CheapJAP

Sartorial Etiquette

MAILBAG: Ooooh College!

[Note: MAILBAG is copied and pasted directly from cheapjap@gmail.com’s inbox and is therefore exempt from any and all grammatical, capitalization and/or spelling errors.]

Subject: hey
Dear CheapJAP:
First off, I adore your sight. It’s amazing. And you update regularly, which is beyond fabulous.
My conundrum: I want a bag for school. My finances are probably much less jap-y than yours, but we cant all be that awesome. I’m going to be a college freshman, and at the university I’m attending, I don’t think many people carry purses? (IIs this even normal?) I have a purple swiss army messenger bag that i’ve been using for my senior year of high school, which is functional, if not as stylish as i’d like.

Could you point me in the direction of a well-made, yet reasonably priced bag that would be functional enough to carry my macbook, a text book, and perhaps a notebook, yet stylish enough to be a purse? I like leather, but it doesn’t have to be leather. I’m also more partial to brown than black, but I love color, especially bright orange. I’m guessing bright orange and brown and leather all at once would look silly, but I’m just trying to give you an idea.

Thank you, and keep up the fabulousness!
-Kelley

Subject: Re: hey
kelley -
apologies for the uber-delayed response; tre rude of moi. re: your bag conundrum, know this: any bag large enough to cart around a laptop, text books and notebooks isn’t a bag that doubles as a night-time bag. unless you’re bringing a 30 pack of natty ice to the frat house…then, by all means. now, as i’m a handbag whore, our perceptions of “reasonably priced” aren’t likely to coincide. lucky for you, i did some outside-of-the-box thinking - i hope you’ll find these suggestions useful.


this brooklyn industries grid messenger bag is big enough to haul your life around in but still has some style and edge to it…provided you’re attending college outside of nyc. and $82 is def not an unreasonable price for a bag you’ll wear for six months, let alone four years, so no arguing with me mmkay.

another option is le sportsac - i’m partial to the tessa tote ($88), but there are oodles of styles and patterns to choose from AND you get to design your own combo. this will totally indulge your color lust, bigtime.

now, i know we said reasonably priced, but hear me out. this tano QNA shoulder tote just went on sale, $295 reduced to $205. it is big, multipocketed, leather AND orange! weeee! even if you don’t have the dough, surely, you have adoring relatives just DYING to buy you something before you embark on your intellectual journey. hit ‘em up for this.

good luck froshie, and don’t talk to sorority girls - they are evil. trust me, i know. i was rush chair.
mwah!
Cheap JAP