‘Girlfriends sometimes stand for minutes in front of my display cabinets with bags’

May 18, 2023 Luisa Rey

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Bonny Boumans (40, vintage shop owner, relationship with Edwin) collects Vendula London bags with handmade illustrations and embroidery on them. Her girl twins Ava and Suzy (6) love it.

“Actually, I was looking for a bag for my sewing equipment when I came across a bag from this English brand in the shape of a sewing shop on an online marketplace. I liked it so much that I bought it right away. It was colourful, original and eye-catching and it really suits who I am. I also like outspoken clothes.

Collection

I started searching and soon found more bags on Vinted. Before I knew it I had over a hundred. My friend sometimes jokes: “Isn’t it getting a little out of hand?” He’s fine with it as long as I pay for them myself. And he understands how much fun it is to collect, because he has his own collection of CDs. But yes, it is a bit of an obsession.

The nice thing about these bags is that I am always approached when I wear one: ‘What a nice bag you have!’ I hear regularly. I always look for one that suits the occasion. A while back I was at an Elton John concert and wore one with lights. But when I visit my best friend in Japan soon, my bag in the form of a sushi shop will of course be taken with me.

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Valuable

Every time I have a new one, my girls dive on top of me. Are there lights in it? Can the door open? But they are not allowed to play with it. The bags are too expensive for that, because they cost about 100 to 150 euros each and I am careful with them. I did buy a few miniature bags especially for my daughters. They can wear them. Girlfriends always love it. When they come to our house, they sometimes stand in front of my display cabinets for minutes at a time.

I buy the bags because I like them so much, not necessarily as an investment. Still, it’s nice to have something at home that doesn’t lose its value. If it ever really needs to be, I can sell them. It is of course to be hoped that it will never have to, because I am just so happy with it.”