Florentine Black Friday Haul Impressions..

[Dooneysta]

Beautiful bags.. I own the crossbody in navy. It's a go-to. Very versatile. It's good for quick trips to the store, for travel and museums. Nice to go inside of a big bag as a wallet. It's probably one of the most perfect bags Dooney came up with.
My crossbody is also very smooth and classy. My last two Florentine bags were rather pebbly for Florentine. I kept them because they are still lovely and I didn't pay full price. I prefer smooth Florentine and here's my mini-rant: DB promotes the smooth version on QVC and also, I think they tend to use the "Nuovo Florentine," because no way did this resemble the Florentine on bags I purchased 5 or 6 years ago. They just dropped the "nuovo."
Both of your bags are lovely.

Thank you for the feedback on the crossbody!
Maybe I’ll keep it and just see how it weathers as a sort of test case.
I have been lusting after a baby-smooth Flo satchel so long and never pulled the trigger because I can sometimes get trippy about scuffs and scratches.
This foldover zip crossbody is hella cheaper than the medium satchel, so maybe I’ll see what happens to it with a bit of my typical wear (which is only carrying a piece for a week or so at most then rotating)and then decide if a) I want to stick with Flo at all and b) would I want a butter-soft medium satchel or should I actually seek out a pebbly one.
Thank you.

 

[Dooneysta]

Hi Dooneysta, Thank you for the suggestions! I'll try the baking soda first. And, yes, the fuchsia claremont is beautiful, which is why it is a shame I don't get to enjoy her.

So...if your Claremont has some sort of solid lining, OR if you’re not concerned about soda sifting between the fabric lining and the C.leather, you can do one of two things: if it’s not THAT reeky or if you just wanna try the least first and upgrade if that doesn’t work, you can just sprinkle the bottom lining with baking soda, let it sit, change it out, turn the bag on its side, sprinkle the side lining, and repeat. Turn it over on the other side, repeat, and so on, working your way around, until the lining stinks no more.
What I do with MEGAstank is first I get a ton of baking soda, like you want the big Costco-size five pound sacks. You want something like a smallish Rubbermaid tub. Then you want something to displace some of the airspace in the inside...it’d be heavy (and wasteful) to literally fill it up because you’ll be changing it out.
Depending on the size of the bag, I might use those air pillows they ship stuff with, styrofoam peanuts, a beach ball partially inflated to squish inside the bag.
Put the bag in the tub. I put baking soda all in the bottom of the bag, maybe a half inch (less if a small piece.)Then I add my ‘filler’, the beach ball or whatever it is. Then around it I pour baking soda in, so there’s maybe a half inch of baking soda touching all the inside of the bag except for the middle where the air pillows are.
If the stink seems confined to the inside, this is enough. If the outside is gross too, I bury the bag in baking soda, like covering someone in sand at the beach. (Why the tub isn’t huge) MIGHT set the tub in the sun if it’s not going to rain or attract cats.
I wait (subjective...sometimes weeks if I get busy/lazy)then dump that soda out and repeat. It will only absorb so much stink; then you need fresh. I do that until stink abates or I decide to try something else.
I know that’s pretty intensive, but. It does work more often than spraying, way more often than dryer sheets.
It didn’t work on an LV Noe...that bag is going to stink till the zombies come AND I dunked it. But it’s carryable.

 

[DBLover318]

Great thread and photos! Is this your first Florentine? If it is, you're so practical and wise for a first-time Flo owner to see how useful and attractive the visibly textured Florentine can be.



Yay, someone else who's had the same scent experience I've had with two (of several) Florentines. One was a Red satchel (Made In America version) and the other was a Black Black Logo Lock Tote, so a fairly recent style.

The Red's fish scent was really noticeable as I unwrapped /unboxed the bag. I decided to keep it because I hate the hassle of returns through the mail and because with Flo, one never knows if the replacement you order will turn out to be a less desirable texture or color than what you returned.

The fish scent lingers when I take the bags out of their slipcovers/dustbags. It's not unbearable or anything. But it's very clearly a "marine" type smell.and that's rather disconcerting in a bovine product!

I had that happen to my Florentine hobo in Navy that I ordered from QVC. The smell went away gradually with use (I use it a lot). Now I don't notice any smell.

 

[lavenderjunkie]

I had that happen to my Florentine hobo in Navy that I ordered from QVC. The smell went away gradually with use (I use it a lot). Now I don't notice any smell.

Good. Enjoy your new Flo hobo. I'm obsessed with navy Florentine for some reason. I keep wanting to add more to my collection.