The art of making it yours
Kim Kardashian once said, “Honey, would you put a bumper sticker on a Bentley?” and to that Gen Z might respond: “Yes!”
Though in the Philippines, the Bentley has become a symbol of corruption (think contractors).
In 2009, Kardashian famously compared getting a tattoo to defacing a luxury vehicle. It was a rather fitting analogy for the time, when refinement, exclusivity, and the appearance of perfection were practically synonymous with luxury. Though, in a delicious turn of events, Kardashian eventually got a tattoo herself, revealing a tiny infinity symbol inside her lip in 2023. Even the Bentley, it seems, wasn’t above a little personalization.
But long before Kardashian reconsidered her stance on bumper stickers, Jane Birkin was already taking liberties with a different sort of luxury vehicle: her namesake Hermès handbag.
While others might have handled the coveted Birkin with the reverence reserved for fine china, Birkin herself had rather different ideas. Her bag was famously worn, overstuffed, and festooned with stickers, beads and all manner of personal trinkets. It was less a pristine status symbol and more a well-traveled companion, collecting little souvenirs of a life actually lived.
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And therein lies the charm. The bag was unmistakably Hermès, but it was even more unmistakably hers.
In fact, that’s what makes fashion so interesting in the first place. Not only should it be about the price of the clothes on our backs or the names stitched into their labels, but the little liberties we take with them. A scarf knotted around the handle. A brooch inherited from a grandmother. A perfectly respectable handbag made slightly ridiculous by an army of dangling keychains.
After all, anyone can purchase an outfit. Making it feel like your own is an entirely different art. So, in the spirit of Birkin’s beloved, battered handbag—and Kardashian’s belated change of heart—consider this your permission slip to commit a few fashionable misdemeanors?
Here are a few ways to put your own spin on fashion’s most familiar pieces, adding a little personality to your everyday wardrobe.
A parting statement. Remember when the middle part was practically a prerequisite for being considered fashionable? Well, it seems we’ve had a change of heart. The side part has made its way back into our good graces, and this time, it’s brought a few accessories along for the ride.
As demonstrated by Lily-Rose Depp and Bella Hadid, sometimes all it takes is shifting a few strands to one side, perhaps securing them with a strategically placed barrette, to give an otherwise familiar look a whole new personality.
And why stop at one clip? Stack them, mismatch them, or dig out those old butterfly clips you swore you’d never wear again. After all, who decided that the way we part our hair should be subject to public opinion?
Tie the knot. Whoever decided scarves belong exclusively around our necks clearly lacked imagination.
Take a page from Lola Tung, who makes a convincing case for the scarf as a belt, or Dua Lipa, who proves there’s no such thing as too much of a good thing, styling hers around both her neck and handbag.
A simple square of fabric is quite versatile if you get imaginative. Knot it around your waist, weave it through your belt loops, tie it in your hair, or let it hang from the handle of an otherwise ordinary bag.
Better yet, borrow one from your mother’s wardrobe or rescue an old silk scarf from the back of a drawer. A little creative knotwork can give you something you’ve owned for years an entirely new lease on life.
Pin it on me. Look a little further than your mother’s closet, and you might find that the humble brooch has made quite the escape from our grandmother’s jewelry boxes, finding itself back in fashionable company. And thank goodness for that.
As Connor Storrie demonstrates, a well-placed brooch can turn an otherwise conventional ensemble into something richer in character. But why reserve all the fun for a blazer? The pin-adorned Longchamp bag makes a compelling argument for extending the embellishment to our everyday accessories.
Raid the family jewelry box, hunt for unusual pins at vintage markets, or start collecting little souvenirs of places you’ve visited. Pin them to your jackets, collars, scarves or bags. Consider them little punctuation marks for your wardrobe. A perfectly ordinary outfit might have everything it needs; sometimes, it just requires an exclamation point.
Charmed. If Jane Birkin taught us anything, it’s that a handbag doesn’t need to be handled like a priceless museum artefact. And judging by the growing assortment of trinkets dangling from designer bags, it seems we’ve taken her advice rather enthusiastically.
From miniature plush toys and colorful beads to souvenir keychains and other wonderfully unnecessary objects, there’s something almost childlike about the pleasure of decorating our belongings.
A keychain from a holiday, a little toy gifted by a friend, or a trinket discovered at a flea market can turn even the most recognizable handbag into something entirely personal.
So go ahead, give your bag a little emotional baggage. The more stories hanging from its handles, the better. After all, the bag might be Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu, or something you picked up secondhand. But the memories attached to it? Those are entirely yours.
So, if anyone asks whether you’d put a bumper sticker on a Bentley, you know what to say.
Honey, pass me the stickers.
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