By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Bessie Fujioka, Junior League of Honolulu president Chris Lau and Debbie Lau got into a tug of war with this Cole Haan purse. Janice Choate-Zavakos joined the fray seconds later.

People can go crazy when there’s a sale. The situation was a little more civil when the polite women of The Junior League of Honolulu hosted the 5th annual Sacs in the City fundraiser April 4, but you could feel anxiety in the air when it was near closing time for the silent auctions.

Dior
Marion Cotillard with a Lady Dior in Dior’s ad campaign.

“It’s gonna get bloody for the Dior,” said Emmy Kasten, who outbid me on said Lady Dior. I made the starting bid for The Lady Dior, at $680 for a purse that retails at $1,950. The one shown was black, which would not have tempted me, but the offer was to choose your own color. The Dior has been on my want list for at least two years.

Emmy was also bidding on a Gucci tote and had Noreen Kam (no relation) guard the bidding sheet while she waited near the Dior, though she called it quits after bidding went over $1,000.

Sacs is all about love of the handbag. There were dozens of luxury and casual purses, totes and clutches up for bid during the silent auction, most starting at a third to a quarter of retail price. Funds raised will benefit the JLH community projects: My Story to help adolescent girls, Kids in the Kitchen to promote nutrition, the HerStory women’s issues conference, and Impact Honolulu short-term projects geared toward children and families.

Balenciaga

I had scooped up my grail bag at Neiman a couple of weeks ago, a Balenciaga City bag like the one above, except in the Mandarin orange color, so even though purses are my weak spot—to me they’re like portable, practical works of art—I felt pretty certain I wouldn’t be tempted to bid on anything. The first thing I spied upon entering the Hilton Hawaiian Village Coral Ballroom was a Cartier evening bag I had admired in the store, at $1,680, offered at a starting bid of $585. Hmmm. At the time I had decided I’d rather save for the Love bangle. That was before the stock market crash when I actually had some spare change. So I kept moving.

A little while later, I ran into Denise Nakano, who was already carrying a very nice Miu Miu, yet pleaded, “Don’t outbid me.”

“I don’t even know what you’re bidding on,” I said. I couldn’t make any promises until I knew what we were talking about, and it just so happened hers was the only bid, thus far, on the Cartier. She must be psychic.

I don’t know if she won, but it did pick up more bids later. It’s tough to compete with the purchasing power of Junior League members and some of the dynastic names in the crowd, like Wo and Watamull.

The Cartier.

Manuheali’i models on the runway during the fashion show segment.

Here’s some video:

I bid on some smaller items, like $35 for the necklace below, of wire mesh and stones from Afghanistan, just because it’s different from jewelry usually seen here. Unfortunately, I was outbid many times over, just as many others beat the $85 I bid on a no-brand, faux leather, mocha-colored shoulder bag that came with a Baci gift certificate. It was a cute, slouchy pouch that reminded me of 1970s suede hippie bags, and I could imagine strolling freely down the street in jeans, long hair blowing in the wind, except, my hair is short.

It’s always a problem when I shop and I’m not quite myself. Clothes, accessories, branding, marketing and memory coalesce into one potent image that has nothing to do with reality. In this case, I was picturing “The Mod Squad’s” Peggy Lipton. So maybe it’s just as well that I lost that auction.

This recycled candy wrapper purse got as much attention as the luxury handbags.

There were many items up for grabs beyond purses. There were hotel stays, beauty products, pink Christian Louboutin espadrilles, jewelry and more.

I bid on three items and didn’t win any, but no one went home empty handed. All attending the lunch and silent auction went home with a casual Hawaiian print bag, like the one below, courtesy of Manuheali’i, who presented a fashion show built around a Hawaii lifestyle theme with models depicting aspects of local living, such as a picnic at the beach and dancing after dark.

Even though the event started at 10 a.m. and ended at 1:30 p.m., time really flew. After that, I went home, changed clothes, met friends at The Counter, crashed a wedding, went home, changed, and went to the last Fashion Week event at Pearl. More on the latter later.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 at 12:07 am and is filed under Video, Purses, Obsessions, Shopping events, Fashion shows. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.