Dear Hauties,
I have a really annoying habit of avoiding purchases I know I need to make because they aren’t “fun” shopping experiences. Because we live in a consumer-driven society, this is something I’ve always struggled with.
When I read a post on the overlap between brand personality and the individual consumer’s identity on
, I really started thinking about why it is that I have such a hard time pulling the trigger on “no-fun” purchases. As writes:From the business perspective, creating the type of brand identity that people use as a puzzle piece to express their own, or even better, absorb head to toe, sounds like a dream. Forget using a face wash that prevents breakouts, get the one that also lets everyone know you are cool, confident, and have your life together when you post it on IG.
For me, purchasing these things I clearly need have been pushed off for so long because (a) I only want what I can’t afford, or (b) I can’t find any items I like enough to purchase. As Vasileva notes, “people largely express who they are by tagging the brands they choose to wear, eat, and wash their face with.”
This is obviously all happening on a subconscious level, but regardless I think it’s something that I needed to address. To do that, I’ve done my absolute best to dig out some of the best options the internet has to offer for some of the items I have been postponing buying for so long. In this case, that involves laptop sleeves, travel sized hair brushes, and weekend bags, which is the curation I have prepared for you today:
Laptop sleeves
My seven year old MacBook Air is about to check out. As I’ve been looking into getting myself a new one, I figured it would be a good idea to get a laptop sleeve as well. I haven’t owned a laptop sleeve since I was 15 because I think most of them are ugly. But, I always cringe whenever I go through TSA, place my precious baby in the plastic tray, and it just lays there, bouncing up and down, as the conveyer belt rolls it away. To protect my laptop from the bumpy ride, I figured now was the time to get a laptop sleeve (So that I have something to place it on top of, hehe). The laptop sleeves above are from my saved folder and they are the only ones I thought were somewhat reasonably priced.
Hair brushes
I still use the giant rowing paddle of a hair brush from the Body Shop that I got in high school. Because of the size of this monster, I’ve recognized that I need something a little more compact for my travels. As it turns out, hair brushes are really expensive even if you opt for the travel size(???). So, I’m just going to get a regular hair brush and leave it in New York for whenever I fly out. The Officine and Aerin brushes linked above are travel sized in case that’s something you’re in the market for!
Weekend bags
A weekend bag has been very high on my to-purchase-list for years now. If I’m being completely honest, the only weekend bag I want is a Louis Vuitton Keepall duffel bag. BUT, for the sake of this issue of the newsletter, I started brainstorming alternative ideas for a great weekend bag and I found a few vintage Ralph Lauren tartan bags on eBay that I really, really like. I’m so down for anything that reminds me of being a kid in the ‘90s and tartan duffel bags just give off that 1994-trip-to-the-lake-house-vibe.
If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading. I hope you found these shopping suggestions somewhat useful. On another note, if you have any shopping related queries that you have been postponing for the reasons mentioned in the first part of this issue, I would be happy to help you with shopping suggestions! Let me know <3
Talk soon,
Emma xx
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love this!! when I wrote my letter, I had to cut the part where I spent 3 months torturing myself with random totes that cut into my shoulders because I couldn't find The Perfect proper work bag and refused to settle for anything less. I ended up just getting a Baggu shoulder for now bc I was in a rush one day and dare I say.......it's a really practical bag lol