Osprey london bag - what would you think? Silent judging.

[TunaTuna]

Am looking at buying a couple of bags - small cross body and a larger hobo.

Very slow fashion here, when I do buy it will be with me till it falls apart. I'm not bothered about a label for a labels sake.
But I work in a very judgy industry where sometimes I'll be required to go to an actual meeting with strangers ( I love zoom) and I don't want them giving my choice of bag the side eye.
So stuff has to be under the radar but awesome or no obvious label or acceptable to those who judge.

I was attracted to Osprey london , well the sale, but then the sheer number of discount shops has made me question the brand.

Don't hold back bitches, what would you silently think, or could you even tell, if you spotted an Osprey bag at the meeting room.

Coach? Kate Spade? Longchamp? Secret sales have Versace bags right now..
.

What about Charles and Keith? I have quite a few of their bags, they're very well made and have lasted me a long time.

@TheHoptimist

This thread is making me laugh. I am a NED and on some Charity Boards

I trust that I have these roles due to my 30 plus years of professional experience and not because of the handbags that I sport.

Why, what handbags do you sport? ;)

www.callistacrafts.com/

My friend has a bag from this brand and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Nice quality too. Not cheap but nobody knows this brand which is a plus too IMO

I'd be worrying about my personality if my colleagues noticed the brand my handbag

int.liebeskind-berlin.com/p/braided-leather-hobo-bag-T4.105.94.X361.html?vaid=variantColor&vav=4983

Love Liebeskind Berlin bags as well.

I work in an executive PA role in marketing. I would never even notice a handbag unless it caught my eye for some reason.

Might be to do with the fact I often cycle to work with a backpack?

DS works in very high end fashion and is unbelievably fussy about what he will and won't wear. He has an Osprey backpack, so it can't be entirely Radley/TKMaxx. I like how unfussy Osprey's styles are. But then, I like Radley for the same reason except you just can't hide the dog.

@gingerhills

DS works in very high end fashion and is unbelievably fussy about what he will and won't wear. He has an Osprey backpack, so it can't be entirely Radley/TKMaxx. I like how unfussy Osprey's styles are. But then, I like Radley for the same reason except you just can't hide the dog.

There are two Ospreys - the one that makes handbags, and the one that makes rucksacks. I don't think they are the same company.

A lot of Radley designs have ditched the dog now so their bags are pretty plain. And it's simple to talked the dog tag off the ones that do have it.

In your position I’d get a plain, quality, leather bag with no logo. I’ve got a massimo dutti one which would fit the bill, unplaceable in terms of brand.
Or try Been London, recycled leather and pretty cool (I think, not sure I’d know!). I have 2 of their cross body bags.

I also have an osprey cross body and absolutely love it it's the right size and lots of pockets and is good quality leather without being heavy.

I did buy it in their online sale and don't work in high fashion though!

I'm a total handbag addict even though I rarely have smart places to take them. I recently bought a doctors bag from the Cambridge Satchel Company, it may well be too big for what you're after though (and although the company isn't designer like my higher end bags this is top of their range and beautifully made). I also have a desire for a Polene bag which are different and a good price point, similar to eg Aspinal. And talking of which, Aspinal camera bags are imo perfect Crossbody bags, that's what I usually use on the tube etc.

@VanGoghsDog - I didn't know that. (Obviously - duh! ) Thank you!

@DedalusBloom

A lot of Radley designs have ditched the dog now so their bags are pretty plain. And it's simple to talked the dog tag off the ones that do have it.

Mine now have small metal dogs attached not leather dogs you can untie. But I don't really care if people think I'm uncool. I love the style of their bags and they last well.

@microbius

It's difficult for women, isn't it. Even when we don't care; not caring becomes the statement. There is just no escape, you can't refuse to take part as refusing to take part is a fashion statement in itself.

So far, the only way to be "outside" I found is to go minimalist, plain, clean lines, black, no logo. In itself very difficult to find!

This. Left to myself, I wouldn’t care, but feel/worry that not caring affects my ability to put food on the table.

I met a stylist once who said women can only afford not to care if they’re in something like academia; most other jobs have an element of persuading others to them, therefore you don’t want to be judged negatively.

Ha ha "don't hold back bitches" 🤣 😉 😄

I am not materialistic. I notice and often compliment a nice bag, not a designer bag. If the designer bag is nice, it will also get thumbs up, but I don't see that.

Those Polene bags are very nice.

Thank goodness for the Style & Beauty board! You don’t have to research, you just come on and read until you find an expert in what you want and then stalk them til the end of time

I wouldn’t buy Osprey either sorry. I love the pebble leather Aspinals. I have a couple including the cross body camera in black which is just perfect and the large Stella in a dark red.
I also have Mulberrys but I use the Aspinals more.

I was going to summarise your suggestions but I'm a little short on time. Hopefully you'll get as much joy as me and following a link and getting over excited at what comes up.

I have 48 tabs open, and lots more choice that I'm actually excited by rather than that dragging feeling of 'I need this item, that will do'.

There is great stuff out there beyond the usual suspects. Putting profit in the hands of small businesses rather than venture capitalists feels right for something I'm going to get a lot of use out of.

From a marketing point of view 'Osprey london' are interesting. UK, owner owned & founded but expanded the business using a very different model to Mulberry.

It's interesting that I wasn't the only one 'catfished' by their marketing. They are still stalking me around the internet along with the fire hose option, congrats to their tenacious marketing people. The Osprey website is very Aspinel but then the catalogue goes all Cotton Traders.

Exhausted by my research into bloody handbags, I 'm also wondering how many other high street brands - Ted Baker & Jigsaw? are using the same design team & manufacturers. There's a lot of very similar bags but with different badges out there.

Very sad to see a few, excellent companies winding down their businesses, it's been a really tough couple of years.

Argh now I'm doubting my practical bag choices , my next purchase was going to be this as I can fit everything I need in it! Now we are back to having meetings in person.

One thing I don't understand is who buys all the cotton bags that expensive handbags come in. I mean, what's the point? Same thing with empty posh candle jars and packaging (e.g. Diptyque).

@VaginaRegina

One thing I don't understand is who buys all the cotton bags that expensive handbags come in. I mean, what's the point? Same thing with empty posh candle jars and packaging (e.g. Diptyque).

What do you mean "who buys them"?

I have a few of those pointless cotton bags. I've considered ebaying them.

Re the candle jars - they annoy me because you can't do much with them except bung them in the recycling which I doubt is actually acceptable because of the residual wax.

I did once post a load of cotton bags back to Seasalt as they were not reusable for me nor were they recyclable, and put a note in telling them not to be so wasteful. I expect they had a good laugh about that but it made me feel better.

Buy what you like!
Some people will always judge.
Some people will think your handbag is too cheap and some will think it is too expensive. Others won't think to notice.

Just get one from Cos?