Back in January, literally the day after New Year’s, I bought my very first Louis Vuitton handbag.

I bought a Speedy 30 in the Damier Ebene canvas.

I chose to buy a Speedy because it’s a top handle bag and that’s mostly what I like to carry. I don’t really care for shoulder bags because that’s all I had when I was in college and my shoulders really suffered. I think I’m a little traumatized by that so I’ve been avoiding shoulder bags for a few years now. I chose to go with the Damier Ebene print because I feel like the monogram print carries an obnoxious connotation. People just look at it like “Oh, you just want people to know you’ve got a Louis Vuitton.” I wanted a print that was a little subtler, so that people would see the bag first and not the print. The monogram bags also have lighter handles and they tend to get darker and show marks, so I thought the Damier Ebene would just be better for me. I love the dark handles. It’s probably one of my favorite things about the bag.

It was not an impulse buy by any means.

This is a purchase that I had been thinking about for almost a full year in advance. I actually had postponed buying the bag a few times before I eventually bought it because I wanted to make sure that I wouldn’t be putting myself or my fiancé in a financial bind because of it. I visited the Louis Vuitton store about an hour away from where I live. I got a chance to examine the bag and see how I looked carrying it. This is actually how I make all of my shopping purchases. I do research, I go check it out at the store and then I make a decision about whether I should purchase it or not. I hardly ever just buy something without price checking or looking up reviews on Youtube first. But I ultimately decided to wait. After the Christmas holiday was over, I was finally ready to make the purchase. I got up early on Saturday morning while everyone else was still recuperating from New Year’s Eve/Day and I made the hour long drive to the Louis Vuitton store with my fiancé.

My experience at the store was very pleasant.

I had already visited this store once before when I first tried on the bag. I had also been to a Saks where they sold Louis Vuitton about four years ago and I had a pleasant experience there too. Since I knew I was coming to the store to make a purchase and I wasn’t in there to just look around, I made sure that I came first thing in the morning. I really just wanted to make my purchase and go home. When the SA greeted us, I let her know right off the bat that I’m here to make a purchase. And I did that because I didn’t want to waste my time looking at things when I already knew what I was there for. The SA was really sweet. I’m sure some people have had some encounters with snooty SAs in stores like Louis Vuitton but I did not have that problem. She showed me a wallet that matched my bag, she let me know how to clean it if I need to and she said she liked my nail polish.  She was very generous and helpful which I really appreciated with this being my first purchase. I actually just went into the store again about two weeks ago and I had a different SA but he was amazing as well. So maybe this particular store just has really good customer service.

This is not my everyday bag.

The bag comes folded in its dust bag and in a box with a leather-like string tied around it. It’s very protected so if you mess up your Louis Vuitton bag, then you were just careless because they literally give you everything you would need to keep it in pristine condition. The Speedy comes with a lock on the bag and a set of keys in a pouch inside the bag. I keep my lock on the bag and the keys are always with me when I carry it but I have yet to actually use the lock. I don’t leave my handbags unattended anyway but I also feel like if someone steals my bag, then they probably just want the bag itself and not necessarily its contents. But nonetheless, the lock and keys are a nice touch. I contemplated buying an organizer or a base shaper for my Speedy but ultimately, I decided against it. My bag hasn’t really gotten droopy and I don’t really pack a lot of heavy things in it anyway. But through research on Youtube, I found out that base shapers and organizers can cause extra wear and tear on the bag. So I have no plans to buy any extra appendages for my bag because I feel like if Louis Vuitton wanted a hard base in these bags, then they would sell the bag that way. Or at the very least, they would sell shapers. But they don’t and that’s very telling. Also, my Speedy is not my everyday bag. I don’t take it to work at all. My Michael Kors bags are my everyday go-to bags. So my Speedy is more like a weekend/special occasions bag. During the week, it stays in its dust bag on a shelf in my closet. I don’t fold it up and put it back in the box it came in because I want it to keep its shape and I don’t want the canvas to crack (and that can happen later on down the road if you’re not careful).

Starting a collection.

After I had bought my bag, I was on cloud nine. I was so excited to not only have a Louis Vuitton handbag but also to be able to say that I bought it for myself. I definitely view this as a huge accomplishment because it wasn’t a gift from someone else. I do want to get a Louis Vuitton collection started since I’m kind of done with buying Michael Kors since I have so many MK items. I consider the Speedy 30 DE to be my first official piece in my Louis Vuitton collection. I don’t have any plans to buy another handbag this year but I do want to buy some small leather goods to go with my bag (wallet, key holder, cosmetic pouch, etc). I actually have a list of things that I want to get this year so we’ll see if I’m able to get them all.