The best quality for the price and prestige/ recognition to price ratio for bags right now is Louboutin. If the bags were LV or CHanel, they would've cost 100 to 150% more.
Current Good Quality Fair Price but Little Known Recommendation Thread
- Thread starter papertiger
- Start date
TPF may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, and others
I need a good athletic bag! Do you mind providing a link? Is this a US or EU company?For all the athletic bag ladies, I have to give a shout out to Caraa. I had their embroidered studio duffel for a bit and was very impressed with how thoughtfully and well that bag was made (not to mention gorgeous). I ultimately let it go because it was a bit too big for me and instead took the plunge and got their signature studio bag medium in moss during a winter magic promo. While Id say the regular price for this bag is crazy high (for a gym bag), it is an engineering marvel in its own way! They have literally thought of everything and anything. And it’s pretty cute, to boot
I think it's a US company, here: https://caraasport.com
That is the one!
. They have sales and promos on occasion. I also discovered that there is an ebay seller that posts some of their one of a kind or slightly “defective” (ie a broken zipper puller, so negligible but not sellable full price) items for a reduced price.
Any chance of mod shots with your beautiful duffle? And your not kidding they are pricey for an athletic bag but if its well made and designed I would definitely consider. I'm currently using a Lululemon backpack and I hate it, lol
Not sure if it's a good thing or not but I started at the beginning of this thread. LOL! Awesome idea! Thank you Papertiger!
Does anyone own a angti&yang? I'm in love with the cycle bag
I discovered a French minimalist brand Ateliers Auguste a few months ago via Instagram and got really intrigued by their timeless designs and a fairly affordable price point. Fortunately, my best friend went to Paris on vacation, so I convinced him to bring me their Monceau bag to avoid paying shipping. Finally got the bag after waiting awhile and am very happy! It is very minimalist, but leather feels superb and sturdy, beautiful black color. Stitching is perfect and the bag, while fairly compact, actually fits a decent amount of things (like a 10 inch iPad and a 12 Oz Zojirushi tumbler!). They only have about 3 styles for women, but I think quality/price ratio is very good. The bags are designed in France and manufactured in Italy.
How do you like your bag after using it for a while? How is it holding up? Is it heavy, light? Does it transition well for different parts of your life, or is it just a work bag?
Also, do you have any mod shots? I’m 5’10” and a lot of bags don’t hit me at the right spot when carrying crossbody. Is the strap adjustable?
Thanks!!
Hey! I really like this bag and it's holding up well so far! The leather is very thick and smooth, has sort of a matte finish to it. It started to acquire a little scratches here and there but it's not at all detracting from the look and in time I think it will patina very beautifully. It is not really a work bag for me, as it is fairly small - it fits more than you'd think it would, but not enough to get me through the work day. It's a great errands bag or a day out on a town bag that transitions well into dinner time. It is not an overly heavy bag, but it's definitely not a "weightless" one, as it were - like I mentioned earlier,the leather is quite thick.
The only mod shot I have is the one below. I am just under 5 foot 9. The strap is adjustable, but it's (for me) on a shorter side - I wear it on the second to longest setting. I would wear it on the longest setting length-wise, but then I feel like the strap adjustment can come undone since it would only be connected with one metal knob thingy instead of two or more.
Attachments
That was probably addressed to me
. I don't have any mod shots at the moment, sorry - there are a lot of promo photos on their IG that I think are fairly true to life. The studio bag comes in 3 different sizes - regular, medium, and large. A regular one can fit up to an iPad or 11 inch laptop in its sleeve, medium a 13 inch, large a 15 inch. Mine is a medium - as I just got it, I haven't quite tested its capacity to the full extent yet, just played around a little. It easily can fit a change of gym clothes (yoga pants, tshirt, sports bra, knee sleeves etc) in a small bag, New Balance minimums workout shoes (very low profile kind) in a shoe bag, and there are like 40 million pockets and sections left to stash cosmetics, electronics, and other personal items. I imagine I could also fit a small foldable towel and a pair of flip flops, but not much beyond that. I also tried fitting it for my swim gear, but ultimately decided that the bag this pretty should not be subjected to having chlorine soaked stuffs sitting it it and reverted back to my faithful 20 dollar swim duffel from Amazon .The embroidered studio duffel is by far the most affordable of Caraa's bags and it's super gorgeous and spacious in person - I honestly still don't quite understand why it costs so much less than their other stuff. However, it was much too big for me, so I sold it
.
I have a Flora a couple of Phoebe's, a little Muse and a Daphne. Love all those styles. The Phoebe's and Flora have had for close to 4 years. Use them often and they still look new. Great leather excellent craftsmanship and amazing price point. I have been buying his bags for over 10 years and they wear so well.I am sad that he is closing! And that I did not find him earlier. I’ve exchanged emails with him, and I am ordering a little muse, 2 Daphne’s, a flora, and phoebe. Kind of overkillbut afraid he will stop taking orders! Do you have any of these styles?
Omg I just looked at the Deadly Ponies bags....gorgeous...thank you for the post, I will definitely be looking to add a bag or 2 after my MM spending spree is behind me
Hi! Sorry yes it was addressed to you, lol. Thanks so much for the description and telling me what she holds. I'm definitely gonna look into getting one after I do some research on the best size for me.That was probably addressed to me
The embroidered studio duffel is by far the most affordable of Caraa's bags and it's super gorgeous and spacious in person - I honestly still don't quite understand why it costs so much less than their other stuff. However, it was much too big for me, so I sold it
I was using my stupid Lululemon backpack today and I got annoyed at it again. It has the most annoying and difficult phone pocket. You can spend 2 minutes trying to fit your phone exactly right to get it to zip up. And the top zippers constantly slide down and all my stuff wants to fall out. This backpack is only 6 months old and I never really liked it once I started using it. I'll be happy to throw this into the back of my closet
oh yay, that's so exciting! I am not a huge fan of the fact that they seemed to have raised their prices a little bit recently, but even at the current cost, IMO, the bag is still worth it. I wore it today again and it's a great errands bag that has room for just a little more - it fits my 12 OZ Zojirushi coffee tumbler and a daily planner, for example! It is currently firmly on my "do not resell" list due to its classic design and functionality. So I very much hope you will love it as much as I do
He gave it to me this weekend and I absolutely love the bag! It’s so classic and simple and appears to be well made. It also came with a leather headphone holder from the brand, which was nice.
I got it in black. The tan color was tempting but I was afraid it would be too orange. I wish they did a beige or a gray.
I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more from the brand because this bag is a new favorite!
I don’t know if Danse Lente
has been mentioned yet, but they’re the first bags that have drawn my attention away from my usual bubble. They have beautiful & unique modern designs, somewhat minimalist, looks very high quality & it’s not bank breaking (if you consider they’re the same price points as some big brands, who knock off designers and sell low quality stuff, they’re not expensive).
I haven’t bought one yet just because I have many other expensive bags I still haven’t fully enjoyed; otherwise I would have definitely taken the plunge.
Here’s one of my favorites. Johnny Hexagon bag:
https://www.bergdorfgoodman.com/Dan...KIPpJcD9nInH6DMoR_1UU5UH2cY7jshhoCNmMQAvD_BwE
has been mentioned yet, but they’re the first bags that have drawn my attention away from my usual bubble. They have beautiful & unique modern designs, somewhat minimalist, looks very high quality & it’s not bank breaking (if you consider they’re the same price points as some big brands, who knock off designers and sell low quality stuff, they’re not expensive).
I haven’t bought one yet just because I have many other expensive bags I still haven’t fully enjoyed; otherwise I would have definitely taken the plunge.
Here’s one of my favorites. Johnny Hexagon bag:
https://www.bergdorfgoodman.com/Dan...KIPpJcD9nInH6DMoR_1UU5UH2cY7jshhoCNmMQAvD_BwE