Yesterday morning when I got to my office, I saw a large brown handle bag sitting inconspicuously by our Administrative Assistant’s desk. I wandered over closer to see a Salvatore Ferragamo label with my name on it and instantly freaked! My W bag had finally arrived!

I scooped up the bag and took it over to my desk where I called my mom and put her on speaker for the momentous occasion of opening the box. As I tore away piles of air-paks and tissue paper…

There it was.

Hmm. Not quite what I expected, you? My mom heard the instant sound of disappointment in my voice and when I sent her that picture, she understood why: It’s kind of hideous. I thought about the ways that I could work it into my spring and summer wardrobe, but I’m really just not feeling it. Lara from Pretty Connected feels the same way, and we’re waiting for Rachel of Suitcase Secrets to get home from a vacation to see if she gets the same one, since she was the winner chosen by Ferragamo.

As I’m sure you remember, I entered the contest for The W List back in November…I was one of several bloggers who was introduced to the list before the contest even was released to the public and I bugged everyone I knew for 2 months to help me win. And I did…the last day I managed to get voted into 5th place, just in time to win.

What a letdown…for everyone. As I sent the picture of the bag around yesterday, I got positive words of encouragement, “straw is so in for this season”, “really cute!” and “can’t wait for my picture with it,” but as the day progressed, I got the most honest email of the day from my coworker Tania, “You’re going to hate me, but I don’t like it. I was really hoping for an all-leather one for you.  I’m sure you’re going to accessorize the heck out of it, but that’s just not me.”

I thought I’d be the talk of the town when this bag arrived–the NYC college student/fashion blogger with a priceless Ferragamo bag…but it’s really something I should give to my 80-year-old aunt. This bag is totally age-appropriate for her. For a contest that was supposed to be about being a trendsetter and jetsetter, you would think that a more classic version of the bag, such as the navy or white croc, or the beige perforated leather…or even the red leather would’ve been the bag that we’d won. (And I’m fairly certain those are actually cheaper than this bag.) I can’t see any of the trendsetters that started the W List carrying this bag. I feel duped, and I know everyone who helped me win feels pretty duped too (whether they said so or not)!

I probably sound ungrateful…after all, it is a Ferragamo bag… and unless I stopped buying Starbucks every day, gave up takeout, and stopped shopping on flash sale sites, I probably wouldn’t be able to save enough money to ever buy myself one…and I think we all know I’m not giving up shopping, lattes or takeout anytime in the near future. I’m definitely not ungrateful though–of the many I have entered, that contest was one of the hardest to win and I appreciate all of you who helped me by voting or encouraging your friends to vote–whatever you did…thank you, again!

(Shameless plug now…I’m auditioning for The X Factor in April and if I make it past preliminary rounds and I get to Simon Cowell, I expect all of you to use your excellent voting skills again to call in and vote for me!)

I’ve gotten some very interesting suggestions and comments on the bag: sell it on eBay and buy a better one (the bag retails at Neiman Marcus for $2,750); sell it and use the money to take a vacation; “when you’re done with it, we can use it to play checkers!!”; try it out for a few weeks and see if I like it, write a letter to Ferragamo and demand a different bag; or take it to Neiman’s and be completely honest about winning it and hating and see if they’ll let me trade it for a different W bag…I’ve also gotten, “so you annoyed us for that? I could’ve made it,” and “It looks like a briefcase with granny squares lol we should’ve voted you higher on the list.”

All interesting suggestions…but what do you think I should do with the bag? What do you think of it?

And while I’m at it…I’ll mention that I received two GORGEOUS leather handbags from new brand Cassidy Randall (I can’t wait to tell you about them soon!) yesterday that they’re letting me borrow. I’d prefer to keep them and have my Ferragamo bag on loan…and they’re only worth a fraction of the cost of the Ferragamo.