The soft black leather. The interlocking Cs. The signature braided gold chain.

But at $1,895, the bag's price isn't a reality for you. It's really two months' rent. Five car payments. Or four months of groceries at Harris Teeter.

It can still be yours, though. Well, sort of yours. For a month or two, at least. You can rent that Chanel tote -- or the Marc Jacobs Stam, Chloe Paddington, vintage Gucci satchel or Prada bowler you've been coveting -- for around $300 a month.

Handbag rental is becoming as common in big cities these days as a Louis Vuitton Speedy 30 at the mall. Just go online, order up the latest must-have bag and it arrives at home a few days later. No one ever has to know it's not really your Chanel, Gucci or Hermes.

"Women love it," says Pat Hambrick, chief marketing officer of Seattle-based Bag Borrow or Steal, one of several companies that rent and sell handbags. "It's a way to be able to get a better handbag than you might be able to afford for an occasion."

It's become so popular, two local wardrobe consultants, Lisa Marie Ferrell and Paige Crowther of Polished of Raleigh, have brought the idea to the Triangle by offering handbag rental service as part of their business. Instead of doing it online, they offer a more personalized touch. They'll deliver it personally and then pick it up.

The timing couldn't be better. Handbags are closing in on shoes and jewelry as one of the top accessories in a woman's outfit. And with more women than ever willing to pay $1,000 or more for a designer bag, it's become a $7 billion business in the United States, making handbags the fastest-growing segment of the fashion industry, according to retail analysts.

"Handbags are the new shoes," Ferrell says. "They're a way to show your unique personality. But some people are nervous about making that big investment."

No closet full

Budget-conscious fashionistas are just part of the potential customer base.

Hambrick says a big part of the Bag, Borrow or Steal's business is the true fashionista who buys an expensive designer bag, uses it for three or four months and then sticks it in her closet, never to use it again. With the rental option, she can rent the same bag for a few months, often at half the cost of buying the bag, before moving on to another "it" bag.

"Women like it because it keeps them from having a closet full of bags," Hambrick says.

Some women use the sites to check out a particular bag they're thinking about buying. And why not? If you're planning to spend $2,000 for a bag, it makes sense to give it a test drive to know for sure it's the right size or not too heavy, says Kara Richter, a co-founder of From Bags to Riches based in St. Paul, Minn.

Renting also appeals to those who are just fickle.

"A lot of customers just like the idea of switching their bag every month," Richter says. "They always like to have something new and fresh."

On her site, the popular Louis Vuitton Neverfull GM, which retails for $665, rents for $139.95 a month, and includes free round-trip shipping and $100 of insurance. At Bag, Borrow or Steal, the Neverfull MM, a similar but smaller bag, rents to members for $113 and $151 to guests. The round-trip shipping charge is $9.95.

The concept got started in 2004, when Bag, Borrow or Steal co-founders Greg Pippo and Lloyd Lapidus watched their wives and sisters raid one another's closets, borrowing bags for certain outfits. From Bags to Riches started its online site about six months later, offering customers a similar service but without membership fees.

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