Purse Party Blog

Miche Bag is offering a chance for women to help fund cancer research through buying a specially designed Miche shell named “Hope.”  The Hope shell is available and has been a popular item at purse parties everywhere.  It is available for both Miche’s small base bag and big base bag, and the design incorporates numerous quotes from cancer survivors and patients in bold white lettering on a black faux-leather background. Included in these quotes are the following: “It’s not about living or dying; it’s about living until I die,” “No regrets,” and “Love.”

Now you can buy this gorgeous new “Hope” shell for your Miche purse, generating a Miche Bag donation of $5 towards cancer research at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Additionally, your total donation is doubled because the owners of Miche Bags Texas (Billy and Anna Bohannon) are personally matching your donations, giving to the M D Anderson Cancer Center and the Christus McFadden Ward Cancer Center. Miche’s goal, says Jennie Platt, a designer at Miche, is to donate one million dollars worldwide to fighting cancer.

The Huntsman Cancer Institute is a part of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), which is a not-for-profit alliance of the leading cancer centers in the world. The NCCN is dedicated to improving the effectiveness and quality of care given to cancer patients. The Huntsman Cancer Institute is also a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center, meaning that it meets the highest national criteria for cancer research and care. It also means that it receives support for scientific research. The physicians and scientists at Huntsman Cancer Institute (at the University of Utah) endeavor to understand cancer at the genetic and molecular level. The U of U has been a leader in the study of human genetics for a long time, and this is helping in devising new and better ways to treat individuals with cancer.

The Huntsman Cancer Institute was founded by Jon Huntsman, Sr. who has, to date, donated in excess of 250 million dollars to the cause. Miche Bag enthusiasts can now join Mr. Huntsman and other donors by raising cancer research funds. The “Hope” is for a million dollars before 2011.

The History of The Home-Party Method of Sales

The home-party method of sales was implemented more than 70 years ago, and today it has expanded into home parties of almost every kind, with one of the biggest trends being purse parties. In1931, a previously successful door-to-door Fuller Brush salesman started his own direct-marketing company called Stanley Home Products. One of its salesmen started making record-breaking sales by implementing his new home-party method. Stanley converted its marketing from door-to-door to the home party model by 1940. Throughout the 40s, this marketing style brought women into sales, giving them the flexibility they couldn’t get in other jobs. It allowed them to work a lot or a little and to set their own schedules.

In the early 1950s, one single-mom saleswoman took her Stanley home-party success with her to the head of the Tupperware company, which became a leader in the home party field. Virtually all other early home party sales companies were started by people who’d been involved in Stanley or Tupperware. And the concept is alive and thriving today.

The concept is that products can be demonstrated (mostly by females since the 1960s) in the living rooms of female hostesses who volunteer their homes and invite their female friends to attend a “party.” The saleswomen demonstrate to many people at a time and take orders from many people at once. This system is more efficient than knocking on one door at a time. The hostesses are rewarded with prizes or free products. The guests have a good excuse for an evening out and are rewarded with a few hours of fun interaction and bonding with their peers. In return, the guests feel somewhat obligated to the hostess to place an order for the product. Today there are home parties for every kind of product: candles, arts and crafts, health, wine, baby, lingerie, adult novelties, beauty, and home (including Tupperware).

What is puzzling about the long-lastingness of the home party method of sales is that it is so contrary to the overall growing social trend away from in-person socializing. People used to regularly get together with friends and relatives for fun, work bees, visiting, worshipping, playing, and more. People used to interact with their neighbors. Now we can live next door to someone forever and never introduce ourselves. We are more likely to interact with people through email, instant messaging, gaming, social networking, or the telephone than go for coffee with someone.

The continued success of home parties has been apologetically explained as an overall retro trend toward nesting and adding luxuries to our lives. It’s deeper than that. It’s still a successful way of selling products, some of which aren’t sold any other way. (To buy, you must attend.) I think its biggest reason for continued viability is that the sellers, hostesses, and buyers are women who are still turning the sales process into a fun, social shopping event that continues to fill an ever-growing social void in our lives. Is anyone ready for a Miche bag purse party?

Just as the seasons change, so do fashion trends. Thank goodness my Miche Bag easily changes to fit the styles of the season. With my Miche Bag, I can simply change the magnetic shell to match my summer or fall ensemble. And, with the great new styles from Miche, I can always be fresh and in fashion!

Miche Bag purse parties are my favorite way to collect more shells. Purse parties let me mingle with good friends, eat good food, and get the latest styles from Miche! It seems that when the warm weather is upon us, I find myself gravitating towards many of Miche’s bright and summery shells. The great slouchy Stacy style has become my favorite shell as we move into fall. I especially like the shell in brown, as it complements my fall wardrobe perfectly. The style is the newest in my expanding collection of shells, I just got it at a purse party, and I have already received many compliments!

So, although Labor Day may mark the end of long summer days, it also marks the beginning of a wonderful fall season. The change in seasons marks a change in fashions, and my Miche Bag is always right there with me as my versatile year-round bag.