The Many Bags of Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson, Verity’s Leading Ladies

I read Verity in 24 hours. Once I started, I needed to know everything, immediately. Vlad thinks the speed at which I finish a book is superhuman, and I am happy to accept that compliment. Though this particular superpower mostly involves ignoring everything else I am supposed to be doing.

Some books stay with me for months after I finish them, and Verity was one of those books. The twists, the questions, the ending. Especially the ending. If you’ve read it, you know there is plenty to discuss.

Now my feed is full of book clubs organizing outings to see the movie, while mine is still trying to find a date that works for everyone. A group of women agreeing on what to read? Easy. Finding two free hours on the same day? Apparently, that is where fiction ends.

While I wait, I have another very important matter to revisit: the bags of Anne Hathaway and Dakota Johnson. We’ve followed both women’s handbag choices for years on PurseBlog, and putting them in the same movie gives me a perfectly good excuse to look again. I came for the psychological thriller. I stayed to discuss the bags.

Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway is someone I enjoy watching get dressed. She’ll give us full movie-star glamour, then turn up in something that feels a little unexpected, and I find myself zooming in either way. Of course, there will always be a part of my brain that sees Andy Sachs. I have spent far too much of my life watching The Devil Wears Prada for that association to go anywhere.

But Anne’s own bag collection gives us plenty to talk about. We’ve spotted her with everything from Gucci to Bvlgari, and that range is what makes looking back fun. I love a signature bag, but I also love a woman who leaves room for options. I have built an entire career around supporting that decision.

Dakota Johnson

Dakota Johnson has the kind of off-duty style that makes me think I could recreate it. Jeans, a shirt, sunglasses, a great bag. I own all of those things. And yet, when I put them on to run errands, the result is not always giving Dakota Johnson.

Her bags are a big part of why I keep looking. Gucci has given us plenty to follow over the years, especially her Jackie bags, and she carries them with an ease that makes a very expensive purchase look entirely reasonable. This is dangerous territory for me. I can appreciate a beautiful red-carpet look and move on, but show me a great bag worn with an outfit I could actually wear, and suddenly I am checking colors and availability.