I need your bag expertise!! I'm totally lost at my bag hunting!

[LoveM&S]

Ladies, I need your bag expertise!! I really don’t know what to do.

My big problem is this: I can’t find a perfect bag for myself.

I’m a shoulder bag girl. I’m looking for a single handle, horizontally long, shoulder bag. Not structured. The slouchy kind. Light weight. Bright colors are preferred—I’m actually not looking for dark colors at all. No logo preferred.

I was a RH Day girl for a long time. I still love the Day. But I need some changes. I really want a horizontally long, east-west, bag now.

When I talk about single handle shoulder bag, many people say “Oh, the City has a nice strap.” But I only carry the bag on my shoulder, and I really don’t need handles. Let me emphasize: I really don’t want the handles and strap combination at all. All I need is a single handle that can go over my shoulder!

When I think about my specifications, no Bal bag matches, except the Day. There are some old season or discontinued bags which have a single handle. But they are not horizontally long or not my type of shapes. So I’ve decided to explore other brands.

Usually, I am not a fan of bags with a brand logo. But, from time to time, I feel an attraction to a bag with logos. Recently, LV suddenly attracted me. I bought the Delightful PM.

It does have single handle and is horizontally long. It’s not too structured and kind of slouchy—Great! But the problem is I got tired of the LV logos after a few weeks of use. In the Delightful style, they only offer LV mono pattern so far. No other LV bags appeal to me right this second.

I also considered the BV large Veneta. It’s a nice size and works great.

But it lacks the feel of Bal’s nice soft leather. It’s a totally different kind of leather, and it’s woven. I understand I shouldn’t expect a soft squishy leather touch in a woven Veneta bag. But I really miss Bal leather.

I almost bought a Reed Krakoff the standard hobo II. The bag is actually not horizontally long—it’s close to a square shape. But the leather is amazing! Buttery soft like Bal, but thicker, not distressed. The bag has a top zip with a turnlock which I would rather not have and the removable shoulder strap which I don’t need at all.

I also love another of their bags: the seamless hobo. It’s a plain simple hobo which doesn’t have a turnlock or a removable strap. But the style is vertically long like the Day. Unfortunately my order of the standard hobo II, was cancelled and couldn’t have chance to try it. At this moment, they don’t have any colors that I want in the standard hobo II.

So, now I’m totally lost. I want a nice bag with soft leather like the Bal leather. In addition to that leather bag, I also want a non-leather (nylon, or canvas, or whatever) bag of the same shape. I would truly appreciate all your suggestions to help my bag hunting!

Once again, my preference is for a :

1. Single handle, horizontally long bag which goes over my shoulder.
2. Not structured, slouchy.
3. No brand logo on the exterior part (if possible).
4. Light weight preferably.
5. Bright colors. (No dark colors).
6. For the leather bag: nice soft leather, like Bal leather.
7. For the non-leather bag: no hard material.

I would really, really appreciate all your input and help!

TIA!

 

[Anna_525]

You might get a better response if you post in the Handbags & Purses section since your questions are not exclusive to Bal bags. For Bal, I would suggest Part Time (the east-west shape), Work or the Sunday Tote but it seems to me like you already explored other Bal styles and said the Day is the closest, but not exactly what you like for now. Hope this helps!

 

[LoveM&S]

Thank you for your suggestion, Anna_525.
I will post this in the Handbags & Purses section, too. I usually hang in Bal forum and would like to find a bag which has a soft leather like the Bal leather. So I thought Bal ladies understand what I'm talking about the leather and might know what other brands I can check. If Bal makes horizontally long Day style, that would solve my problem. But it seems not happening so far. Oh, well!

 

[Sophieselt]

The Day bag is the only Bal that I know of that meets most of your req's-
good luck with the search!

 

[Honeylicious]

agreed, balenciaga Day bag is the way to go

 

[REREsaurus]

Thank you for your suggestion, Anna_525.
I will post this in the Handbags & Purses section, too. I usually hang in Bal forum and would like to find a bag which has a soft leather like the Bal leather. So I thought Bal ladies understand what I'm talking about the leather and might know what other brands I can check. If Bal makes horizontally long Day style, that would solve my problem. But it seems not happening so far. Oh, well!

It seems like the soft leather is your top priority. Coming from bal, I can see why! I checked out the RK bags this weekend and LOVE their leather. LOVE it like I may have to grab a few Gym Bag's when they come out with a color I like. If leather is what you want, you already have your answer. I think RK is the way to go.

Pass on the Delightful, and the BV woven bags are a bit boring since its ALL woven and nothing to break up the leather.

 

[LoveM&S]

The Day bag is the only Bal that I know of that meets most of your req's-
good luck with the search!

agreed, balenciaga Day bag is the way to go

Thank you for your reply, Sophieselt & Honeylicious.
I'm a long time RH Day girl. I really love it. But I need some changes now. I really hope they will make a horizontally long Day sometime soon!! If you know an other brand bag which has a soft leather like Bal, and horizontally long single handle shoulder bag, please let me know.

It seems like the soft leather is your top priority. Coming from bal, I can see why! I checked out the RK bags this weekend and LOVE their leather. LOVE it like I may have to grab a few Gym Bag's when they come out with a color I like. If leather is what you want, you already have your answer. I think RK is the way to go.

Pass on the Delightful, and the BV woven bags are a bit boring since its ALL woven and nothing to break up the leather.

Thank you, REREsaurus.
Reed Krakoff bags have really nice soft leather. I really want to try their bag. But the style I really like is vertically long like the Day. I hope they will make a horizontally long version of this style.

And the other hobo is close to square shape, but the turnlock part kind of bothers me....

Sigh..... But if they have bright colors in this style, I will try it.

It's kind of hard to find a horizontally long one handle shoulder bag. If it is in tote, there are many.

 

[Cait]

I was thinking an MBMJ Hillier Hobo, but that has the handles, in addition to a long strap.

Have you taken a look at the LV Artsy? They're introduced it in the Damier Azur Canvas. It's still obviously LV, but it's not as LOOK AT ME, I'M A LOUIS.

 

[REREsaurus]

Thank you for your reply, Sophieselt & Honeylicious.
I'm a long time RH Day girl. I really love it. But I need some changes now. I really hope they will make a horizontally long Day sometime soon!! If you know an other brand bag which has a soft leather like Bal, and horizontally long single handle shoulder bag, please let me know.




Thank you, REREsaurus.
Reed Krakoff bags have really nice soft leather. I really want to try their bag. But the style I really like is vertically long like the Day. I hope they will make a horizontally long version of this style.

And the other hobo is close to square shape, but the turnlock part kind of bothers me....

Sigh..... But if they have bright colors in this style, I will try it.

It's kind of hard to find a horizontally long one handle shoulder bag. If it is in tote, there are many.

The turn-lock is adorable! You don't like it?

There must be an RK station in a department store near you from the way you describe the RK bags. Seen them and love them, right? I think the leather is really something special.

I'm confused though, you say you want a longer style but you want a 'horizontally long' style? Don't horizontal and long kind of negate each other? Anyhow, whatever it is that you want - good luck in finding it.

(I think I'm gonna go for a RK bag one day soon, too. Will let you know how that goes!)

 

[Jira]

How about the Hobo, Club, or Shrug? Ok, those aren't very east-west so how about the Sunday? The Purse and the Shopper are great shoulder bags -- they have 2 handles, though.

 

[melovepurse]

There used to be a style called the Club: it was a shorter version of the Day with a structured bottom. I have not seen this style in a year or so, but it sounds like it might fit your needs. The Day is really a great bag, but I agree it is pretty deep and can be hard to find things in.

 

[LoveM&S]

I was thinking an MBMJ Hillier Hobo, but that has the handles, in addition to a long strap.

Have you taken a look at the LV Artsy? They're introduced it in the Damier Azur Canvas. It's still obviously LV, but it's not as LOOK AT ME, I'M A LOUIS.

Thank you, Cait.
Is this the bag you are referring?

It looks a little vertically long. But when you see it person, it sometime looks different. If the strap is removable, I can live with it. I will check it in person asap!

I love the Artsy shape. Actually I was thinking between the Delightful and the Artsy. If the Artsy has PM size, one size smaller than MM, I would have gone for it!!

 

[REREsaurus]

There used to be a style called the Club: it was a shorter version of the Day with a structured bottom. I have not seen this style in a year or so, but it sounds like it might fit your needs. The Day is really a great bag, but I agree it is pretty deep and can be hard to find things in.

Oh this is a great idea! Forgot about the Club.

 

[Jira]

Thank you, Cait.
Is this the bag you are referring?

It looks a little vertically long. But when you see it person, it sometime looks different. If the strap is removable, I can live with it. I will check it in person asap!

I love the Artsy shape. Actually I was thinking between the Delightful and the Artsy. If the Artsy has PM size, one size smaller than MM, I would have gone for it!!

I find MbMJ bags really heavy compared to Bals. I had a Turnlock Faridah, but sold it pretty quickly. Definitely a good idea to try on in store first.

 

[LoveM&S]

The turn-lock is adorable! You don't like it?

There must be an RK station in a department store near you from the way you describe the RK bags. Seen them and love them, right? I think the leather is really something special.

I'm confused though, you say you want a longer style but you want a 'horizontally long' style? Don't horizontal and long kind of negate each other? Anyhow, whatever it is that you want - good luck in finding it.

(I think I'm gonna go for a RK bag one day soon, too. Will let you know how that goes!)

Unfortunately, I'm not the turnlock fan. I usually don't zip the bag. When you leave the bag unzipped, the turnlock is just a meaningless sticking metal for me. When you buy RK bag, please let me know all about it!!

How about the Hobo, Club, or Shrug? Ok, those aren't very east-west so how about the Sunday? The Purse and the Shopper are great shoulder bags -- they have 2 handles, though.

There used to be a style called the Club: it was a shorter version of the Day with a structured bottom. I have not seen this style in a year or so, but it sounds like it might fit your needs. The Day is really a great bag, but I agree it is pretty deep and can be hard to find things in.

Thank you, Jira & melovepurse.
I love the shape of the Club. But it's too structure and too many zippers for me. I hope Bal will revive it more slouchy and no back side zipper version!

I really love the Purse style. I hope I'm not picky about a single handle part.... But I'm picky!!! I admire all two handles Bals from distance.