History of the Black Basketweave MAB throughout the seasons

[GUNG]

Intro:

The Black Basketweave MAB from Rebecca Minkoff has been a popular style which has been reintroduced throughout the seasons.

To the best of my knowledge, this style has been available in three different kinds of leather with minute changes in details such as hardware, zipper tracks, and interior linings.

For the purposes of clarification, it is my aim in this post to show the different types of leathers and detailing on this bag that have been available since the inception of this bag.

Please note that this info is compiled from my own knowledge (I have owned all three versions of this bag); there very well could have been even more leathers out there for this bag style that I am unaware of.

[GUNG]

Part 1:

Black Basketweave MAB in its earliest form: The Lilo Era (Again, to the best of my knowledge, ladies!)

Admittedly, the BBW was widely available long before Lilo was sporting it. However it was not until Miss Lohan went to Rehab in Utah where she was photographed with this bag, that the BBW exploded in popularity.
Back then, the BBW had a slouchy, unstructured shape. It was constructed of butter soft leather and had long tassels in addition to having a royal blue zipper track that added just a touch of funk. The lining in this bag was a Fleur de Lis print.

Note the leather: It was a deep, saturated black that was smooth and buttery.

[GUNG]

Part 2:

Black Basketweave MAB: A new era and gaining mass popularity

The surge in popularity for the BBW was apparent on TPF at the time. Shortly thereafter, the BBW was re-released with a new black & white floral lining and a leather which was still buttery soft but was hardier and had somewhat of a stone wash effect. The color of the body was not as saturated as the black of the earlier season. The tassels, hardware, and blue zipper track still remained on this style

[GUNG]

The popularity for the BBW peaked after it was discovered that these bags could no longer be found anywhere, anymore. Mass hysteria ensued as women frantically searched for this bag. Here on TPF, RM was kind enough to grant a special order for this bag and shortly thereafter a small number of these re released bags made their way to a a couple of online boutiques. This new version of the BBW came with the new light gold hardware that RM has employed on all of her new bags. Instead of the long tassels that were a staple on earlier versions, the new version came with a clean and sleek zipper pull. The royal blue zipper pull was replaced with a black one which ultimately gave the bag a more monochromatic and polished look. The leather on this bag was also updated; unlike the earlier seasons which had either the smooth highly saturated black leather or the hardier, slightly stonewashed black leather, this new leather was more structured, slightly pebbled, super soft yet durable, and was a very deep black. As with the previous season, the interior lining was a black & white floral print

[GUNG]

In conclusion, I would like to state the obvious: I obviously have a whole lotta time on my hands!

I wanted to do this because there is so MUCH confusion about this bag in regard to leathers, hardware, linings, zippers and more. Quite frankly, the BBW has evolved and is not the same bag it once was. Where it was once a fun, flirty bag that had a bit of a boho sexy appeal, it is now a chic, polished,structured bag that can work equally as well in the office as it would out and about in town having dinner and drinks with friends.

All versions of the Black Basketweave MAB have been gorgeous

[GUNG]

Crap! I ran out of editing time!

That last paragraph was supposed to read like this:


All versions of the Black Basketweave MAB have been gorgeous in their own unique ways; you can't go wrong buying any of them! As someone who has owned all three versions, I can wholeheartedly tell you that they all rock and that the hard part is figuring out which one you like the most!

I hope this helped somewhat! Also, feel free to add to this all if there was an earlier version of the BBW. I can vaguely recall one that had the long tassels minus the rings at the end but ultimately I am not sure enough to post it here.

Sorry about all the typos! I had to work fast to make all these posts with pictures, and TPF only allows you to edit for 30 minutes after the creation of each post!

[sunseasaltylife]

GUNG, this is fantastic!!
Thank you so much!
Now can you do this for every other RM bag? pretty please?

What, you don't have THAT much time?
j/k!

thanks for this- it's great to see really informative threads that can tell us some of the history!

[scarlet*rose]

Great post! I am fairly new to RM & enjoyed reading this. So informative! Could you please post more for some of the other bags?

[piffleprincess]

Wow thanks for doing this GUNG! RM BBW regardless the hardware is definately one of my favourites!

[NicolesCloset]

Gung this post is great. Thank you

[beano]

thanks GUNG!!! very helpful info. you are a RM historian :)

[jackieusc]

BRAVO Gung! I bet RM or her girls will love reading this!! I hope they add to it as well!!
Now hopefully we will find out which one we are getting from FLL!!!! As you said, all versions are gorgeous!

[lilac0485]

Great posts, it is the evolution of the BBW from downtown chick to uptown working girl.

[littlerock]

Great post GUNG!! It is very sweet of you to take the time to enlighten us all on these very details. You rock!!

[Trayler]

Great thread Gung!!!
Wouldn't it be great to be able to know a bit of history of all the RM bags?
Thanks for taking the time to write this...it was very informative.