Mulberry bags....thoughts please

[JustAnotherDayWorkingAtHome]

I have been coveting the Loewe Puzzle bag for some time now but I have decided I simply cannot and never will be able to justify the £2,400 price tag.

I have recently been looking at the Mulberry Billie, in chalk, I know it is not similar but it does look like a really nice bag and it is a third of the price tag and is the size and idea of the kind of bag I want.

I can't put my finger on it though but there is something I am just not sure about with Mulberry....will this last the test of time?

Mulberry Billie Small Classic Grain Leather Cross Body Bag, Chalk at John Lewis & Partners

If the Loewe Puzzle is your dream bag then keep saving for it as anything else you buy will be second best. I have a big birthday this year and actually picked that Mulberry up in Fenwick today (in the slate blue). It’s a nice enough bag but really nothing special and nowhere near worth the price and I say that as someone who used to have 20+ Mulberry bags and still has quite a few.

Also echoing pp re the increase in the price and fall in quality. Out of interest I looked at the price of an Antony today and it was £650ish. My first Antony cost £199 but no way have the costs more than trebled in the last 13-14 years.

Do have a look at DeMellier, Polene and Strathberry as they have some gorgeous bags with excellent quality.

It's really quite simple. If the bag is the right one for you, you know. If the bag isn't right for you, you feel confused and undecided.

Buy the right bag.

Oh I love my Billie, it’s a great size, fits loads, and in my experience Mulberry customer service is excellent.

Though I’ve been coveting the Loewe puzzle myself. Might be a treat for when I’ve finished paying nursery fees come September 😊

I agree. I like my Mulberry Maple but don’t consider it a luxury bag. It was £300 from Bicester village.

I also have a Radley from a few years ago that I consider even less of a luxury bag. That was from John Lewis and cost more than the Mulberry.

They’re both nice, but in my opinion both just ‘high street shop’ not designer and not as nice as Mulberry bags were back in the ‘80s when I worked for the company.

That is awful!
I cannot understand people who purchase copies!
That is design that was simply stolen.
And the quality is awful

Any good?

https://www.net-a-porter.com/en-gb/shop/product/loewe/bags/shoulder-bags/puzzle-edge-mini-textured-leather-shoulder-bag/1647597321523058?utmsource=google&utmmmedium=cpc&utmcampaign=GOO%3ANAP%3AEU%3AGB%3ALO%3AENG%3ASEAU%3APLA%3ASLR%3AMXO%3ANEW%3AWN%3ALOEWE%3ALV0%3ALV1%3ALV2%3AXXX%3A8%3A%3A&utmmid=19744292054&utmterm=3074457345626917721&vtp00=GOOGLE&vtp01=SEAU&vtp02=144319691937&vtp03=pla-2277982640833&vtp04=g&vtp05=m&vtp06=649632432191&vtp07=pla&gadd_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAADRhZnsCgYlh6rcDxxstktEZmPln4

Mulberry used to be amazing. I owned a few of them years ago but sold them on over time. I was wanting another recently but I saw their quality has degraded significantly from when I used to buy them previously and that many were no longer made in England.
I own several Loewe bags and they're worth the investment. They're beautiful bags. Sometimes on sale for seasonal colours. The price increases are getting a bit out of hand though the puzzle has gone up significantly since I bought mine only about 18 months ago.

Minis are very very small. Like phone, keys, wallet nothing else small. That's about all I carry these days and I have a mini as well as a small but if needing to carry more the mini isn't going to work. The strap is very thin too. I use the Gold donut strap when I use mine which is hand held rather than cross body but it suits the bag so much.

I see no one looking down their noses at Mulberry. For the most part, a significant proportion of posters have purchased and enjoyed Mulberry bags for several years.

Generally I agree they have lost their way. I used to love Mulberry ( I have bayswater, lily, effie hobo, mitzy bobo, alexa, baywater backpack etc etc). A few years ago they got a new creative director prices went up significantly, people complained about quality and sales slowed. Complaints about how price hike did not match the quality.

I don't see as many people carrying them around out in the wild as there used to be. It does not have the same pull as some other established brands/brands having a moment (bottega and loewe). The sale now goes on for ages. There hasn't been an 'it' offering for years( not what i am after now, aged 40 but it would drive their overall popularity). I personally would look and buy something in the boxing day sales years ago. Not as interested anymore. I never say never with Mulberry though. It's the brand that really got me into handbags.

I love my Mulberry’s and think the quality in recent years is actually excellent. But it sounds like you want the other one

OP have a look at the Mulberry Leighton. Not sure if they still sell it but it’s a similar shape to the puzzle.

Have a look here too, I keep meaning to try this brand -

https://shop.kaai.eu/collections/pre-order-collection/products/ikon-night-blue

Agree with PP. Go for the Puzzle and not the Puzzle Edge.

blog.fashionphile.com/loewe-puzzle-versus-edge/#:~:text=What%20sets%20the%20Edge%20apart,sew%20each%20individual%20piece%20separately.

www.danielfootwear.com/leonie-p144798

Looks pretty similar and might fill the gap while you save for the real Puzzle?

Save yourself £2,260 odd quid and get the Mint Velvet one 😀 looks just like the designer one. Can’t understand spending quite so much on a handbag - what makes it worth all that money? Just the branding IMO. But each to their own I guess!

Luxury bag brands made a deliberate choice to raise their prices about 10 years ago. I know someone who works for Fendi; their prices went up about 2 grand overnight, which had nothing to do with costs - it was all about brand positioning.

I noticed that other brands, including Chanel did the same. Presumably Mulberry did too. Problem is, that Mulberry was never a high fashion brand like Fendi. Mulberry buyers liked the combination of quality and rationale pricing. It was a huge mistake to ditch the quality and inflate the prices.

The thing is we all know that a bag isn't ever genuinely worth thousands, however well made it is. So you are paying for brand image. At that price, being well made should be a given.
So when brands just hike up the price overnight, don't customers feel insulted? It's clearly a total piss take - the brand is literally telling its customers that they are so dumb, they will just suck it up in order to show how rich they are!
That would automatically put me off buying something, however beautiful it is.

Maybe mulberry shoppers were those people who didn't care about demonstrating wealth more than they cared about not having the piss taken?

Re exclusivity, it's the waiting lists that get me. How stupid do you have to be to court sales assistants and believe it's some kind of honour that a brand allows you to spend serious money on their handbag?

Is Mulberry’s main market the UK? I don’t feel like it’s a brand I hear spoken about in other countries.

The thing is we all know that a bag isn't ever genuinely worth thousands, however well made it is. So you are paying for brand image. At that price, being well made should be a given.

This in buckets. That's what I meant when I said I liked quality but not fussed for status earlier in the thread. I wasn't being rude, I simply have a different mindset.

Maybe mulberry shoppers were those people who didn't care about demonstrating wealth more than they cared about not having the piss taken?

Pretty much. They were fabulous quality bags, at a sensible price and made just a few miles from me.

When they ceased to be fabulous quality, were no longer sensibly priced and started to be made abroad, I stopped buying them.

I see the idea that you’re paying for brand image mentioned often, and I’m not saying that this isn’t the case, at least sometimes. But also we are sometimes paying for the innovation of the design. That Loewe puzzle bag is such a unique piece that it is akin to buying a designer chair for example.

For my experience, Mulberry prices haven't gone up by any out of the ordinary significance; they've just % increased in line with other similar items.

I'm interested to hear specifically what areas of Mulberry decline in quality people are describing, and on what line of bag? If I were to compare say the bayswater tote with the zipped bayswater (I've owned and used both), I'd describe the latter as sturdier and of a better design - but it IS more or less double the price of the tote, so you'd expect that? The hardware, the leather and the suede lining on the tote were still all impeccable though (clearly I'd've returned it if they weren't).
In the past 10 years, I've owned and used the alexa which was a stunning bag with gorgeous suede lining and the bayswater original, again in stunning high shine leather. I sold both only because they were impractical to use (opening and closing the postmans lock is a major faff, so I've settled with my double zipped bayswater, which I love using).
I have an old Mulberry in the attic that was my Mum's, and I'd say my own zipped bayswater is of far better quality. That said, they're obviously different lines, so probably disingenuous to compare.

I think when Mulberry switched from discreet branding to OTT branding ( gold plaques) then they started to lose their appeal. In the days of Stuart Vevers it was a brand that was covetable and had some lovely designs ( the tooled bags ) now not so much.

I love the postman's lock, I think it sets the bag off nicely. Though I like it to be pristine 🙈 I don't like fingerprints, so i've always got a glasses cloth in my pocket! 😂
I know lots of people prefer the look of the heavily tooled bags, and lots of people like the well used look, I don't at all though - I like my bag to look brand new. Just personal preference I guess.

@SloaneStreetVandal I wasn’t referring to the postman’s lock. It was the plaque on the Daria that I was referring to.

Loewe vs Mulberry - they’re simply not comparable brands IMO.

L is very forward thinking and “hot” right now, whereas M is reliable/heritage/accessible luxury (expensive but not outrageous).

@SloaneStreetVandal the quality of a metal hardware dropped when the creative director changed (about 10 years ago?). The lock colour plating wears through quicker and the metal is thinner. The bags are lighter (a big complaint being shoulder pain from the weight). The lining on bayswaters also changed from suede (heavy) to microfibre (light but plastic).
It is extremely hard to keep satisfying a core original consumer who is aging and getting wealthier (and fussier) while expanding the brand to new younger consumers. Personally, I would have looked at a diffusion label but I’m hardly an expert and I’m sure they had their reasons not to do that!
In this environment to even keep afloat seems a miracle.