I recently was in the market for an expensive wallet and I want to examine my motivations around some of this. First, why was I interested in buying an expensive wallet? Honestly, total vanity. When I was unemployed, I had a dream of using some of my savings from my first to job to go to the Saint Laurent store in New York City, enjoy the whole luxurious experience, and buy one of the YSL monogram logo wallets. Around 2019 I'd seen a lot of my young professional peers buy that type of wallet, it was like the "it girl" wallet of that year, and I'd always thought the YSL logo was gorgeous, and it stuck in my mind as..."i want to buy that once I have the money to, as a present to myself". But let's dig deeper. Why did I want an expensive wallet, really? I suppose it comes down to [[Mimetic desire]]. I first came across the concept of mimetic desire in Julian Lehr's [What Shopify and Amazon can learn from Mimetic Theory](https://julian.digital/2020/05/28/what-shopify-and-amazon-can-learn-from-mimetic-theory/), where he discusses mimetic theory as a framework for understanding consumer purchasing decisions. He posits that when we purchase an item, such as a new pair of sneakers, we often think we are making a decision based on objective fact or personal preference, but in reality, we are making a decision based on who we want to imitate. We believe that purchasing this object will make us more like the person we admire---mimetic desire. So...who was I attempting to imitate with my wallet purchase? Who did I admire and want to be more like? The it-girl ingroup. The other young professional women in my circle of acquaintances who bought the YSL chevron envelope wallet in 2019. They were beautiful and to me at the time, they seemed like they had their lives together (and I didn't). Fast forward to 2021, I've been working for nearly a year now, still haven't bought it. When I started working in 2020 there was still a lockdown, so that dashed my dreams of purchasing the YSL wallet in stores as soon as I'd received my first few paychecks. But now...nothing was stopping me. I obsessively searched for the perfect YSL wallet online. There were some practical, "objective" considerations mixed in with my mimetic dreams. I wanted: * 6 card slots * Bifold style (I can't STAND the bulky trifold wallets that are marketed for women) * Monogram logo * Nice, "interesting" leather exterior I struggled to find what I wanted. One, I was a bit vague on what I wanted from the outside when I say "interesting". The more I looked, I realize that the monogram logo wasn't cutting it for me. It seemed...gaudy almost, for such a small wallet. I wanted the wallet to evoke a quiet, understated kind of luxury. Two, all of the "women's" wallets were bulky, impractical for everyday use. No envelope continental wallets. But the practical "men's" wallets were so boring. What it came down to was I really wanted the "masculine" marketed bifold with "feminine styling". And I could not find this anywhere. I looked at every designer - YSL, Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Bottega Veneta, Versace, Chanel, Chloé, Celine, Comme des Garcon, Fendi, Mansur Gavriel, Fendi, etc, etc, etc. Hermes was waaaaay out of budget. I had heard of Goyard, the secretive shadowy favorite, and out of vanity, I'd wanted to like it, and land on it. I like iconic patterns (although I do not like monogram patterns, like LV), I like interesting patterns, I like the idea of brands that have "iconized" their patterns. But I cannot stand the Goyard print. So I searched for something similar to Goyard, but doesn't necessarily emulate Goyard. Something with an awesome pattern. Something "unique". Neck deep in a deluge of Reddit threads on designer wallets, Iearned about Fauré le page. Later I came across an article discussing lesser known, interesting French brands, and looked into both Fauré le page and RSVP Paris. Fauré le page stood out, but looks like I'm out of time for today. Will discuss more about the implications of mimetic desire, and maybe the FLP brand tomorrow. ---- Created: July 29, 2021 Last Modified: July 29, 2021