FedEx tracking initially said that it was due to be delivered on 4/4 ... but just a short while ago my doorbell rang and for some reason, I thought it had to be FedEx. It was!
I eagerly unpacked the box - couldn't wait to see this glorious red Mabel!
And she is a beautiful bag! Gorgeous color, really nice leather, great size for me. But ... a few things bother me. First, the buckle across the bag isn't magnetic (for some reason, I thought it would be - maybe because it is on the Roxy). So I'd have to unbuckle/buckle the darn thing every single time I wanted in or out of the bag. That is a major hassle to me, and I avoid bags that have details like that. The bag looks sloppy and floppy when the buckle is left undone, so that's not an option.
The second thing is the side flaps are really quite floppy. When the bag isn't buckled closed, the side flaps just gape open. I suppose they're meant to hold papers, files, etc. but I don't carry that sort of thing around with me. Plus I think it would spoil the look of the bag to have those pockets stuffed.
I like the look of the bag overall, and the size, and the color - but am not sure it's worth the hassle to me to deal with the buckle all the time. I had one of those "jelly" Birkin-type bags five or so years ago (my sister brought it back from Italy a few months before they were suddenly everywhere in the U.S.) and I used it for a while that spring. I couldn't stand having to get the front straps fastened every time I used the bag, and eventually I just left the straps undone most of the time, which looked awful.
My gut feeling right now is I'll be sending the Mabel back to Mulberry. I'm so disappointed! I thought I'd found the perfect red bag, at last!
I eagerly unpacked the box - couldn't wait to see this glorious red Mabel!
And she is a beautiful bag! Gorgeous color, really nice leather, great size for me. But ... a few things bother me. First, the buckle across the bag isn't magnetic (for some reason, I thought it would be - maybe because it is on the Roxy). So I'd have to unbuckle/buckle the darn thing every single time I wanted in or out of the bag. That is a major hassle to me, and I avoid bags that have details like that. The bag looks sloppy and floppy when the buckle is left undone, so that's not an option.
The second thing is the side flaps are really quite floppy. When the bag isn't buckled closed, the side flaps just gape open. I suppose they're meant to hold papers, files, etc. but I don't carry that sort of thing around with me. Plus I think it would spoil the look of the bag to have those pockets stuffed.
I like the look of the bag overall, and the size, and the color - but am not sure it's worth the hassle to me to deal with the buckle all the time. I had one of those "jelly" Birkin-type bags five or so years ago (my sister brought it back from Italy a few months before they were suddenly everywhere in the U.S.) and I used it for a while that spring. I couldn't stand having to get the front straps fastened every time I used the bag, and eventually I just left the straps undone most of the time, which looked awful.
My gut feeling right now is I'll be sending the Mabel back to Mulberry. I'm so disappointed! I thought I'd found the perfect red bag, at last!