Thursday, September 23, 2010

Thrifted Thursday: High Flying

Last week I had to fly to Detroit for a few days. Since I was by myself, and had to make a couple of connections en route, I wanted to make sure I traveled light.

I'm so not into those wheeled carry-on suitcases. They all look the same, everyone has one, and they're really too big to "carry" on. Ever have to hoist one up into the overhead bin (if you can find space for it), let alone run across a terminal with one? It's just too heavy and bulky.

I wanted to take something that was just big enough to hold a change of clothes, a couple books and my travel documents. Something that had plenty of vintage style, yet was also practical (story of my life!)

Enter the flight bag:



This bag is what a "carry on" used to be, before they got super-sized. You may have seen them before with airline logos (Pan Am was probably the most iconic one- wish I had one of those!). It's wool plaid with leather bottom and trim. It's got a water-resistant lining and a metal zipper. I thrifted it last year for $4, but it appeared to have never been used.

It's the perfect size for an overnight bag, and the best part is that it fits perfectly under an airline seat. Somehow, I guess that's exactly how it was designed....

And it's fashionable to boot. I got a couple compliments on it, especially from one of the cleaning ladies in the airport restroom- and you know she's seen a lot of bags come and go! :)

5 comments:

  1. That is a beautiful bag! I would love to have one of those with the old logo on it, like for "British United." Reminds me of that movie w/ Dean Martin, where he was engaged to three stewardesses from different countries :-)

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  2. I don't travel much at all, but I've heard how expensive it is for extra luggage now-a-days. Seems like you have it all figured out! Right under the seat - what a way to travel!

    Thanks for visiting!

    Jill

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  3. I love plaid, esp. for Fall and Winter. I buy all of those I can find!They are usually in great shape. My fav is the "Lunchbox" which consists of a soft bag, a thermos, and red plastic sandwich holders! Zootsuitmama

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  4. What a perfect bag!You always find such amazing things.:)

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  5. That's a wonderful piece! This spring I found a red plaid shoe bag. It holds 4 pairs of vintage (of course) shoes. It's in good shape but not quite mint, as yours is.

    I love mine, too. I think it was 50cents...now, why haven't we gone back to that shop??!

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