Help! Which brown (ish) bag for various brown shoes?

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Sparkletastic

Sparkletastic

O.G.
Jun 18, 2012
11,368
42,807
#1
Hi TPF-ers! I have a puzzle I'm hoping you can help me with. I typically don't buy brown handbags. Black or metallics are my neutrals. But, I now need a bag to coordinate with various brown, camel and tan shoes I've bought. Since I have a few different colors of brown, I'm not sure what one handbag to buy that will be versatile.

What suggestions do you have? I'd like it to be classic, dressy enough to wear with heels but able to be nice casual, feminine but not fussy. I was thinking about a snakeskin but have no idea which specific bag (brand, model) I should look for. I also was thinking of Louis Vuitton traditional monogram but I'm not a huge fan of LV. If I get a cream bag, can I wear it in winter and with dark chocolate shoes? Help!!

I'm open to any and all suggestions! If it helps, I tend to like Chanel, Prada and Gucci but I don't necessarily want to spend a lot on this bag (For example I also like Kate Spade & Ralph Lauren bags). Perhaps $1500 at most and preferably much less.

Thanks!!!!!
 
#2
A dark muted solid brown leather will be easiest to wear.

I have a Coach Bleecker mini-duffle in "mink" colored leather which goes with just about any other brown I have. That is probably not the style you are looking for, but the color is really versatile. It will go with red-browns, yellow-browns, nudes, anything in a warm color.

I think it may be close to the darker color of the lv damier ebene pattern. However a solid leather is more versatile than a pattern or coated canvas, IMO.
 
#4
youngster said:
How about a Mulberry in either oak or chocolate? Depending on the size you need, you could go with the Lily or the Bayswater or the small Bayswater.
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This! Mulberry Oak is a great brown - it goes well with reddish and chocolate browns as well as beige and just about any other color. Bays was the first thing that jumped into my mind when I read the OP.
 
#6
Amazona said:
This! Mulberry Oak is a great brown - it goes well with reddish and chocolate browns as well as beige and just about any other color. Bays was the first thing that jumped into my mind when I read the OP.
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Yes, I love my oak pieces from Mulberry, so versatile, and either a Bayswater or a medium Lily in oak would be just below her $1500 price point. If she went with regular Lily, it would be closer to the $1k mark.
 
#7
youngster said:
How about a Mulberry in either oak or chocolate? Depending on the size you need, you could go with the Lily or the Bayswater or the small Bayswater.
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These are gorgeous bags! I have never looked at Mulberry and now I am wondering why (???). I like both of them! I'll have to look at them in store. Who typically carried them?
 
#8
Thanks for the suggestion of the Coach Bleacker! I'm so mad at Coach for their quality changes over the last couple decades that I haven't looked at them. But that is a nice looking bag. Is the quality holding up.

And, I'm trying to like the LV canvas prints. But I just don't know that LV is my brand. I can't get past the coated canvas and I'm not a monogram gal. I guess if I have to "try" to love an expensive luxury bag, I should stop. They probably just aren't for me. I think I saw too many people with knockoffs several years ago.
 
#9
Sparkletastic said:
These are gorgeous bags! I have never looked at Mulberry and now I am wondering why (???). I like both of them! I'll have to look at them in store. Who typically carried them?
Click to expand...

Mulberry has their own boutiques in the U.S. and I believe Saks carries a few select ones. (There is one Mulberry outlet in Cabazon but they rarely have oak, and almost never in something like the Lily or Bays but they are worth a try. You never know.)

I shop with Mulberry San Francisco. They are wonderful, super helpful and will send you all kinds of pictures via email or text. If you aren't in California or in a state with no Mulberry boutique, there is no sales tax and they ship for free too.
 
#10
Oh, and you can also shop with Mulberry online. I have an oak regular size Lily. It's such a versatile little bag and goes with so many things. The color is just great. It is a softer leather so not a ton of structure to it but it ages beautifully.
 
#11
Sparkletastic said:
And, I'm trying to like the LV canvas prints. But I just don't know that LV is my brand. I can't get past the coated canvas and I'm not a monogram gal. I guess if I have to "try" to love an expensive luxury bag, I should stop. They probably just aren't for me. I think I saw too many people with knockoffs several years ago.
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I would never have thought I would have liked the LV monogram until I tried one on in the store and ended up walking out with a Speedy B 30. I was really surprised by how well it works with so many different colors and patterns (browns included!), and think it can be worn with both casual and dressier outfits. Definitely true, though, that you see a lot of them on the street and that there are knockoffs all over the place -- but the monogram print looks great with brown!
 
#12
Sparkletastic said:
Thanks for the suggestion of the Coach Bleacker! I'm so mad at Coach for their quality changes over the last couple decades that I haven't looked at them. But that is a nice looking bag. Is the quality holding up.
Click to expand...

The quality is holding up, but I am careful with my bags and don't use them every day. I have the small ones - the mini duffles. The newer mini duffles don't seem as nice. It may be hard to find a mink mini duffle from an authorized dealer now.

The problem with any medium-toned brown is when you try to pair it with something close in color. Dark browns are more forgiving if they are close but don't match. Medium browns when paired will often look slightly off, for example one will be more red and the other will be more yellow. I have cognac boots and cognac bags and they don't go together. I have a brick-brown bag and it only goes with black shoes, or olive, IMO. (I'm very particular about color.)
 
#13
Jesssh said:
The quality is holding up, but I am careful with my bags and don't use them every day. I have the small ones - the mini duffles. The newer mini duffles don't seem as nice. It may be hard to find a mink mini duffle from an authorized dealer now.

The problem with any medium-toned brown is when you try to pair it with something close in color. Dark browns are more forgiving if they are close but don't match. Medium browns when paired will often look slightly off, for example one will be more red and the other will be more yellow. I have cognac boots and cognac bags and they don't go together. I have a brick-brown bag and it only goes with black shoes, or olive, IMO. (I'm very particular about color.)
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EXACTLY!!! Having the tones to be close but just a bit off would drive me crazy and I wouldn't ever wear that combo.

I think I'm moving towards a python bag with a range of warmer brown tones and a ivory/beige bag that will work with more of the cooler tones browns as well as black and many other colors. I'll have to see if either of those options work with my dark brown shoes / boots.

In Google searching, saw a nice beige Celine edge, a couple of great Mulberry bags in an ivory. Still looking and still open to suggestions!
 
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