Is the Balenciaga City Bag Back?
and how it essentially started my online career.
To piggyback on my ‘My Early Love for Handbags’ substack, I have to discuss the supposed resurgence of the Balenciaga City and how it was the bag that essentially started my entire blogging career. I read about this news a couple of days ago and instantly felt inspired to write this. That doesn’t happen often, but when something strikes, you run with it before the feeling disappears. The discovery came from this thread on Reddit, and as soon as I saw the image, I had this wild visceral reaction and was immediately transported back to 2010-2012, when everything began.
Allow me to backtrack.
Back in 2011, there was a new-to-me site, The Purse Forum, and it became my favorite place on all of the internet. I randomly found The Purse Forum, also known as TPF, for those in the know while obsessing over the Balenciaga City bag. I was surfing the web, needing to see every single image out there, and it was TPF that happened to be the Mecca of it all. It was the place for original street-style photos before blogs took over and years before Instagram. Every single handbag designer had a dedicated subform that included everything from images of people wearing the bags to analyzing every single handbag release
When I first stumbled on the Balenciaga subforum, the above photo of Miroslava Duma and her then-bestie, Natasha Goldenberg, confirmed that the bag wasn’t a mere want but a need. The images of Mary-Kate sparked the obsession, but the photos of Miroslava Duma and Natasha made it a non-negotiable decision. They were two of my Russian fashion icons, and I lived for their photos.
The Purse Forum became the website I refreshed multiple times daily, always eager for new photos to be uploaded. It was the original place, at least for me, to discover street style and fabulous outfits. Through TPF, I also found two of the first two bloggers who started the entire industry: Chiara Ferragni of The Blonde Salad and Rumi Neely of Fashion Toast. I was in awe. What was this fascinating world, and how could I be a part of it?!
Coincidentally, I was working in the fashion industry at a handbag company. I worked in Sales and, later, Merchandising for a large manufacturer with licenses for many brands. I was there for over seven years and started getting the seven-year itch. Around the same time, Keith got a shiny new DSLR camera. The timing of it all began to fall into place, and a new hobby was born.
In 2010, it’s when I started to secretly document my outfits and upload them to the fifteen people who randomly stumbled on Brooklyn Blonde. It happened that the Balenciaga City, first in a moss green and then in black, were the first handbags to debut on my blog. Back then, no one was sharing with a goal to make this a career. It all stemmed from a love of fashion and a dire need for a creative outlet. Being a sharer of information, whether in writing or photos, has always been something I’ve felt inclined to do.
My Balenciaga City bags were there from the beginning, giving me the confidence to start sharing in the form of outfit photos. They made my outfits feel cooler and more exciting.
My history and love for the Balenciaga City bag runs deep. I’ve purchased and sold so many handbags over the last fifteen years, but my black city is one I’ve never wanted to part with. It’s still hanging in my closet, and it might be time I start wearing it again. Sadly, I no longer own the green one, and for the first time, I regret selling a bag for about a minute.
So, is the Balenciaga City Bag back? IMHO, it will always be an iconic handbag classic. Like anything in the industry, even the classics have their ebbs and flows, and if it’s currently in the cycle of being extra relevant again, I’m here for this news.
What’s your take?
In case you missed my last substack, here’s my personal take on social events and the shifts in this (content creating) industry.
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I have held on to mine for all this years! Bought it on a trip to LA standing a few feet away from Carmen Electra! lol I can't see myself wearing it, but it's definitely a memory.
To this day the one bag I coveted and never got. Maybe now it’s time!!