Plastic Bags

When you go shopping, have you ever taken notice of the plastic bags that you carry? The colour, size, handle and how the plastic bag is structured to fit the items it is meant to carry or even to make it easier for you to bring along the rest of your trip.

Was cleaning my room today and found a lot of plastic and paper bags. Also dug out the entire stack of plastic bags in my piano chair. I don't know how that many bags managed to squeeze itself into one small space - in a chair, no less. I found myself getting very fascinated with the number and types of plastic bags there were. There were similarities between the different bags and there were also differences between similar-looking bags. Yes I interest myself in funny things.

As such, this post will be about some of the plastic bags I saw in the pile. If you see my toe or fingers inside, please forgive me. Usually I'd have never allowed this to happen (perfectionist streak) but for some reason my limbs decided to be very vain today. And my toe nail is slightly black because I once dropped the entire case of bells onto the toe during a show sometime last year. Black's always fashionable anyway, right.

Found this completely blank plastic bag, a rarity because shops usually like to print their names onto the bags. Decided to keep this simply because it's blank. Anyway, I realized that plastic bags have certain similar styles. A lot of them are styled after this - a handle, folds at the side and completely straight at the bottom.


Similar but different sizes and different colours:



Similar, yet different. Similar handle but different plastic feel and fold:

Same design from This Fashion:

Transparent with a handle on top, made with the same type of plastic but with different foldings. This one is folded only at the bottom. When opened, it can stand and, I assume, made also for accommodating the items it is meant to hold.

Why does This Fashion need the bag to stand? Or why does the bag needs to be structured so? The clothes inside are not exactly clean - imagine, they've been thrown all over the place by people who handle the clothes (all over the world) and worn by multiple people trying them out. Not to mention that the clothes don't have a square, rectangular or hard bottom that needs to sit at the bottom of the bag in the manner that the bag is structured. The previous 2 types of plastic bag have bottoms that are vertical and cannot open much - by right they're sufficient for clothes, as the one by Giordano is:

Giordano's, however, has no folds by the side, which means you can't expand it as much as the other two. Hmm, maybe because customers from the other shops buy a lot more than from Giordano at one time? Ok, rubbish answer. Probably because it's cheaper to buy this in bulk than the others. But simplistic - I like.

Notice the handle is no longer extending out from the bag, but is within the perimeter of the bag itself, a round hole to put your nice, small hand in.

Another similar style by Robinsons - round handle, same shape, different colour and size:

Ero Lingerie's plastic bag

Round, within-bag-itself-handle

For a shop selling nice lingerie, its plastic bag sure is ordinary.

Also round-handled, but with the folded bottom:


The above is from a Duty-free-shop, within Airport premises, I think. For this, I understand the need for a bottom like that, but for This Fashion and Esprit? Do the pants come with a free butt inside that needs to sit? Ok, darn sarcastic. Sorry.

Then there are huge plastic bags. So huge that it covers my entire piano seat:


Here's a comparison with the Ero Lingerie plastic bag:

Round-handled

In contrast, a small one with the same design:


So small I can fit 2 onto one seat and still have space to spare:

Super cute. I like small plastic bags.

Then you have plastic bags that are long. Almost as long as the seat...

Comparison with Giordano's

... but still round-necked.

I don't understand why shops selling clothes need to have long plastic bags. Aren't long plastic bags for things like long boxes, liquor or whatever that needs to be kept standing straight and stiff for fear of spillage? Hmm, sounds like something else... Anyway this type of plastic bag for clothes is completely non-functional and only for aesthetic purposes.

Then you have those with cute cute prints:

I don't like cute cute prints. The above is ugly anyway.

Quite like this design from Body Shop, don't know how long ago already.

Don't know how much it can open up also and don't know if it's useful or not because I don't shop at Body Shop. HAHAHA! It just reminds me of the plastic bag from that doughnut shop in Hong Kong and that plastic bag is big and interesting because it can store a huge, rectangular box of doughnuts! Sadly, I have forgotten how the bottom and sides open up to fit in such a box.

A more rarely seen type of plastic bag. Note the handles:

I don't recall seeing this type of plastic bag and handle very often now. I think The Wallet Shop still uses it, but I don't exactly remember other shops having this design, except perhaps for jewellery shops. Then again it could just be me since I rarely go shopping.

Plastic from Tangs with that particular handle, don't know how long ago

Of course then you have those ordinary plastic bags you take home from the market and provision shops. Go and look in your rubbish bin if you've forgotten how it looks like. Your parents would ordinarily line the bins with it. If you've forgotten how it looks like, it also means that you've either been shopping uptown or online too often.

Can't believe I actually did a post entirely on plastic bags.