Is it just me, or does this look like my grandmother's hand-made tote? Honestly, I wonder if Vera's trying to be subversive by creating a sort of iconic bag that is so clearly unfashionable and [succesfully] marketing it to women who believe they are making a fashionable choice in purchasing it. Is she sending a message about materialism in the US? Seems like she's saying, "HA! You all are idiots! Because of it's fugly design, it is easily identifiable. And because it is so expensive, you WANT everyone to know what you paid for it! So you go and buy something unmistakably ugly just so everyone will know that you wasted your money on this shit!"