The Addictive Louis Vuitton Monogram Bag

I have an aunt who keeps a closet full of LV bags. No, she does not traffic in fakes; she's too status-conscious for that.

When I stayed at her home a few years ago, I stumbled on her stash. There they were, piled on top each other, wrapped in plastic.

She says she loves Louis Vuitton because the bags are virtually indestructible, unlike other designer lines like Fendi or Prada. She buys them, season after season, new model after model. But because every bag is so damn durable, she's still toting her second generation of LV Monograms. She doesn't know when she'll get around to using the others.

So there they lie, in her closet, waiting for someone to rescue them from oblivion...and sell them on eBay.

I admit that I'm not immune to the charms of Louis Vuitton's brown laminated canvas. In my first years as a shopaholic, I sampled a fake or two. Even with the inferior hardware and stitching, the copies were almost as durable as the originals. So now, with deeper pockets and a deeper appreciation for finer things, I find myself passing by the Louis Vuitton store in Greenbelt and musing about the prisoners in my aunt's closet.

In particular, this one, the Damier Duomo.