Soft swagger leather quality

[csalt]

Hi all, I've been reading the purse forum again and I have relapsed! Yikes. Especially with the new 1941 line, I've stepped into Coach territory, which is one I thought I'd never enter in my life. lol

So I have a soft swagger also and a few things have been bothering me. I happen to love the soft/slouchy feel but for some reason I don't 100% love my bag. I'm so confused as to why because I obviously didn't dislike it enough to return it. Then it occurred to me: it's that thin ("cheap"), shiny finish I think the OP had mentioned in the first post. My swagger seems to have a combo of the shiny, fine grain (this area of the bag is extremely thin and literally feels like vinyl) and a more matte, semi-coarse, almost pebbled finish.

Any owners notice a combo on their soft swaggers? Does your bottom (and/or sides) sag because the leather is so thin? Are they supposed to be made this way or do I have a poorly made one? Despite the thinness, the bag is still quite weighty to me. Where is the heavy weight coming from??? I was told by an SA that soft swaggers are made of goatskin leather. I'm not even sure goatskin is supposed to be THIS THIN. I feel like it's going to tear at any moment (and I'm very careful with my bags).

P.S. The smell of the leather is quite unpleasant and strong as well, as daisyorange (OP) mentioned. It really smells like plastic to me and just won't fade. I much prefer how the 1941 glovetanned leathers smell... mmmmm.

Sorry about the long post. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

 

[MDT]

Hi all, I've been reading the purse forum again and I have relapsed! Yikes. Especially with the new 1941 line, I've stepped into Coach territory, which is one I thought I'd never enter in my life. lol

So I have a soft swagger also and a few things have been bothering me. I happen to love the soft/slouchy feel but for some reason I don't 100% love my bag. I'm so confused as to why because I obviously didn't dislike it enough to return it. Then it occurred to me: it's that thin ("cheap"), shiny finish I think the OP had mentioned in the first post. My swagger seems to have a combo of the shiny, fine grain (this area of the bag is extremely thin and literally feels like vinyl) and a more matte, semi-coarse, almost pebbled finish.

Any owners notice a combo on their soft swaggers? Does your bottom (and/or sides) sag because the leather is so thin? Are they supposed to be made this way or do I have a poorly made one? Despite the thinness, the bag is still quite weighty to me. Where is the heavy weight coming from??? I was told by an SA that soft swaggers are made of goatskin leather. I'm not even sure goatskin is supposed to be THIS THIN. I feel like it's going to tear at any moment (and I'm very careful with my bags).

P.S. The smell of the leather is quite unpleasant and strong as well, as daisyorange (OP) mentioned. It really smells like plastic to me and just won't fade. I much prefer how the 1941 glovetanned leathers smell... mmmmm.

Sorry about the long post. Any thoughts would be appreciated!

I'm sorry you're not so in love with your bag. I have a soft Swagger and I love mine. Mine has a consistent, thick, soft-grained leather throughout the whole thing. None of the areas feel thin or cheap and mine also smells like leather, not plastic. Which color do you have? I know sometimes different colors of leather don't feel the same as others. For example, my canary pebbled leather Swagger feels much stiffer and is less pebbled than any of my other Swaggers, even after a healthy moisturizing. Maybe you just ended up with a dud? Is there any way you could exchange for another?

 

[Chihua5]

I'm sorry you're not so in love with your bag. I have a soft Swagger and I love mine. Mine has a consistent, thick, soft-grained leather throughout the whole thing. None of the areas feel thin or cheap and mine also smells like leather, not plastic. Which color do you have? I know sometimes different colors of leather don't feel the same as others. For example, my canary pebbled leather Swagger feels much stiffer and is less pebbled than any of my other Swaggers, even after a healthy moisturizing. Maybe you just ended up with a dud? Is there any way you could exchange for another?

I just bought the soft swagger chalk with the turquoise hardware. I haven't used it but the leather on this one doesn't feel thin nor does it smell. I also have the rainbow thread, the bandana rivet and the silver pebble swaggers. The soft swagger does look a bit more slouchy then the others but I believe it's because it a softer leather while the others are more structured, stiffer leather.

 

[csalt]

Thank you for the responses, MDT & Chihua5. I've used the bag and it's over 30 days so I don't know if exchanging is possible?

I find it a little inconsistent how Coach classifies its soft swaggers. They use different types of leathers depending on season/color. Wish they wouldn't lump all of them under the same name. I noticed some of them 'look' exactly like regular pebbled versions and appear more structured (i.e. saddle/silver) while the red or navy is more pliable and slouchy. The black on black (matte hw) also feels different, like in between the aforementioned two groups.

Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful bag and in the end it's probably a good thing to have various options while Coach tinkers with what works best for the soft series.