The Bad B's (Bag Charms and Blind Boxes)

Labubus and Monchichi in pic

Calling all trinket girlies. Our time has come. Bag charms have been on the rise since last summer and girl I BE SEEING THEM EVERYWHERE. The idea of Jane Birkifying (that's how Im'ma spell it) your bag took the fashion world by storm in the fall. Hermes twillys, Gucci wiener dog bag charms, and Baggu LITERAL MINI PURSE charms have been seen everywhere. But for another class of people it has turned into a trinket bombardment, while cheaper per item it, adding up to hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Jellycats, Smiskis, Sonny Angels, Labubus, and other Popmart products have been running rampant in our bank accounts, me included. My school bag currently beholds a Smiski keychain, jellycat, and Sonny Angel already. However, per usual, you may ask Julia, what is the connection. Let us look a little deeper. The luxury sector prioritizes trinkets and accessories as a status symbol and creative outlet, but mostly it appears to be a way to follow trends as well. The blind box market has also boomed recently. People are gnawing at the bars of their enclosure to get the newest Labubu/Zimomo or Sonny Angel selling out stores like no other. Myself included :) The high of chasing a new box in hopes of a secret or mystery and the flow of serotonin excreted makes the experience addicting. Severely. Almost like the Squishmallow craze. Now combine the two. A blind box that can be on your bag? Ding Ding Ding, we have a winner.

Crybabys!!! and sonny hipper

Smiski and Sonny pictured

In culmination with girls notorious love for childlike toys and items that fulfill some sort of childlike desire, the blind box bag charm targets an overlapping audience creating scarcity in the market as only a limited supply are sold but they are highly valuable. Women are flying to stores like an.mé in New York to get there hands on a new Sonny, Monchichi, or Miffy, or finding a Popmart vending machine in a mall to grab the new Crybaby collection. Additionally, the factor of not necessarily pulling the one you want makes buying more boxes even more addicting, as you cannot sate the desire until you pull the pink Labubu or lion Sonny. In Asian markets like China, Singapore, and Thailand, this obsession is even crazier than the US. As a college girl, look around at people's backpacks after you read this. You will see a lot more plushy bag charms than you orginially thought and even some more luxury ones on a Longchamp or two.

I want a Hirono so bad (the lil guy on the left) and that's a Zimomo on the right

Even phones have become charmed up. Cars too. Sonnys, smiskis. ANYTHING. The question arose from a friend of mine, is there a right way to accessorize your bags? Now, there definitley is a way to probably make it ugly, let's be for-real for a second, but I think the most important thing is to have fun. This is a great way to have fun and express the interests you have in art, fashion, or anything. Find a cute Spiderman one if you enjoy marvel or buy a jellycat marshmallow if you're more cutesy and love a girly aesthetic. I think you can never go wrong when you stay true to you and your style/aesthetic. Some girls I've seen have about 7 Labubus on their bag and proudly rock that. While that probably is some sort of status symbol to show how many they have, I mean work girl do your thang. Beware of clashing colors, styles in a way that seems quite odd as we will put it. It is pretty hard to do but like girl don't put a baggu legit mini bag on your classy af Bottega Andiamo messenger bag. You see what I'm saying, but man if you find a way to make it work, go you girl. Otherwise, have some fun, and beware a dwindling fund of money if you take it on because its just so much fun.