New club makes borrowing bags fashionable

KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
So you blew the cost of a trip to Europe on the status handbag of the moment, and two years later you're still toting it. You're feeling dated. Your fashion-savvy friends are beginning to snicker. You long for a change.
So here is a deal for you.
Click on (www.bagborrowor-steal.com ). It's an exchange club of sorts where you can borrow a bag for a month, return it and take another. Membership starts at $19.99. You can take as many as five at a time. If you fall in love with a bag, you can purchase it at a discount price.
Co-founder Lloyd Lapidus says he and his partner watched for years as the women in their lives borrowed bags. So they decided to fashion the idea into a business. Launched in April, the site is up to more than 500 members, he adds, and gaining daily.
Depending on the category you choose, options run the gamut from Prada, Burberry and Fendi to Coach, Kenneth Cole and generic leather.
With handbags the hottest category on the fashion follower's shopping list and with women still clamoring for Louis Vuitton and Gucci brands, it seems like an idea whose time has come.