Okay, let’s talk about this bag charm thing. I started seeing them everywhere, felt like overnight. Suddenly, every bag, big or small, expensive or not, had stuff hanging off it. Keychains, little fluffy balls, plastic figures, you name it. Honestly, my first thought was, what a load of clutter.
I mean, I remember when a bag was just a bag. You put your stuff in it, you carried it. Simple. This trend felt like… extra noise. Just more things to get caught on stuff, more plastic bits destined for a landfill eventually. Seemed a bit silly, especially on some of those really pricey handbags. Like putting bumper stickers on a luxury car, you know?
My Own Run-In With Charms
So, I was pretty much ignoring it. Figured it was just another fast fashion fad that would disappear. Then my niece came to visit. She’s obsessed. Had this backpack that looked like a charm explosion. Little animals, letters, sparkly things, the works. She tried to give me one, a little plastic avocado with eyes. I politely declined. Said it wasn’t really my style.
But then, a few weeks later, I was digging through an old box. Found a keychain my kid made in kindergarten. It was this lopsided clay thing painted bright blue. Totally useless as a keychain, too bulky. I’d kept it because, well, you keep stuff like that.
On a whim, I grabbed a little leather cord I had lying around from some forgotten project. Looped it through the clay thing and tied it onto the handle of my everyday tote bag. It looked ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. The blue clashed with the brown leather. It dangled awkwardly.
- Found the old clay keychain.
- Got some spare leather cord.
- Just tied it on my bag handle. No fancy clips.
But here’s the thing. It stayed there. I didn’t take it off. Partly because it was sentimental, partly out of sheer laziness. And people noticed. A few asked about it. Mostly, they just smiled. It was weirdly… okay?
So now I’m one of those people, I guess. Got a piece of junk dangling off my bag. It’s not trendy, it’s not cute in the conventional way. It’s just this homemade blob. But it’s mine. Still think the mass-produced charm trend is a bit much, all that plastic. But having something small, something with a story, hanging there? Yeah, okay. I kinda get it now. Doesn’t mean I’m about to buy a fluffy pompom though. Definitely not.
