorite necklace is one I made from a copper elbow joint from the hardware store and a thick piece of cord. I love when it's admired and love even more when I'm asked, "Is that an elbow joint?"

But a trash bag is different. It too closely resembles the homeless I see on the street carrying their worldly belongings. The next thing I think of is a former First Lady's "I really don't care, do you?" jacket. I'll never understand why she was not more pilloried for that, worn to a disaster site no less. 

Unforgettable and unforgivable

This trash bag just isn't funny. Or wry. Or intended to make one think. It's listed as "in limited supply" and comes in black as well. 

Don't even get me started what this does for the legacy of Balenciaga. Cristobal Balenciaga was an elegant, Spanish-born couturier, hailed by Dior as "the master of us all". Even the curmudgeonly Chanel sang his praises. His exquisitely fashioned designs were most prominent in the post-WWII years until he closed the House in 1968. He was not a splashy self-promoter, but it's pretty well acknowledged his work influenced everyone in how women dressed. When Balenciaga died in 1972 the headline in Women's Wear Daily read, "The King is Dead." The brand was revived in 1986, but I think it's fair to say "in name only."

Cristobal + a 1951 Balenciaga

Why this trash bag is still kicking around for real is a mystery. I will commend Saks Fifth Avenue for not removing the 4 and 5-star reviews from their website. They are clever and pithy and will give you a chuckle as you realize it's the end of the world as we know it. I do care; don't you?