I fell in love with them recently, they aren't very big in the midwest but on the east coast, EVERYBODY has them. I LOVE LOVE LOVE JAVA BLUE

I've seen a handful around campus, but this is the kind of campus where people couldn't care less what brand (or not) your handbag might be. You generally don't tend to see any brand name handbags being carried around (if in fact, people really carry around handbags, because many don't on a daily basis). I personally don't find VB stuff at all attractive, but that's me.

ETA: I'm in CT. The only place I've ever seen VB stuff outside the few isolated sightings on campus are at the airport.

ditto

I think I remember seeing them somewhere over the years. I just thought people were making ugly bags from ugly quilts. I had no idea VB has been making ugly stuff for 20 years.

I know of two girls in my chapter that have VB bags. However, they don't seem so popular in my area (surburban NY) otherwise. I liked the patterns but not the bags (too quilty), now they're kind of growing on me.

I agree, I was just going to say the exact same thing. They seem to be popular at the college campuses in this area, too- I was recently in the bookstore at the University where my husband goes, and there were both real and "imitation" Veras there. I have one, a tote from a few years back that I love, and I'm planning on adding a couple handbags to it - and I wear Ugg-type boots. This is Chicago and it's cold and there's alot of snow here this winter! But I admit that I did not really like Uggs until a girl that I worked with started wearing hers. She had several, including a pair of medium pink ones that started to grow on me. Mine are ivory and they are really warm & comfy.

I grew up in Maryland, and I will say that Vera was huge at my prep school. I was always more of a longchamp type, but I've got a few Vera accessories.

Here at Syracuse, they do sell Vera in the Bookstore and on Marshall Street. Its big...but most sorority women carry funkier designer purses...this campus is full of New Jersey and Long Island girls, and its more designer label with them. Its funny...my mom, who is non-Greek, would rather me carry a my Marc by Marc Jacobs than any Vera. She thinks they are old lady bags. But then again, she is a long islander.

so last night, i went to one of our bookstores to get some more letters :D :D :D and i saw some VB bags and I totally thought of GC :)

Yeah, I don't own Uggs but I own similar boots. I know they get a lot of flack, but hey...when it's -20 F outside [which it is at least once a week around here], then the sheep fur inside keeps my toes VERY warm :)

VB is just starting to catch on down here in South Texas. It's been very slow in catching on and I'm not sure if it will catch on that way it has in southern and midwestern states. When I was up in Ohio the other week, I saw Vera everywhere I turned. I joked with my friend and asked her why she hadn't told me to take my VB bags with me so that I would "fit in."

My daughter goes to school in Virginia and when we visit her campus, it's probably about half and half as to who's carrying a VB bag.

i see VB all the time down here and the only way to distinguish it between who's in a sorority and who's not
is the print/monogram

Granted yes you see some girls carrying the same print as a sorority girl but the sorority girl has the name of the sorority embroidered on the bag

and i definitely think VB is a more southern thing because i've been to Boston and NYC and didn't see a one when i was there this past summer. (which by the way was the best summer EVER because i finally got to see a game in yankee stadium, fenway park, and camden yards!!!)

At District Days this weekend, which is held in VA and 90% of the chapters are from VA, I saw Vera EVERYWHERE.

north carolina
 

as many people have said, VB is big in North Carolina. At the school I go to in NC, VB is pretty popular, amongst all students. However, with Greeks it is a little different. It is popular among some Greeks, but many sorority girls who are in the some of the top tier sororities, debutantes, or bred for sororities, etc, wouldn't be caught dead with VB. Instead, they carry Longchamp totes, Herve Chapelier bags, Vineyard Vine totes, etc. It is interesting how it is different.

Last night, I had dinner with my niece and a bunch of her friends at Ohio State. I asked them if any had ever heard of VB, only 2 had. The two that knew what they were wrinkled their noses when I asked if they would carry one. One said, "it looks like something my grandma would carry"

What are they into? Coach or something vintage, on the affordability level. All want Louis Vuittons in the future.

That really surprises me. When I was in college in Massachusetts (greater Boston) five years ago, VB was insanely popular. One of my chapter sisters made really good quality double stiched letters with Vera fabrics (using the napkins I think) for the rest of our chapter. Maybe that was the peak of its Northeastern popularity.

One of my friends who lives in NYC once said about Vera, "You'll see it in Brooklyn Heights and Williamsburg, but never in Manhattan." No idea how true that is, maybe some New Yorkers could comment.

I see VB fairly regularly here in NYC, but I know that's a function of who I'm hanging out with--a lot of Greeks (AXO and others), and a lot of people from the Midwest and South, as well as from Virginia and Maryland's Eastern Shore.

Normally, I just see duffles and larger bags, and the occasional wallet or change purse. We're a pretty preppy group, so we have a lot of VB/Vineyard Vines/LL Bean Boat and Totes in our cabs, especially when we're going on vacation! For every day purses, most of us rock something a little more professional.

My niece, who's 12, says she and her friends love Vera. The not-so-little-anymore munchkin likes Java Blue.

vb
 

i have never heard of vera bradley until the op posted this thread. it's not very popular in socal. no body carries them at my school..not very well known.

My goddaughter is in North Carolina and for the past few years I have been spoiling her with Vera bags for Christmas and her birthday (she just turned 15 yesterday)

VB is big in North Carolina (she is in Winston-Salem)

The first time I saw a Vera Bradley bag was at the Greek Store near UCLA. I was visiting last year to get items for someone (I'm an alum) and was horrified at this wall of, what I now know, were VB items. I had NEVER seen anyone in LA with a bag like that. This Greek Store always had tons of really random merchandise, so I just assumed that the owner had, once again, totally misunderstood his market.

I'm still not a fan and still haven't seen a bag in person, but anything can grow on you when you see it all the time, especially with a strong positive association.

For those of you who are fans and live in the Midwest (or else feel the need), I highly recommend attending the outlet sale in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, where VB is manufactured:
http://www.verabradley.com/Site/Company/OutletSale.aspx

It's held in the Ft. Wayne Coliseum, and it's pretty crazy--just imagine row after row of tables filled with every style and color of bag. I've been the last few years, and when you walk in, they give you a garbage bag. Then it's every woman (and the occasional bored husband) for herself. I "may" have ran across the coliseum last year to get some half priced luggage...:rolleyes:

they're popular with women on my campus, not in particular sorority women, but i don't like them. ditto to all the croc and ugg comments, too. crocs disgust me and i live in the deep south people...there is NO reason to wear boots down here.

oh i agree!! i live in the deep south too and there is NO REASON for uggs down here... the only pair of boots i would think if somebody absolutely needed them are golashes because it rains.. even then i'm like uhh no. lol
and crocs are only suitable for children under the age of 6 and even then it's questionable.

ditto to the kids comment. i mean, yeah, my grandma wears them to work in the garden and my nieces and nephews wear them to play...but they are NOT for going in public! ack, it's one of my pet peeves. which is so sad, lol, that i'm THAT concerned about it.

^^^I agree. Crocs are for working and for children's comfort. Anyone else just looks like an idiot (I will exclude the ederly and disabled). Uggs are just that-UG!! In the north, maybe you could get away with it, I don't know since I don't usually go very much north of where I am (and I'm pretty far south). But while I may like certain VB patterns, I have to say for the most part, it's not cute. In fact it can get down right fugly. It looks like some qulited padding. :D

I admit it, I love my crocs. They are wonderful wear to the mall, when you will be doing tons of shopping. They are easy to take on and off - very useful when it comes to trying on clothes. I also wear them when I travel - again, easy to take on and off at the TSA checkpoints. I also wear them when I have to stand on my feet all day at Dayton (an annual work event); I get lots of compliments on them, especially with all the jibbitz I have on them.

Yeah, what she said! I love my hot pink crocs (my husband hates them) :D But I always wear them when traveling for easy shoe removal

Go and get you some Clark's leather flip flops from an outlet. They are like $20 and provide the same level of comfort (they have the arch thingy and a foot depression) and wearability without that awkward look! Hehehehe!

I want to get some of the slimmer-look Crocs. They are the best for around the house, gardening, and lots of walking (i.e., Disney World). I have bunions, and it is so nice not to be in pain.
And you don't want me in flip-flops. Bunions are not attractive to look at. Plus flip flops have no support for your arches!

The only closed-toe crocs I have are the slimmer type. I think I have about six pairs - hot pink, turquoise, yellow, navy, University of Texas, purple (I might be forgetting a color or two). I also have three pairs of croc flip-flops (two navy/khaki, one hot pink/lime green) and one pair of pink/brown sandals. I also have a pair of pink ballet flat crocs.

I admit, crocs are very comfortable (I tried on my cousin's pair once)
but they are absolutely hideous
I would only ever wear them to shower in the dorms or my sorority house

Yeah, crocs and ugs are pretty funky looking.
Rainbow Sandals are more comfy than crocs once theyre broken in.

We saw a lot of VB while in Florida over the weekend. I think some of the styles and patterns are cute, others look like old lady bags (but, I"m fast approaching "old lady" status anyway). The comment I made to my daughter was that I couldn't see them being very practical in Michigan. With all the salt and slush mess that gets on our cars, our bags brush against the car and get the mess on them too. With leather, you can wipe it off easily, with a VB, you'd be washing it every other day. I just don't see them holding up in our climate.

As for Crocs, I don't have a pair, but I tried them on this weekend and they were definitely very comfy. I am considering buying some. I second SWTX when she says "you don't want to look at my bunions in flip flops". Besides, flip flops in Michigan in February... well, that's just kinda stupid. After a gazillion attempts and just as many blisters between my toes, I have finally conceded that no thong shoe will ever work for me. It's just the way it is. I could see picking up Crocs to wear when I'm knocking around town, grocery shopping, kids sporting events,etc. You reach an age where it's more about comfort and less about fashion.. and I'm there!

You know.. now I'm seeing Vera bags EVERYWHERE. lol. .

Tons at the Cincinatti and Tampa airports in Vera shops.

I always see them in the airport. I have recently flown out of (or into) Sacramento, Oakland, San Francisco and Las Vegas and there is no shortage of Vera in the airports. I have actually gotten into conversations with travelers who are also carrying Vera.

vera bradley in the 'burbs
 

In the uber suburb of Santa Clarita, north of LA, you see soccer moms, teachers (like me!), and other women well beyond college age carrying Vera Bradley. Younger people prefer trendier names.

Vera is huge at UT Knoxville. The bookstore there is an authorized retailer. They have a huge selection that usually sells out quickly until they get new stock. I know for my daughters sorority and all of her friends it is very big. My daughter has four different designs and most of the collection on each. I know many of her sorority sisters have REAL Louis Vuitton bags. Not the imitations...the 700.00 a piece variety. that seems to be big there as well.

Vera Bradley is huge at my campus. our bookstore also carries VB products mostly school type things. I love VB. My new pattern is raspberry fiz b/c my other patterns keep retiring :(

When I went to Las Vegas last year, my friends and I had our Vera, and found one person in the whole city who had it! We were pretty much on Vera alert all week! We didn't see it at the airport, it might be new. We felt like we were make in Vera country after we landed in Atlanta and nearly everyone had a Vera bag.

As for it being in the Tampa Airport, I haven't seen it, I will have to check it out!

What are you favorite patterns?