While shopping from the bins at the Goodwill Outlet store in Sodo (1765 Sixth Ave S, 957-5516), Marielle, 23, got lucky. That's where she found her quirky vintage leather-patchwork bag. "It actually only cost about a dollar!" she says. It's good to know such thrifty finds are still out there, seeing as, according to the U.S. Department of Labor, our country's unemployment rate is the highest it's been since 2005 and many economists are reporting that the country is sliding into a recession.

This pink and gold Juicy Couture bag ($185, Nordstrom, 500 Pine St, 628-2111) is just one of seven Juicy bags that Taisha, 39, owns. Her husband of two years bought it for her for her birthday last October. How sweet! Juicy Couture cofounder Gela Nash-Taylor is married, too—she married Duran Duran bassist John Taylor in March 1999. Which brings to mind the lyrics to the best Duran Duran song ever, "The Reflex": "The reflex is an only child; he's waiting in the park/The reflex is in charge of finding treasure in the dark/And watching over lucky clover, isn't that bizarre/Every little thing the reflex does/Leaves you answered with a question mark." What? Exactly.

Rosie, 24, is also flaunting a Juicy Couture bag (on sale for $500, Nordstrom, 500 Pine St, 628-2111), but she's not as openly in love with the label as most of its followers. "It had this ridiculous metal plaque sewn onto the front, with a story inscribed about the designers living in some kind of magical fairyland, designing clothes for urban princesses," she says about the white leather purse lined with lavender canvas. "I ripped it off. Great bag otherwise, though!" In other news, you can also rip off that ugly tag hanging from the end of your mattress. The rumor that it's illegal to remove it is an old wives' tale left over from the early 1900s, when tags were required to list the contents of mattresses in order to protect consumers from vermin and disease-carrying materials.