I buy mainly Dooney, but I also have
Coach, Michael Kors, Brahmin, etc.
I tend to get caught up in the quality of the leather and the workmanship,
balanced with the styles I like, colors that speak to me, and of course the
price/value. Dooney comes out on top for me most of the time. I have a large
handbag collection and many of my bags are decades old and still in great
condition.
Over time, I've found Dooney to be very consistently high quality.... both
in terms of material used (leather, etc) and construction. But like any
manufacturer, Dooney has multiple lines (collections) that are created to
address different customers (markets) in terms of style and price points.
You can't compare a $200 bag from one manufacturer to a $600 bag from
another or even from the same brand. Brands hope that the reputation of
their high end will carry over to their less expensive offerings. It's true for
handbags, for cars, for electronics, etc.
And it's very hard to understand the true differences in leather
quality because companies use so much marketing language that doesn't
really tell you about the leather or processing/tanning is terms that allow
you to compare one collection or brand to another. Most customers don't
really want the details, they are complex, and they make decisions based on
the companies marketing descriptions. But that doesn't allow us to compare
one brand to another. And it doeesn't give us any insight when a brand has
changed their materials or processing but keep using the same marketing
words. Think of it this way, when you are buying a diamond ring if it's described
as a brilliant white diamond that is round, of a certain size/weight it sounds great.
But if you learn about diamond grading you know that white is a marketing term and
diamonds are color graded from colorless to yellow. And that's for 'white' diamonds.
that doesn't include colored diamonds. So how do you know how one stores
'white' diamond compares to another unless you have more specifics or can see them
side by side. Round brilliant denotes the shape and cut, but doesn't tell you how well the
stone was cut and that can greatly affect the brillance fo the stone. And then there
are specific quality grades used for diamonds... without that information,
you really don't know what you are comparing. For me, the same goes for
leathers.... I want to know details so I can make fair comparisons. I understand
that for many people, they just want to know that they like it, can afford it,
and that other people have given it good reviews. I accept that I can over complicate
my decision process.
Alto and Florentine are the top 2 Dooney collections. They use the highest
quality leather and are extremely well made. Alto styles tend to be very
understated, I think of them as 'old money'. Alto bags are elegant and
generally very structured. The leather is fine grained and will show
scratches and wear over time. It's supposed to look like you have
treasured it for years... like fine wine.
Florentine styles are generally relaxed and often have more styling details....
whip stitching, buckles, or tassels. The leather is also high quality and may
be smooth or textured or somewhat pebbled. The grain (appearance) of the
leather is naturally occuring and it's not enhanced or smoothed out. Over time
Florentine leather will show scratches and wear. Some surface scratches can
be buffed out. Like Alto leather, Florentine leather handbags are made to be
enjoyed for years.
For both Alto and Florentine leather, the color is drum dyed into the leather.
That means that the leather is left to soak in vats of dye so that the dye
saturates the leather from top to bottom all the way thru. If you scratch the
leather, you won't see a different color under the top layer. And both
Alto and Florentine are full grain leather which means all the layers of the
leather are kept.
Less expensive leathers use only some of the layers of the
leather (hide) so they are thinner and not as durable. And some brands
label their bags as leather when they are really a chemical combination of
bits of ground up leather scraps and chemical binders that are
made into sheets of 'leather'. This type of 'leather' isn't very durable
amd won't hold up over time and use.
Pebble leather is a very generic term and even in Dooney there are different
types and qualities of pebbled leather. The All Weather Leather is the
highest quality of pebbled leather. But even in AWL, the leather and processing
have changed over time. The original AWL was much thicker and heavier than the
current AWL 3. (Was this a response to customers who wanted lighter bags?
Was it a way to deal with rising costs? Was it the use of different production methods
and technology?) The other pebbled leather collections
have different thicknesses of pebbled leather, and I think different quality.
The pebbling of most pebbled leather collections is an embossing of the
leather, not the natural grain. I could spend an hour talking about pebbled
leather. But in my experience, Dooney pebbled leather is very durable
and stands up to wear for many years. Dooney pebbled leather is my
go to for normal daily use when I don't want to have to worry about my
handbag. Pebbled leather is easy to keep clean and doesn't show water spots.
And pebble leather looks and feels like leather. Dooney pebbled leather is generally
drum dyed (so the color goes all the way thru the leather). But I'm not sure that
some of the lighter colors or pastels are drum dyed. I've ever been able
to get answers to this question.
There are other leathers that have more highly treated surfaces. That may make
they durable and stain resistant, but in generally, they don't
feel like leather to me. Some of the smooth or buffed leather are beautiful.
But I can't speak to their durability over time. I own them, but rotate my
bags so those haven't gotten as much use.
One final note on handbag durability.... no handbag will stand up to abuse.
Corners are particularly vulnerable. If the corners of a leather bag
are rubbed against rough surfaces, the leather will be damaged...
it doesn't matter how high a quality the leather is. On the other hand,
my Dooney bags have stood up to 'normal' wear beautifully.
And one of my Dooney pebbled leather handbags was in far better shape after
I tripped in a gas station and the bag sailed across the dirty cement floor.
My knees were bruised, but after a quick wipe with a damp paper towel
the handbag was as good as new... no stains and no scratches.
If you rotate your handbags then each one will last a lot longer than if
you use the same bag daily for months or years. Darker colors seem to
be more wear resistant than lighter colors... they show less soil, are
often drum dyed (lighter colors may not be, even in the same collection),
and also, scratches are often less visible and cornera can be touched up on darker color
leather.
Hope some of this info was useful.
