ebene vs noir ...too similar?

[Chrismin]

Hi there
curious to hear everyone's thoughts ..
was having a discussion w my favorite and only sister
i have a black box kelly 28 sellier and recently purchased ebene togo kelly 25 retourne-- she thought these bags were too similar .. I obviously thought they were different enough to have...
what do you think? are they too similar? or different enough?

 

[momoc]

Not at all IMO lol.

I mean, even a Box Noir 28 Sellier and a Togo Noir 25 Retourne would be very different bags to me…not even accounting the color…

 

[SpicyTuna13]

Not exactly “the same”, but I see what your sister is implying — they are both dark colored K bags.

I avoid H ebene bags in general since I already have LV DE items which I feel fill that color scheme.

 

[loh]

Similar in color, but that's about it. The size, structure, leather and vibe (imo) of the two are completely different. And if they have 2 different types of hardware, then even more so. But even if they are both ghw/phw, I think they are very different bags. Just my 2 cents.

 

[maxroxxherhandbags]

I think they are different enough-similar only in that they are both dark

 

[Chrismin]

@momoc , @SpicyTuna13 , @loh, @maxroxxherhandbags
Appreciate your input !
I obviously think it’s diff enough

 

[ILQA]

I have 2 same Togo B shoulder bags in noir and ebene, both phw. Although I like it a lot, I often thought of letting the ebene go as I use it much less. However I feel that with some of my outfit noir looks like if I grabbed the first dark bag in my closet whereas ebene brings an elegant, uncommon touch and seems to put everything together. So I guess it depends on your wardrobe. Congrats for your 2 beautiful bags !

 

[Chrismin]

Good point !
Black goes w all but the ebene def suits brown/ beige undertones better!

I have 2 same Togo B shoulder bags in noir and ebene, both phw. Although I like it a lot, I often thought of letting the ebene go as I use it much less. However I feel that with some of my outfit noir looks like if I grabbed the first dark bag in my closet whereas ebene brings an elegant, uncommon touch and seems to put everything together. So I guess it depends on your wardrobe. Congrats for your 2 beautiful bags !

 

[880]

Not similar at all like dark chocolate versus black licorice
my criteria is seasonality (dependent on geography) and style French (structured) /Italian (fluid)

dark ebene (can be summer in North America) with taupe, white;
can be sartorial with blue, green, and other colors (in my world, navy is a pop of color)
my test is: ebene is better when worn with Italian designers like brunello cuchinelli, etro, borelli tailored shirts (or any tailored shirt. exception: Gucci and Prada RTW is best with black.

black (can be year round in North America, but is really more fall, winter in other places). Not as good in Asia, or southern US (JMO), but if I am traveling there, I don’t bring multiple bags so would probably pick a light neutral etoupe/ etain.
black is mainly fashion (I think some would argue black is never sartorial)
my test is: balck is better with french designer chanel, Dior, anne Fontaine, and better with non Italian designers like Jil sander, Akris, and Issey Miyake. Exceptiom: Marni and Louis Vuitton RTW (I haven’t bought any of the latter since Marc Jacobs, so I have no idea)

This presumes you are like me and prefer not to match RTW brand to bag brand.

Note: for sartorial clothing, I prefer pebbled leather
for fashion clothing, I prefer smooth heritage saddle leather
IDK why, but it fits your hypothetical between black box and ebene togo
arguably, for the right bag, the right shade of blue could be both sartorial and fashion and be acceptable in all seasons, but we are not exactly minimalists on TPF

Edit: for traditional H RTW, like a twillane kind of thing, I think ebene or blue pebbled leather is better somehow, but H RTW seems to be more and more sleek and edgy, (lprefall 2021) so perhaps smooth black heritage leather would best complement that sleek look. Note: I wear a lot of navy, black, grey and taupe, so YMMV

 

[Chrismin]

Wow thanks for your thoughts! I never thought of it this way but I can see your points !

QUOTE="880, post: 34610947, member: 148115"]
Not similar at all like dark chocolate versus black licorice
my criteria is seasonality (dependent on geography) and style French (structured) /Italian (fluid)

dark ebene (can be summer ) with taupe, white;
can be sartorial with blue, green, and other colors (in my world, navy is a pop of color)
my test is: ebene is better when worn with Italian designers like brunello cuchinelli, etro, borelli tailored shirts (or any tailored shirt. exception: Gucci and Prada RTW is best with black.

black (can be year round if you live in North America, but is really more fall, winter in other places). Not as good in Asia, or southern US (JMO), but if I am traveling there, I don’t bring multiple bags so would probably pick a light neutral etoupe/ etain.
black is mainly fashion (I think some would argue black is never sartorial)
my test is: balck is better with french designer chanel, Dior, anne Fontaine, and better with non Italian designers like Jil sander, Akris, and Issey Miyake. Exceptiom: Marni and Louis Vuitton RTW (I haven’t bought any of the latter since Marc Jacobs, so I have no idea)

This presumes you are like me and prefer not to match RTW brand to bag brand.

Note: for sartorial clothing, I prefer pebbled leather
for fashion clothing, I prefer smooth heritage saddle leather
IDK why, but it fits your hypothetical between black box and ebene togo
arguably, for the right bag, the right shade of blue could be both sartorial and fashion and be acceptable in all seasons, but we are not exactly minimalists on TPF
[/QUOTE]

 

[CMilly]

I have both colours and I don’t find them similar at all. Ebene is a chocolate brown and noir is black. If your wardrobe can accommodate chocolate brown, ebene is beautiful.

 

[Chrismin]

i also wanted to add @880
that i am definitely not a minimalist! (but i am a wannabe
i started out trying to sell a bunch of bags and such to streamline my closet only to end up w the close to the same number
my husband is always shaking his head.. but he knows to let me go through my process although it defies all logic

Not similar at all like dark chocolate versus black licorice
my criteria is seasonality (dependent on geography) and style French (structured) /Italian (fluid)

dark ebene (can be summer ) with taupe, white;
can be sartorial with blue, green, and other colors (in my world, navy is a pop of color)
my test is: ebene is better when worn with Italian designers like brunello cuchinelli, etro, borelli tailored shirts (or any tailored shirt. exception: Gucci and Prada RTW is best with black.

black (can be year round if you live in North America, but is really more fall, winter in other places). Not as good in Asia, or southern US (JMO), but if I am traveling there, I don’t bring multiple bags so would probably pick a light neutral etoupe/ etain.
black is mainly fashion (I think some would argue black is never sartorial)
my test is: balck is better with french designer chanel, Dior, anne Fontaine, and better with non Italian designers like Jil sander, Akris, and Issey Miyake. Exceptiom: Marni and Louis Vuitton RTW (I haven’t bought any of the latter since Marc Jacobs, so I have no idea)

This presumes you are like me and prefer not to match RTW brand to bag brand.

Note: for sartorial clothing, I prefer pebbled leather
for fashion clothing, I prefer smooth heritage saddle leather
IDK why, but it fits your hypothetical between black box and ebene togo
arguably, for the right bag, the right shade of blue could be both sartorial and fashion and be acceptable in all seasons, but we are not exactly minimalists on TPF

 

[ardenp]

Not similar at all like dark chocolate versus black licorice
my criteria is seasonality (dependent on geography) and style French (structured) /Italian (fluid)

dark ebene (can be summer ) with taupe, white;
can be sartorial with blue, green, and other colors (in my world, navy is a pop of color)
my test is: ebene is better when worn with Italian designers like brunello cuchinelli, etro, borelli tailored shirts (or any tailored shirt. exception: Gucci and Prada RTW is best with black.

black (can be year round if you live in North America, but is really more fall, winter in other places). Not as good in Asia, or southern US (JMO), but if I am traveling there, I don’t bring multiple bags so would probably pick a light neutral etoupe/ etain.
black is mainly fashion (I think some would argue black is never sartorial)
my test is: balck is better with french designer chanel, Dior, anne Fontaine, and better with non Italian designers like Jil sander, Akris, and Issey Miyake. Exceptiom: Marni and Louis Vuitton RTW (I haven’t bought any of the latter since Marc Jacobs, so I have no idea)

This presumes you are like me and prefer not to match RTW brand to bag brand.

Note: for sartorial clothing, I prefer pebbled leather
for fashion clothing, I prefer smooth heritage saddle leather
IDK why, but it fits your hypothetical between black box and ebene togo
arguably, for the right bag, the right shade of blue could be both sartorial and fashion and be acceptable in all seasons, but we are not exactly minimalists on TPF

I love this post so much for its piercing analytical process that I've reread it several times! (even though I can't apply it personally, since I don't like ebene much, nor do I wear any fashion RTW...)
But, that last hypothetical question begs to be answered - what WOULD that "right bag" in the "right shade of blue" be??? Please keep going!!

 

[880]

I love this post so much for its piercing analytical process that I've reread it several times! (even though I can't apply it personally, since I don't like ebene much, nor do I wear any fashion RTW...)
But, that last hypothetical question begs to be answered - what WOULD that "right bag" in the "right shade of blue" be??? Please keep going!!

Thank you so much for your wonderful compliment @ardenp!

I don’t think it has to be designer RTW per se. . . RTW is just clothes

IMO the right bag in the right shade of blue (which could be a neutral or a pop neutral) is very personal. My DH once called my medium blue (maybe bleu abysse) box sellier 28 kelly, phw, the sexiest bag in the world. And I always feel very fashion forward in my JPG fringe kelly, blue obscure, phw. . . So, for me, it’s medium blue. Which is odd, bc midnight blue is actually my black of choice in clothing
HTH!

 

[880]

i also wanted to add @880
that i am definitely not a minimalist! (but i am a wannabe
i started out trying to sell a bunch of bags and such to streamline my closet only to end up w the close to the same number
my husband is always shaking his head.. but he knows to let me go through my process although it defies all logic

I try to streamline and downsize (DH always wants me to buy less but better; and (since he is also a clotheshorse, he follows the one in, one out rule himself), but sometimes I find you have to buy more (of the right) things in order to (eventually) downsize lol. It’s like, it took you x decades to truly understand what best suits your taste, so you have to get rid of the compromises you made along the way. you cannot truly know this without seeing many new things that better express your current style and personality. You covet what you see is the expression.

BTW, in my own random poll of friends and DH, I think men seem to love the lean, angular, architectural lines of sellier and women love the plump seamed smushiness of retourne. (We May feel like Audrey Hepburn in sellier, but like mother goddess in retourne) In a size 25, the smush may only be theoretical, but it’s how a bag makes you feel (rather than how it looks) that make us keep the items we have collected.

If you are uncertain, i prefer to leave the bag in my collection as a placeholder. For example, I know the JPG shoulder Birkin 1 in blue Jean is absolutely wrong for me bc 1. It’s a color; 2. The depth is too much for me to handle; 3. The shoulder straps continually pop off (unlike the JPG fringe shoulder kelly— one of my favorites). But,i keep JPG Birkin 1 in the collection nbc I adore the oversized HAC HW and as a reminder to me to be more thoughtful in future purchases.

JMO of course.