Made in America

#33
CoachCruiser said:
Gorgeous! I love the flap on this bag! What's the exact name/price, out of curiosity?

I thought the purple was soft, but I thought the tans and blacks were very soft, too...I asked Mike about why certain leathers felt a teeny bit softer than others, and he told me that it had to do with the color/dye-ing process. If I remember correctly, he tries to limit the amount of dyes/steps so that the leather remains as true as possible to its natural form. :smile:

Yours is a beautiful bag! Is it shoulder only or does it go crossbody? TIA!
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It's the Large A Line, which was $132 :smile: and it can go either shoulder or cross body!
 
#34
CoachCruiser said:
I've been on vacation with my husband in the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire...we've had beautiful weather, done a lot of hiking, checked out cool new things, and did some browsing and shopping in North Conway, about 45 minutes east from where we are. We leave this morning --- I could stay another 2 weeks!

We came across The Beggar's Pouch on Main Street in North Conway...as soon as you walk in, all you can smell is LEATHER!!!! Beautiful LEATHER. They carry a few brands from other companies, but they're known for making their own products. We met Mike, one of the owners and leatherworkers, and talked to him forever about how he makes wallets and handbags, which he's been making in that shop since 1973. He really seems to love what he does, and he patiently and enthusiastically answered all my feverish questions about the process of making handbags/etc.

My husband bought one of his handcrafted wallets (the one of Abbey Road in the picture below w/the other wallets; he's a huge Beatles fan!), and of course, I had to buy a lovely purse and matching double-coin purse in one of my favorite colors - purple!!! The leather is so soft and smooshy!

I'm attaching pics of Mike behind the counter in his work space, pics of leather in pieces waiting to be assembled by hand into beautiful purses, the finished products in the store, and what my husband and I purchased after looking a long time. :smile:
The prices are extremely reasonable -- my purse was $64, and the coinpurse $8. My husband's wallet was $58. Incredibly reasonable, I think!

I think it's so cool that there are still people and shops like this out there -- products completely made with pride in America. If you check out his facebook page, there are pics of customers/women who returned wearing a handbag that they purchased from him 20-something years ago -- not a bad record!

It felt special buying from someone who was working on bags right in his own shop, and from someone so eager after so many years to talk about the craftsmanship that goes into his pieces. I thought all of you lovely handbag fans would appreciate these pics. :smile: It really was a fantastic experience.
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I couldn't resist visiting the site and I love their bags! Thanks so much for sharing :smile:

Is yours the large pouch bag on the website? I have my eye on he brandy and garnet colors any idea how these look/feel like in real life from your visit?

Mike is going to be so... Busy with purseforum business!:smile:
 
#35
dcooney4 said:
There are bigger bag companys made in the usa too, that I have bought from. Libaire in California, Gigi New York in NY and most recently Cuyana in California. Gigi New York is more finished petit chic if that is what you prefer.
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I was just looking at some totes on the Cuyana website and they said they're designed in SF but made in Argentina.
 
#36
jfzmwz said:
I couldn't resist visiting the site and I love their bags! Thanks so much for sharing :smile:

Is yours the large pouch bag on the website? I have my eye on he brandy and garnet colors any idea how these look/feel like in real life from your visit?

Mike is going to be so... Busy with purseforum business!:smile:
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Hi there,

Yes! Mine was called the "large pouch bag" and it was about $64. They were all soft, particularly the brandy...in fact, I wanted to go back and pick up a neutral color like the brandy or the black, because they were so pretty, but my one of my poor cats was not a happy camper in his carrier and we decided to head immediately home from our cottage.

Definitely tell Mike about purseforum! :biggrin: He'll be so excited. (He has no idea how many fans of good leather are on here!!) haha! :smile:
 
#39
EGBDF said:
I'm glad you posted this-I have never heard of Gigi and I really like some of their bags. How is the quality?
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I have the elle bag and like it very much and is great quality. I did have an issue with a small all in one clutch but they did rectify it for me. The elle is wonderful and well designed.
 
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#41
I wanted to post a picture of my beautiful purple Chatham bag from The Beggar Pouch. Suffice it to say that I am so happy with the quality of this beautiful bag. The softness of the leather surpasses any other leather bag that I own. When I figure out how to resize the picture that I took I will post it.
 
#44
I certainly will! When I opened the outside compartment, I found a little surprise....a coin pouch with a nice note that thanked me for my comments on the forum. That was a pleasant surprise. If I can figure out my new computer, I will post. The purple color is rich and the stitiching is so wonderful. My dropbox pics are too large to post, and I have to figure out how to get around dropbox to post, but I will.
 
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