Your choice: 4 kind of expensive brown bags or 1 really expensive brown bag???

[GUNG]

(Pictures in this post and the next post!)


So here is the dilemma I am in! I love bags, and I love brown bag perhaps the most. Brown is the color I wear most often. I have accumulated what I had thought were some of the most perfect brown bags, and they were not cheap!

Some of the brown bags are:

The Coach Mandy (retail something like $700, I bought it for $450)
The Bulga Zip Satchel in Dark Mustang (bought for $300)
The Kooba Jessie in Bourbon (bought for $230)
The Rebecca Minkoff Morning After in Chocolate (Bought for $450)

Thats a grand total of about $1430, which is fine I guess.

Then....I had to go and by the Prada Gauffre Convertible Satchel in Noce/Walnut which retails for like $2200, was $1880 on Bluefly, and was purchased by me with a 20% discount for a total of $1510.

$1510! Yes, thats a deal but OMG thats a lot of money.

Without a doubt, I can't afford both Option A (4 pricey bags) and Option B (1 very pricey bag) and this is my dilemma!

I cant make up my mind, and i need some serious advice. Please advise this purse addict!

(Some pictures of the Prada Gauffre Satchel are in the post below)

 

[GUNG]

Pics of Prada Gauffre Convertible Satchel

Pics are of the same style bag from Ebay, Bluefly, and Ladysalerep on tpf

 

[HitchcockBlonde]

Awww, Ms. GUNG, this is a tough one.

I guess I would ask - are you the kind of person who likes variety? Or are you the kind of person who really would wear just one brown bag with every brown outfit?

From your other posts, you seem to me to be the kind of person who likes variety in your handbags (me, too!) so it might make more practical sense for you to keep all the cheaper ones and return the Miu Miu.

On the other hand...the Miu Miu is freaking gorgeous and by far the most stunning purse of the choices IMO.

Any way you can afford to keep the Miu Miu and ONE of the other cheap ones, like for example the RM? That's what I'd do in an ideal world.

Otherwise, I think the more practical answer is that you should return the beautiful Miu Miu and keep the other brown bags, if you like to have a variety of choices to keep you from getting bored. (This is how I am too.)

Sorry it is such a tough choice. Your bags are gorgeous, as always!

 

[mayajuliana]

Hi Ms. GUNG, can you return all or part of the Option A bags to fund Option B? To me the bags aren't very comparable...the Prada is WAY lighter than the Carly, and plus the Carly is a shoulder bag, as the Kooba. The Kooba also can't fit everything the Prada can. Can you tell me how you feel about each bag?

 

[GUNG]

Awww, Ms. GUNG, this is a tough one.

I guess I would ask - are you the kind of person who likes variety? Or are you the kind of person who really would wear just one brown bag with every brown outfit?

From your other posts, you seem to me to be the kind of person who likes variety in your handbags (me, too!) so it might make more practical sense for you to keep all the cheaper ones and return the Miu Miu.

On the other hand...the Miu Miu is freaking gorgeous and by far the most stunning purse of the choices IMO.

Any way you can afford to keep the Miu Miu and ONE of the other cheap ones, like for example the RM? That's what I'd do in an ideal world.

Otherwise, I think the more practical answer is that you should return the beautiful Miu Miu and keep the other brown bags, if you like to have a variety of choices to keep you from getting bored. (This is how I am too.)

Sorry it is such a tough choice. Your bags are gorgeous, as always!

Thank you! Yes I can afford to keep the Prada and the Rebecca Minkoff but that would be it! I could not keep any of the other ones! It tears me up to think about not having that Coach Mandy (GORGEOUS BAG!) or the bubbly cognac Kooba Jessie. However, thinking about not getting that gorgeous Prada tears me up too!

 

[mayajuliana]

Oh and GUNG, I can give you practical advice about the Prada convertible...I have that exact bag. I have a Kooba Keira also that is comparable to your Kooba too. I just feel I don't know your style well enough to comment and I'm trying to figure out how to give you feedback that is useful to you because knowing me I'll tell you to keep all of them, which is bad bad bad for the budget!

 

[GUNG]

Hi Ms. GUNG, can you return all or part of the Option A bags to fund Option B? To me the bags aren't very comparable...the Prada is WAY lighter than the Carly, and plus the Carly is a shoulder bag, as the Kooba. The Kooba also can't fit everything the Prada can. Can you tell me how you feel about each bag?

Just real quick, its actually a Mandy bag; I dont know what a Carly looks like.

My feelings on each bag:

Coach Mandy: Huge, Heavy but the best freaking Coach bag I have ever seen. The hardware is substantial and pretty, the legacy lining is gorgeous, and the leather is thick and yummy.

Kooba Jessie: Convenient little bag that just flings right over my shoulder. Sometimes the "look" of it does irritate me though. Kind of hard to explain

Rebecca Minkoff MA: Simple lines, reminds me of an LV Speedy, holds a lot and is a versatile color.

The Bulga satchel I think is beautiful but..sometimes I dont. I like the dark expresso color and the cute interior but am not too fond of the looong tassels


Also, cant the Gauffre be used as a shoulder bag too? I thought it came with a shoulder strap...hence, the convertible part of the name?

 

[claireZk]

I love the Bulga and Koobas so I voted to keep 4 instead of 1.

I was just thinking about this today, because since the new year started I've bought a Kooba and a Cynthia Rowley and I just ordered a Goldenbleu today. For what I've spent I could have bought one LV (a cheap LV, but an LV nonetheless). But.... I'm the type of girl who'd rather have three bags than one, even if they're less prestigious

 

[mayajuliana]

Sorry about the screwup on the Coach...oooopppssss.

On the Prada, yes, it comes with a shoulder strap and it really comes in handy when you just don't want to hold it by hand anymore. It's not as heavy as the other bags, so I appreciate it and use it more often than others. Yes, it was very pricey for me (at least you got a good deal on it!), but the Prada I don't regret getting it because I really like the style.

I agree that the Coach is very well made...I love the hardware. And it's a bag that will go under your arm well. The Prada will not go under your arm...it will be at your hip because of the long strap. On the Minkoff, it looks like such a very useful bag. I would keep it. The others I would not like as much and you seem to have reservations about them.

If I were you, I would...
1) Keep the Prada, Minkoff, and Coach, and just be on a short, small ban/minimize shopping for a while and enjoy those bags
2) Keep the Prada and the Minkoff (or the Coach)

I don't like the Prada for the name, more for the style. There's nothing out there that compares to that kind of ruching. If it is truly one of your HG bags, i would really keep it because it's hard to find on sale. I didn't buy mine on sale ush:. But you also should consider your finances and where you feel comfortable. Good luck!

 

[greenpixie]

If you can swing it, I think you should keep the Prada, the MAB and the Coach Mandy - they seem like the ones that make your heart flutter, and then maybe try to cut back on other things for a couple months?

Then you still have versatility in look and function, and some variety, but still are selling some to fund the priciness of the Prada.

 

[Contessa]

You know.....I'm not a fan of COACH, but the one you have is actually really nice.

I'd keep the PRADA w/o blinking an eye.....it's TDF!!!!!

 

[BagsRME]

Hello,
I think it depends on whether you like quantity or quality. Don't get me wrong, the first four have great quality. If I had to make the choice I would go with the prada. Yes it is one bag, but it is functional, stylish, and versatile, not to mention gorgeous.

 

[luvinmybags]

Gung, I've seen SOME of your collection...and it's intense! There is NO WAY you can use ALL those bags, without switching out every day! So, I think you should step it up a notch. Sell the other brown bags, and keep the Prada. It's better to have a smaller collection of AMAZING bags that get used. Than a larger collection of a bunch of bags that don't get the love they deserve. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you love them, but do you use all of them?

 

[rachieface]

I'm torn up about this, too. Are you feeling like you want to trade in your four "mid-end" bags because the Prada is a "high-end"? Or is it really because you love the Prada SO much and the other four just aren't cutting it?

I remember reading the post when you got the Mandy bag and how much you were shocked and loved it. And, this was the first Coach bag in AGES that made me think I could even consider buying one again.

It also seems you really like your RM.

Keep the ones you LOVE, LOVE, LOVE and return the rest. There will always be one that comes along that you have to have. And might as well be 100% with a bag than iffy about it, ya know? And since you already know what it feels like to carry your bags, you will know along the line that they just don't do it for you the way they should.

 

[prof ash]

I'm torn up about this, too. Are you feeling like you want to trade in your four "mid-end" bags because the Prada is a "high-end"? Or is it really because you love the Prada SO much and the other four just aren't cutting it?

I remember reading the post when you got the Mandy bag and how much you were shocked and loved it. And, this was the first Coach bag in AGES that made me think I could even consider buying one again.

It also seems you really like your RM.

Keep the ones you LOVE, LOVE, LOVE and return the rest. There will always be one that comes along that you have to have. And might as well be 100% with a bag than iffy about it, ya know? And since you already know what it feels like to carry your bags, you will know along the line that they just don't do it for you the way they should.

I agree with rachie too. If you can still afford to keep at least 1 of the bags from option a & still have the prada, do it. it seems that you LOVE 2 of them in option a, and the other 2 wouldn't be missed once prada steps into your life I know you said you can only keep the Mandy & the Prada, but you also loved the RM too. I think you should keep those 3. I know that wasn't an option, but you only live once. You'll still be saving when you cut it down to 3 instead of 5, and just find a way to fund it - put yourself on a ban, work extra if you can, or ask for money as a bday/valentine's day/anniversary/early early christmas present. you deserve to have what you truly want & love!!