Part Two: It Must Be Good

On my way into the office today, walking East on 60th, I noticed an unusually long line of people lining the sidewalk. I tried to play the whole “I’m too cool” thing, and quickly walked past the line (or followed alongside) until I saw the end, outside the Anya Hindmarch store, located next to the entrance of 655. Still perplexed, all my questions were answered in the elevator; the line was indeed for the store, because the famous “I’m not a plastic bag” bags were being sold today, and only 1,000 bags will be available in New York (between two stores, the other in SoHo, I assume). Apparently, this bag was all the craze in Europe when it first came out, and has been seen on the arms of the rich and famous like Keira Knightley and Reese Witherspoon. The bags follow the trend of eco-friendly green things; they are meant to substitute plastic bags in grocery stores and the like. Of course, there is much controversy over these bags, as they are not made from organic material, and then there’s always the question of how closely should fashion trends and an environmental cause be linked?

Either way, it’s a fashion frenzy downstairs, with the line now snaking around the corner. And I’m not going to lie, after hearing about the popularity of it, and seeing the line and everyone waiting for literally hours for the $15 bag (extremely affordable, especially compared to the rest of her collection), I really want one. It’s part of that ‘if the line is long…’ sort of thing. My co-worker and I snuck downstairs an hour after the store opened to see the status of the line. I seriously contemplated trying to bribe someone to purchase a bag for me (there’s a limit of two per person), but I didn’t want to appear so desperate to fit in. I can only assume the line will proceed to get longer, but I also presume not everyone waiting in line will be able to purchase one. With a limit of two bags, and only 500 available, that’s about 250 people who will be walking away happy, and I’m certain the line was more than 250 long. The irony of it all- I’m not even that into the environment and being eco-friendly. I will most likely continue using plastic bags wherever I go; I just want the bag because well, everyone wants it. Perhaps I’ll just have to buy one on ebay, where they are supposedly going for $600. Or, I can wait until they’re not as cool and buy one from Whole Foods (starting July 18th). I hope the line is still long then.