Glamify a road-warrior style wheeled bag

October 6, 2016 2:26 PM

I am the new (female) owner of this bag. Help me glamify it to downplay its inherent business aesthetic?

For $reasons, I can no longer carry all my stuff in a handbag, or in a handbag plus canvas shoulder bags. I've taken the plunge to buy a new "drag bag" for work/professional life as my old standby for intermittent use looks very worn.

The aesthetics of the bag are overly corporate/business-functional for me. I work in Arts & Humanities academia, where such an aesthetic is more or less actively frowned upon by peers and higher-ups. Plus, in my own style I trend to the overtly glam, chic, and a bit vintage - think messy chignons, tailored jackets in interesting fabrics, pencil skirts, 1950s retro make-up, statement costume necklaces. Put together, but with personality.

So: does anyone have any ideas for customizing the bag to make it more stylish, or more in line with my own style?

I'm fairly handy with crafts, but don't have access to a sewing machine right now. I'm willing to spend some money on this, but not a lot - so it needs to be feasible in under, say $20?. Key factor is that the bag still needs to read as professional (or professional adjacent) - so, for example, any customization needs to avoid the explicit DIY glue-gunning look.

Thanks!

posted by thetarium to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (14 answers total)

Best answer: I would warn against use of a "Bedazzler" type of device. I used on one a generic black bag and, unfortunately it made it unusable because the findings for the rhinestones are too sharp--everything got snagged on them. I suppose if you wanted to line the interior, it might work--but that would be a pain.

I would warn against fabric paint as well unless you are a really good artist and you don't use the puffy kind that will peel off of a well-used bag.

I would look at finding a print or prints that you really like and have custom vinyl stickers made up that you could put on--or just buy travel stickers like the ones used on vintage luggage.
posted by agatha_magatha at 2:39 PM on October 6, 2016 [3 favorites]

Best answer: Wrap the handle with an oversize silk scarf, allowing the rest of it to trail down the side of the bag. (Or use a smaller scarf without the trailing flair, if the bag will be checked).
posted by mama casserole at 2:59 PM on October 6, 2016 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Scarf on the carry handle (not the one that extends), ribbon or bits of bias tape threaded in the zipper pulls. Or take the silver pulls off and replace with something nicer (small charms from a craft store?).

Enameled pin collections are a thing, maybe start with etsy to see if you find things that are appropriate / cute. Maybe just one big vintage costume brooch? You can also find custom canvas patches on etsy, which might be less expensive but also less glam.
posted by momus_window at 3:04 PM on October 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

Personally I'd return it and get something along the lines of this wheeled tote or something like this one.

You're fighting a losing battle if you want to decorporate-ify a black corporate bag.
posted by larthegreat at 3:05 PM on October 6, 2016 [13 favorites]

Yes, a scarf in line with the rest of your style tied to the handle is your friend here.

But I gotta tell you, I would not be in arts & humanities academia so that my colleagues could pass remarks about my grown-up business luggage looking too business-y. They don't pay enough.
posted by praemunire at 3:05 PM on October 6, 2016 [3 favorites]

I agree with larthegreat. Anything you do to that bag is still going to look like what it is: a DIY glamification of what is, indeed, a corporate-flavored piece of luggage. Perhaps even something like this would fit your aesthetic if you could return the current one.
posted by Everydayville at 3:27 PM on October 6, 2016 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Leather sewing needle and put patches on it. And see on some subtle reflective trim as well. I put black 3m reflective stickers on my kids' instrument cases -- doesn't clash with their style but does reflect in lights. Just bought sliver reflective tape cord to trace their backpacks and uniform windbreakers in.
posted by tilde at 5:18 PM on October 6, 2016

Best answer: Details. It's all in details: small but well-done little bits that add a bit of something real and true to you.

I'd start by finding an awesome statement brooch and fastening it over the logo bit. Maybe this one (or 1 2 3 4)? A really great large button could work too. You should look until you find something perfect; if there's a fancy fabric store near you, that's a good place to look for big decorative buttons.

Then I'd address the zipper pulls. I might a) use nail polish to do a white base coat covered by a red or other color that matches the brooch; b) stick something interesting to the zipper pulls, maybe some cool coordinating but tiny buttons. If you know where to look for new/interesting ones, (I don't), you could just c) replace the zipper pulls. Look for a retro, or coordinating or contrasting colored (but coordinating with the brooch) zipper pull. Even a black zipper pull that could replace the existing ones would de-emphasize the hardware and send the focus more to the brooch.

***one way to stick things to the bag you might want to consider is Sugru. I wouldn't count on it every coming gracefully off of the fabric, though, so I'd "audition" things for a couple of days with other adhesive methods before committing to a Sugru attachment method.

Do those two things. Then, if you reeeally want to, I _might_ consider masking the heck out of the non-hard-plastic parts and doing some very light spray painting of the hard plastic "heel" parts. Choose a color that works for you: white, leathery brown, bright red, whatever works with the brooch and your personality. You can also do other hard plastic parts (not the fake leather parts, unless you find some kind of special paint, dye, or shoe color that will work there). Don't get too ambitious; just little parts, to snazz it up but keep the thing doable.

Unfortunately, those "heel" parts are likely to get scuffed a lot, so your paint job will probably also get scuffed. However, they'd also get scuffed if they stayed unpainted; the paint job will let you "fix" the scuffing readily.
posted by amtho at 5:32 PM on October 6, 2016

Best answer: Agree with the above that you can't take the "corporate" out of that bag, so I would go with some subtle "signal" that things are not what they appear, e.g., as with a plain pair of black Louboutin heels that just look like high heels from most vantage points, but have a red bottom that says "I paid a fortune for these shoes" to those who glimpse the sole. Perhaps go wild with the lining?

If it were mine, I would spray paint (enamel paint) the pieces of the extendable handle. I have no particular reason to avoid a business look, but that bag really takes things too far.
posted by she's not there at 5:51 PM on October 6, 2016

Best answer: I just ordered this keychain for my work bag and it looks SO cute, yet professional. Something like that or another customized bag tag would help to add a pop of color and aesthetic to it.
posted by jaksemas at 6:16 PM on October 6, 2016

Lose the bag and start over with a pastel color.
posted by oceanjesse at 6:25 PM on October 6, 2016

Best answer: There are some ideas here -- they're mostly non-specific, but I like the applique and the spraypaint stencil ideas (I'm almost picturing something like some stenciled metallic stripes_. This isn't great but may also give you some ideas.

I think the challenge is going to be to make sure it looks deliberate and intentional -- it does need to be done very well.

(A lot of the other ideas I have are more punk rock -- like putting a back patch onto your bag with safety pins or whatever -- but I don't think that's appropriate for you.)
posted by darksong at 7:59 PM on October 6, 2016

Best answer: Seconding spray paint stencils. They can look more pro or more DIY depending on how careful you want to be, but honestly I don't think anyone in academia will care.

(I put a white cat stencil and a bright orange Samus Aran on my plain bag in a very messy punk-rock/DIY style. I then dragged it all around the country to academic conferences for years, got nothing but compliments and an easy time at the baggage carousel, YMMV)
posted by SaltySalticid at 6:43 AM on October 7, 2016

If you have some fun fabric on hand and don't mind hand sewing, sewing on accent fabric on some of the smaller panels on the bag would do a lot to change it up. It could be subtle--a grey fabric or some kind of darker pattern--but it would be enough to give it a little more personality.

Cute zipper pulls could also be a lot of fun and would keep it looking professional. I also like the ideas about covering the logo or some hardware bits with cute brooches, but that might get tricky if you can't just pin it directly into the bag. Might be better just to carefully go over those with some cute nail polish or something to jazz them up.

Another thing that might work out nicely would be to invest in some patterned folders or something and conspicuously place them in the flat outer pocket so they poke out enough to be seen. Adds a bit of whimsy to the bag and also to your office supplies. :)
posted by helloimjennsco at 1:01 PM on October 12, 2016