The Jelly Firkin, a $35 plastic handbag shaped like the iconic Hermès Birkin, has gone viral across the U.S., and women who spent six figures on the real thing are watching its cultural cachet dissolve. On the Upper East Side of Manhattan, 40-year-old Natalie Mileo strolled through one of the wealthiest zip codes in America […] The post A $35 plastic purse is humbling the $100,000 Hermès Birkin — and its owners aren't taking it well appeared first on American Almanac .
The Jelly Firkin, a $35 plastic handbag shaped like the iconic Hermès Birkin, has gone viral across the U.S., and women who spent six figures on the real thing are watching its cultural cachet dissolve. On the Upper East Side of Manhattan, 40-year-old Natalie Mileo strolled through one of the wealthiest zip codes in America carrying a gummy, translucent purse made from the same material as a gym-class kickball. She paid $35 for it. She also owns ten real Hermès bags. She is not confused about the difference. She just does not care. The bag is called the Jelly Firkin, and it has become the most unlikely fashion phenomenon of 2026, a cheap plastic knockoff that is not just undercutting the Birkin's price tag but openly mocking the status…Open
Dorm rooms are tiny. The dorm decor economy is not. The big picture: College dorms are becoming customized, social-media-ready micro-apartments, but the market looks wildly different depending on which side of the Mason-Dixon line your campus sits. Zoom out: The multi-thousand-dollar "designer dorm" industry has grown alongside viral TikTok dorm tours and hauls, and parents hoping to make their child's transition to college easier. - Shelly Gates, founder of Mary Margaret Designs, an interior design company that decorates dorm rooms alongside other projects, remembers her Louisiana State University dorm as "essentially a prison cell." - This year, Gates is handling about 35 dorm rooms. Some of her previous build-outs have reached…
ABC News' Michelle Franzen and retail analyst Hitha Herzog break down Saks Global's restructuring, including store closures, workforce cuts and a strategic shift toward luxury retail and service.
Former Bonanno crime family associate Gene Borello joins NewsNation to discuss an alleged member of the Gambino crime family being accused of masterminding a burglary worth $1.7 million at Chanel's flagship store in New York City. "Jesse Weber Live" brings a fresh, fast-paced, and often unexpected take on the day’s headlines, diving into the biggest stories through the lens of legal expertise.
Court documents allege the swindled funds were used to fund personal brokerage accounts and purchase jewelry, luxury cars and even a yacht named "Butt Nekkid."
