
It sat carefully folded in my kitchen with other vintage shopping bags – event Bloomingdale’s bags from the 1980s and one from the now shuttered Fifth Avenue luxury emporium Bonwit Teller – until the other day when I met up with Allison Hemming, an old and trusted friend who is the founder of the creative talent agency, The Hired Guns (www.thehiredguns.com). Allison was flipping through the dummy pages of my book, The Find, and graciously sharing ideas for promoting it when I led her to The Object of My Desire to show her a recent entry about a jazzy party in Brooklyn with a prohibition undertone that inspired me to make a glamorous “hooch” bag for my friend Heather. “I want a ‘hooch’ bag!” Allison exclaimed.
An image of the ultimate “hooch” bag appeared in my mind, and it was awaiting me at home in my kitchen. For its contents, I was sure that a quick thrifting spin would fit the bill. My first stop was at Housing Works in the West Village where I found a faux croc mini bag in vinyl that made no claims at being Hermès verité. I loaded it with fake “mad” money, topped it off with travel-sized bottles of booze and made a gift card out of an old postcard I bought at a flea market at the Spancirfest festival in Varazdin, Croatia, this last summer. I attached the repurposed postcard to the golden buckled closure with black raffia. I nestled the whole creation in the Hermès bag among layers of shimmery tissue paper and more faux dough. After having sealed the bag securely shut with cellophane tape (You never know what could be in an Hermès loaded with cash, albeit fake, so I didn’t want to tempt any messenger!), I attached an address label made from a postcard I bought at the Marie Antoinette exhibit in Paris last May.
Allison, à ta santé! Et à bientôt!
Tomorrow’s my birthday, so if anyone wants to send me a big wad of cash stashed into a fancy shopping bag, leave me a note and I’ll send you delivery instructions.
In May 2009, Clarkson Potter will publish my book, The Find: The Housing Works Book of Decorating with Thrift Shop Treasures, Flea Market Objects, and Vintage Details.