My Longchamp bags collection

Since Designer Ella asked to see them, I’ll show off my bags just this once.

If you’ve been reading for a while, you’ll know that I’m obsessed with Longchamp bags. They’re one of my few splurges, and I make a whole bunch of budget trade-offs to afford them. I’m a tightwad about things that are no fun so I can buy things that are — life’s too short not to have some luxuries.

But enough talk, on to the bags!

Firstly, this is the whole collection - a whopping three bags. I am on a budget after all!

My first Longchamp bag was the one below. I a finalist for an industry award and had to look nice for the ceremony just in case. Instead of spending my budget on a dress I’d wear once, I bought this bag (AU$225) and some nice heels to dress up something I already owned.

I didn’t get the award but I’ve still got the bag!

My second Longchamp bag was a great sale find. I’d been using the one above every day for a year and it’s fantastic. It’s great for both day and evening, and the perfect size for a wallet, phone, PDA, makeup and keys.

The only downside is that A4 papers only fit in it if they’re folded. I spent a year carrying a daggy plastic file envelope in my hand all day when I needed to take papers with me. The obvious solution was to buy a cheap disposable tote, but with my newly-developed taste for Longchamp, no cheapie was worthy of my arm.

Then I found the one below, reduced from AU$500 to AU$200. Due to all my other budget finds, I had the money to grab it on the spot. Fantastic!

Finally, less than a month after I bought bag #2, Mr Bargain Queen decided to buy me a super-nice Christmas present. He took me to a duty-free store in Noumea which has a WHOLE WALL of Longchamp bags and said I could choose anything I wanted. In a mere hour — surely a record for a Libran — I picked the one below. I’ve carried it practically every day since. It was about AU$500 duty free, which was able to come from Mr BQ’s clothes budget because I’ve saved him a lot on his jackets, suits, shirts etc. by finding them in the outlets.

This is the only one of my bags that I know the name of: it’s a Longchamp 4×4 in chocolate.

The photo doesn’t really do it justice — the leather is gorgeously soft, not plastic-y like it looks here. (

For that matter, all the photos are a bit crappy. Sorry about that!)

So yes, I’m human, I have vices and I REALLY like Longchamp bags. If you want more Longchamp porn, they have a fantastic web site with pics of their whole range. Yummo!

Or if bags aren’t your thing, no problem. Everyone has different priorities and as long as your spending reflects yours, you’re doing great.