Black Friday Insanity - Lots of reviews incoming (Strathberry, Parisa Wang, The Horse, more), what do you want to see?
I starting getting into nicer handbags about 2 years ago, and at first I didn't understand my needs. TLDR I made some painful mistakes by buying expensive designer purses I never used, which scared me for awhile. I've paid more attention since then, and recently felt ready to make a few purchases with the goal of having a core set of bags that I truly love.
Luckily for me this also coincided with a work bonus, and Black Friday sales! I set aside a budget, and ended up deciding to buy way more bags than I need (if the company had free returns, or a return fee I was willing to pay). I've mostly decided which ones to keep, but overall feel EXTREMELY happy that I went this slightly-ridiculous route, since I was a little nervous but now feel very confident that I picked the right bags for me!
I'm sharing this because this subreddit helped me SO much in narrowing down my choices, and I want to pay it forward by writing a bunch of reviews/sharing pictures. In the coming week or so, I want to write a few posts reviewing the bag(s) I got per each of the companies I ordered from, what I liked or didn't, and why I did or didn't keep the bags.
I'm writing this post because, 1) you can let me know in advance if there's anything you want me to cover in my reviews, and also, 2) it's a place to ask me comparative questions. My future posts will just focus on the items I got from each individual brand, and not any overall decision-making.
Here's the full list - are there are particular photos you want, or comparative questions you have about any of these brands/items?
- Strathberry -
- Mosaic (Bottle Green, Taupe, Black)
- Charlotte (Black)
- Parisa Wang -
- Micro Madison (Pebbled Black, Walrus Houndstooth)
- Sophie Baguette (Cream)
- The Horse -
- Clementine (Olive, Burgundy)
- Radley London -
- Hanley Close Medium Shoulder Bag (Chalk)
- Aallyn -
- Ingrid (Biscotti, Woodberry)
- Elara (Blush)
- Wandler -
- Lin Mini (Black)
- Smaak Amsterdam
- Kim (Fire)
- Sophie (Black)
- I also purchased Jodi in Fig + Jovi in Camel as gifts
UPDATE: The final verdict is in, and I kept:
- Parisa Wang Micro Madison in Black Pebbled Leather
- Parisa Wang Sophie in Cream
- The Horse Clementine in Burgundy
- Strathberry Mosaic in Bottle Green
My biggest surprise was that I did NOT like the Smaak Amsterdam bags! So much that I decided to return even the ones I purchased as gifts, because they felt too cheap for me to feel comfortable gifting - even the sale prices felt like too much for the quality. I ended up getting one person the Luna instead, and the other recipient another gift entirely.
EDIT - Bags I already have / used to have, and can also compare:
- Sezane - Mini Milo, Victor
- Gucci - Soho Disco
- Chloe - Marcie
- Saint Laurent - Sac du Jour
- Prada Cavallino Twin Pocket
- A few others, ie a YSL box bag I don't know the name of