Which designer handbag?

Scrumptious

I am think of using part of my SSIA to buy myself a good, long-lasting, designer handbag such as the Chloe Paddington etc. that looks well yet is also recognisable (to those who know).

My budget will be about €800, can anyone recommend a lable that is the one to buy for years to come? I don't want something monogramed like the over-done Louis Vuitton style. I also don't want to have to go on a long waiting list, as I'll spend the money otherwise

Thinking of the likes of Marc Jacobs, Jimmy Choo, Balenciaga etc..

Thanks

tinkerbell

You won't buy a Chloe Paddington for €800. They cost €1,065 for the standard one, and €1,200 for the metallics. They have a very small Paddington in BT (baby Paddington) for around the €800 - €900 mark but it's not worth it because it's just too small to be practical.

Not sure about Balenciaga but I think they are also around the €1,000 mark. Jimmy Choo is slighly cheaper, around €600 (if I can recall correctly). Not sure on Marc Jacobs.

There are also plenty of LV bags that don't have the monogram on it (e.g. the Le Fabuleux, but it's over €2k) but there are also cheaper ones that don't have it as well.

An idea would be for you to look either at www.neimanmarcus.com or www.eluxury.com to give you an idea of prices and all the various designers that are out there. Those are american sites so remember, anything that is produced in Europe (e.g. Dior, Fendi, Prada, Gucci, LV, etc. etc.) will be a bit more expensive over there than what you would pay in Brown Thomas.

Up the ol budget and invest in something amazing, they are so worth it!

Scrumptious

I hadn't realised the Paddington was that much, must have been a sterling price that stuck in my mind.

Thanks, will check out those sites and see what there is.
I don't mind going to the €1,000 mark, if I am getting something I will love and treasure.

Stargal

Scrumptious wrote:

I don't mind going to the €1,000 mark, if I am getting something I will love and treasure.

Yeah but it's a BAG - there's only so much loving and treasuring you can do! Seriously, is there nothing better you could buy with your money?

Stench Blossoms

I'd go for a Chloe bag. I have one and i love it.

uniquechic

If you really want to splash out on a timeless bag you should think about getting a chanel bag. I know they have been copied to death and the are over your budget but they are excellent quality and so chic!

Faerie

I'd say you'll have to spend about 1000E if you want a really good designer bag. It's only an extra 200E!
Net-a-porter is a good site for designer handbags, however, if it was me, I wouldn't buy online. You're spending an awful lot of money so I'd make the most of it and make sure I'm in love with the bag, and online shopping takes the fun out of shopping - well for me anyway!
The Chloe bags are beautiful but everyone wants one and they have been mercilessly copied on the high street. Chanel bags are timelessly classic but I think that they too have been quite copied.
I would go for a Zac Posen bag.
Like the beautiful red one that Rachel Bilson has.
http://http://www.sassybella.com/column/index.php/2006/08/28/i-spy-rachel-bilson-loving-her-zac-posen-aurora-bag/

Guvnor

Hermes
Cartier

I'd go for the kelly bag but I think that would take up an unreasonable portion of your ssia (nice to see someone splashing the cash as it were, hard to beat the feelgood feeling!:D ) Failing the kelly bag, cartier bags are seriously high end, timelessly elegant and respected by those in the know.

Don't discount buying a good vintage bag either.

Best of luck.

PrettyInPunk

Laika wrote:

Yeah but it's a BAG - there's only so much loving and treasuring you can do! Seriously, is there nothing better you could buy with your money?

leave it out will you

Deffo buy the Paddington its amazing..im also a Chanel bag fan,and they have some REALLY nice ones out at the moment

tinkerbell

Regarding the Chanel bag copies - the only copies that you really see around are the two colour totes, e.g. black tote with the two big Cs on it in white. There are plenty other Chanel bags that you don't see copied.

Pythia

I am going to do what the OP is doing in a few months myself. I really like the Chesneau bags. They are in their own shop beside the LV door of BTs in Dublin. I also love Mulberry. Both of these do more classic styles which won't be obviously '2007'.

Seraphina

i cant believe so many of you are willing to pay those kind of prices for bags.

fashion slaves, its crazy.

im all for looking good, but there's no need to spend so much money on a bag just because its got someone name on it, thats ridiculous!

tinkerbell

Pythia wrote:

I am going to do what the OP is doing in a few months myself. I really like the Chesneau bags. They are in their own shop beside the LV door of BTs in Dublin. I also love Mulberry. Both of these do more classic styles which won't be obviously '2007'.

Chesneau also have a shop in a teeny lil village in Kilkenny!

Seraphina wrote:

i cant believe so many of you are willing to pay those kind of prices for bags.

fashion slaves, its crazy.

im all for looking good, but there's no need to spend so much money on a bag just because its got someone name on it, thats ridiculous!

I wouldn't consider myself a fashion slave and I would be willing to spend a lot on a bag if I like it. A fashion slave is someone who buys something just because it's in fashion. I spent ages humming and hawing over whether I should by my Christian Dior and then I decided to just go for it because I loved it so much. A fashion slave would just buy it on the spot. I also didn't buy one that would go out of date within a few months, I bought a classic bag.

Besides, I don't see anything wrong with spending a lot on a handbag if I'm still gonna have it thirty years from now. You can buy cheap ones for €50 to €100 and they'll have fallen apart from 6 months of heavy wear!

There is also nothing compared to the quality of the leather in the designer bags, they are just amazing. My bag still has that amazing leather smell to it and I bought it a year ago. It's also still in perfect condition!

empirix

Idiots - there's people dying in the world

Pythia

empirix wrote:

Idiots - there's people dying in the world

Totally off topic and abusive. I presume you spend all your time doing aid work so? :rolleyes:

If a bag makes you happy, buy it. It's great to treat yourself now and then.

empirix

Pythia wrote:

Totally off topic and abusive. I presume you spend all your time doing aid work so? :rolleyes:

If a bag makes you happy, buy it. It's great to treat yourself now and then.

Actually i have done Luv in SE Asia for 6 smonths :rolleyes: at you

Calibos

Seraphina wrote:

i cant believe so many of you are willing to pay those kind of prices for bags.

fashion slaves, its crazy.

im all for looking good, but there's no need to spend so much money on a bag just because its got someone name on it, thats ridiculous!

1200 for a bloody handbag and I bet They gave the BF a load of grief for spending 1200 on his 42in Plasma TV.

Women Pffftt! :rolleyes:

Beelzebub

Seraphina wrote:

i cant believe so many of you are willing to pay those kind of prices for bags.

fashion slaves, its crazy.

im all for looking good, but there's no need to spend so much money on a bag just because its got someone name on it, thats ridiculous!

I believe that Dunnes Stores have 'Designer style" bags at the moment (saw this in the RTE Guide last week) for 65, thinking of buying one for My Lady, just a little present.
I don't got loadsamoney.:(

dudara

I have a Chloe Paddington second/copy, bought for €90, and trust me, I would spend the money on the genuine item, if I had it. The quality of the top-end bags is fantastic. It is something that will make you feel better and a little happier every time you put it on your arm. Go for it! and have fun choosing.

JC 2K3

lol, consumerism.

uniquechic

dudara wrote:

I have a Chloe Paddington second/copy, bought for €90, and trust me, I would spend the money on the genuine item, if I had it. The quality of the top-end bags is fantastic. It is something that will make you feel better and a little happier every time you put it on your arm. Go for it! and have fun choosing.

Where did you buy that??I would love a chloe paddington but havent got the funds!

becah

I agree with pythia, a mulberry bag would be a great investment, it would last for years- my mum the brown bayswater mulberry bag a few years ago, the quality of the leather is unreal, it ages really really well, if I had the money to spend, I would buy one of these bags in a second, they're a classic. On the website, they are about 500sterling, so not too far off your budget!

b3t4

As other's say I'd up your budget to get a decent size handbag.

I too would love to buy the Chloé paddington bag. (I have a great copy I got from ebay) It's a beautiful, classic bag. I use it every day and still love it a year later. I am in no way a slave to fashion, if something appeals to me I will buy it or lust after it

Mulberry also do some lovely bags.

I like to compare buying an expensive bag to buying an expensive T.V. (insert some other gaget I can't find a particular need or want for). I can't see the need to pay nearly 2k for an oversized TV but I would have no problem spending that amount on a decent handbag.

A

JC 2K3

b3t4 wrote:

I like to compare buying an expensive bag to buying an expensive T.V. (insert some other gaget I can't find a particular need or want for). I can't see the need to pay nearly 2k for an oversized TV but I would have no problem spending that amount on a decent handbag.

I can't see the logic is spending €2k on either a handbag or a widescreen TV.

Wasting such a ridiculous amount of money on unnecessary and horrendously overpriced items is idiocy, especially when there are MUCH cheaper alternatives.

At the end of the day the only reason you spent so much money on it is because it cost so much. You may feel happy after spending so much money and "treating yourself", but it's a shallow happy feeling. You might try to justify your excessive waste of money by saying "but it's a designer label" or " but the quality is really good", or in the case of a TV, "but the screen's so big" or "but the picture clarity is amazing", but deep down you know you'd be no less happy with a cheaper alternative.

Stench Blossoms

JC 2K3 wrote:

I can't see the logic is spending €2k on either a handbag or a widescreen TV.

Wasting such a ridiculous amount of money on unnecessary and horrendously overpriced items is idiocy, especially when there are MUCH cheaper alternatives.

At the end of the day the only reason you spent so much money on it is because it cost so much. You may feel happy after spending so much money and "treating yourself", but it's a shallow happy feeling. You might try to justify your excessive waste of money by saying "but it's a designer label" or " but the quality is really good", or in the case of a TV, "but the screen's so big" or "but the picture clarity is amazing", but deep down you know you'd be no less happy with a cheaper alternative.

What's the point in earning money if your not going to spend it? Yeh you could buy the cheaper items and then have money left over but what would you spend that on then?

JC 2K3

So you're saying buy expensive stuff for the purpose of using up money?

I don't think many people "just have" €2000 lying around that they'd like to get rid of....

dudara

Can we stop the prosletising here? This isn't a forum for spiritual, philosophical or consumer ethics issues. This argument just reeks. Let it be.

Stench Blossoms

JC 2K3 wrote:

So you're saying buy expensive stuff for the purpose of using up money?

I don't think many people "just have" €2000 lying around that they'd like to get rid of....

Never said people "just have" money lying around. They could save.

Anyway I think a Chloe bag would be well worth the investment.

olaola

I love Orla Kiely bags - you can get a really beautiful leather one for about 350 stg. And then you'll have money left over for a wallet too!!

www.orlakiely.com

tinkerbell

JC 2K3 wrote:

I can't see the logic is spending €2k on either a handbag or a widescreen TV.

Wasting such a ridiculous amount of money on unnecessary and horrendously overpriced items is idiocy, especially when there are MUCH cheaper alternatives.

At the end of the day the only reason you spent so much money on it is because it cost so much. You may feel happy after spending so much money and "treating yourself", but it's a shallow happy feeling. You might try to justify your excessive waste of money by saying "but it's a designer label" or " but the quality is really good", or in the case of a TV, "but the screen's so big" or "but the picture clarity is amazing", but deep down you know you'd be no less happy with a cheaper alternative.

Just give it a rest please. Take your arguments to the Humanities forum or wherever else you want to rant about spending money on a handbag or whatever. This is a fashion forum and the OP did not ask for your opinion on if it's stupid to spend that much money on a handbag - she asked WHAT handbag.

I love my beautiful Christian Dior bag and I am delighted I bought it. It cost a lot but it's still amazing.

orla wrote:

Never said people "just have" money lying around. They could save.

Anyway I think a Chloe bag would be well worth the investment.

Yep orla, I saved up for about 3 - 4 months for mine. Put a bit aside every month. Really appreciated it then because it took me a while to save up for it. And yes, a Chloe bag is well worth the investment!

Regarding the Chloe Paddingtons ... I managed to convince my dad to buy one for my mom this Christmas. Spent a while convincing him to fork out the cash to buy a standard one, but when I went in, they had just got in the most AMAZING metallic Paddingtons just in. Rang him and was like "you have to get her this one!! It's amazing!" So he was like "ok, off you go". Told the guy in BT I'd take it, he went off to get a fresh one down in the stock room, next thing I realised, oh crap, it's more expensive! Rang him back and he nearly had a stroke! But it was worth it in the end, coz my mom absolutely and truly loved it. Twas actually her first ever designer bag and she was over the moon. And I know the quality of the Paddington is amazing, but the metallics are so much more. Oh I was so jealous Still am! And then a few weeks later, metallics are all over the catwalk! I'm like to my mom "you are so in fashion right now!" She was delighted! Oh and the metallics aren't like tacky metallics either that you see in a lot of places, it's actually kinda classic metallic and very subtle so you wouldn't really call it metallic.

Stench Blossoms

tinkerbell wrote:

Regarding the Chloe Paddingtons ... I managed to convince my dad to buy one for my mom this Christmas. Spent a while convincing him to fork out the cash to buy a standard one, but when I went in, they had just got in the most AMAZING metallic Paddingtons just in. Rang him and was like "you have to get her this one!! It's amazing!" So he was like "ok, off you go". Told the guy in BT I'd take it, he went off to get a fresh one down in the stock room, next thing I realised, oh crap, it's more expensive! Rang him back and he nearly had a stroke! But it was worth it in the end, coz my mom absolutely and truly loved it. Twas actually her first ever designer bag and she was over the moon. And I know the quality of the Paddington is amazing, but the metallics are so much more. Oh I was so jealous Still am! And then a few weeks later, metallics are all over the catwalk! I'm like to my mom "you are so in fashion right now!" She was delighted! Oh and the metallics aren't like tacky metallics either that you see in a lot of places, it's actually kinda classic metallic and very subtle so you wouldn't really call it metallic.

I've a metalic blue/navy one. Love it.

tinkerbell

orla wrote:

I've a metalic blue/navy one. Love it.

The one with the silver padlock yah? If so I know the one you are talking about! Tiz fabulous!!

My mom's is kinda a champagne / silver type metallic, it's actually a really weird colour to describe because it's got elements of both.

empirix

An example of the fine new breed of Irish women, nearly getting as bad as their UK and Americano counterparts :rolleyes:

brunette

just wondering where you got your chloe paddington. im looking for a white or cream one for the summer. obviously not the real thing,as im only a student! willing to pay about €100. anyone know of any shops in limerick/kerry that i could lay my hands on one? or perhaps dublin?

Kolodny

brunette wrote:

just wondering where you got your chloe paddington. im looking for a white or cream one for the summer. obviously not the real thing,as im only a student! willing to pay about €100. anyone know of any shops in limerick/kerry that i could lay my hands on one? or perhaps dublin?

You won't see the quality copies in the shops - try eBay. I got a gorgeous dark brown one for €150. It's really good quality and has the lovely leather smell and while I'm sure plenty here would complain that it's not as good as the real thing, I love it and there's no way I'd spend €1000+ on a handbag - I couldn't live with myself!