I have £2k for a beautiful bag - which one, though?

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I am fortunate enough to have been given £2k by a very dear relative and instructed to treat myself to a new handbag.

This will be a treasured item (because of the person I will always associate with it) and a massive, unprecedented splurge.

So . . . what do I get? I want beautiful quality rather than the usual brand names . . . and not a work bag, as I work from home. A small crossbody, probably. Any suggestions? Thank you!

I was recently in Collector’s Cage in Copenhagen which sells pre-loved bags. They all looked new to my uneducated eyes!

DD got a lovely Bottega for around £550.

I think they ship internationally but there would be customs charges I assume.

Depending where you live a trip to Bicester Village designer outlets might be good.

Most important - this thread (as many other luxury bags related threads) is NOT about "should I spend xxx on a bag" but about which bag to get for this budget.
Why, just why people struggle with comprehension that much???

I don't struggle with comprehension. I'm just taking the opportunity to say spending 2k on a bag, unless you are a millionaire and don't give a fuck, is a bit daft. I mean, you're being shafted, taken advantage of because of either your stupidity or your profligacy with money.

Just my opinion. NO handbag is worth 2k. I say that with confidence.

Yeah, you’ve said your opinion plenty of times. This thread, given the context of the gift, isn’t the place for you to go shitting on 2k bags.

I got my Bottega from them! They ship internationally and will cover the customs charges too (which post Brexit are ££££)

Treat yourself if you like, but if you're not rich expensive bags etc tell the rest of us you're a wannabe (though I do love a nice bag I tend to buy on style not for a brand)

My best friend is disgustingly wealthy. I'm talking several millions. She could easily afford a 2/3/4 k bag without it making a dent in her finances. She loves handbags too. But knows that quality does not increase with price.

My friend received similar windfall/instructions and bought herself a Chanel crossbody (small).
We always meet at Christmas for shopping and we got talking to the Selfridges Chanel person, where they also have a preloved/vintage department for the designer bags. Friend’s bag has gone up in value by about £300 since she purchased it, so my vote would be something ‘popular’ like that.

It’s the very fact that spending £2k on a piece of fabric from a designer makes you ‘happy’ that is the issue. Why does it? In the apocalypse will we all be thanking our lucky stars we spent our money on bags we’re terrified of damaging

I know. It is the general crass stupidity of the moneyed few. Everything will always be ok because we are rich and we have nice handbags and everyone will admire us for having designer clothes and posh handbags.

To be honest, the very expensive handbags I saw recently in a store I cannot afford were upwards of 3k. And they didn't shout it out really. They were vey dull as handbags go. My little purple one that cost me £20 on vinted was much nicer and gave me much more pleasure carrying it. I wouldn't have spent a tenner on some of the 1k ones. A tiny black purse purse was £1800. I mean. Why would you chuck your money at something that cost so little to make? And so ordinary.

No it doesn't. Its on the S&B board, the thread is clearly titled and the OP has asked a clear question.

Do you also go on the Holidays board to tell everyone that they should just go camping in a random field somewhere in Rutland rather than pay £2k plus on a family holiday?

If not, why not?

I'm just wondering why a perfectly innocent thread like this asking for opinions about which bag to buy has people coming on trying to start a fight. But that's mumsnet for you

I suppose that dropping 2k on a handbag is mostly financially beyond mosr mumsnet users 2k might get us out of the debt we're in and we wouldn't spend it on a handbag.

It's not really an innocent thread. It's open for comment.

OK. I can just stand from a distance and watch people buy 3/4/5 k handbags.

Nothing I can do about it.

5k in a local food bank would go a long way.

I obviously have a very different view of the world.

Do you also go on the Holidays board to tell everyone that they should just go camping in a random field somewhere in Rutland rather than pay £2k plus on a family holiday?

No because that's completely different. That is an experience for the whole family. That they will enjoy and remember. Not just a handbag that you will carry around for the benefit of nobody.

Ah, so if it’s £2k on something ephemeral that you approve of that’s fine. Got it.

Can you really not understand that different people spend money on different things? It’s no worse to spend money on a handbag than on a holiday than on a nicer car than you need than on equipment for a hobby…

@BlueyNeedsToFuckOff

Can you really not understand that different people spend money on different things?

This poster can't understand much at all. Let's all buy purple bags for 20 quid and donate 5k to food banks.
I guess it's better to ignore.

OP, please come back and tell us if you decided on something.

No suggestions from me I’m afraid op as I have no knowledge of or interest in bags. I am however now interested in this thread because I can’t help being fascinated by people who appear unable to tolerate the idea of a woman spending a large sum of women purely on herself (not even on her own family ) . Enjoy the whole experience, op.

Why are you ruining the thread? You’ve made your point, several times over.
This should be a nice occasion and thread for the OP, yet you are determined to try and shit all over it.
It’s really out of order.

You have so badly missed the point of this thread, that your comments are just making you look silly.

I love a handbag, me. And I don’t give a toss what anyone else thinks.
If you have been gifted an amount of money to spend on a bag, spend it on a bag.
And don’t forget, when you buy something of quality then you help provide work for all of the people involved in its manufacture.
I bought my mum a LV bag for her 60th. Cost £350 - it was 25 years ago. Sadly she passed away many years ago and I still have it.
I would get much more than £350 for it now as it’s mint condition but there is no chance I’d sell it.
Bought a LV Neverfull when it first came out in 2007 and it’s still going. Used nearly every day. On a cost per wear basis that’s about 20 pence a day.
Some people suck the joy from life. If you want to buy a bag from Vinted for £20 good for you.
There’s enough really awful stuff going on in the world right now. If OP wants to invest in a meaningful gift then good for her!!!!
Edited to add I am working class and so was my mother. She dressed beautifully all of her life. I don’t have loads of stuff, I don’t buy very often but what I do buy is of good quality. It’s not about looking ‘rich’ is just something I really enjoy.

What's wrong with you? Seriously?

Why are you gate crashing a thread that you have no interest in for some pathetic grand standing about how you'd spend this money differently, when the request from the person who has r the money was a bag?

Do you think it takes you look superior? It doesn't. It makes you look insufferable.

I'm honestly struggling to believe that most posters on this site are actually real.

Have been loving all the suggestions, the hair shirt posters not so much!

Op please ignore the suggestions of spending the money on more than one bag. By spending it on only one, then that bag will be really special to you and remind you of this lovely person every time you use it. They wanted you to have something special.

I really like the idea of a Puzzle too. The quality is lovely but I think you should try & get a small rather than the mini. The mini is very small and is more like a WOC rather than a proper handbag. Maybe choose a colour that stands out and reminds you of this person, so will bring a smile to your face every time you see it (obviously colour has to work for you too!).

Have fun shopping!

And back to bags….
Gucci hasn’t been mentioned other than by one poster but I do love some of their designs a lot. I’ve also found them to last well. I had one that did 15 years of daily use and still looked good, but eventually got a small split in the leather. It was a hobo style and the thin leather was folded to form the shape. It’s £ per wear was peanuts.
If I had £2k to spare I would buy this one but I would dither about what colour to choose.
Personally I would never buy a dupe or copy- they are ripping off other people’s intellectual property, but I have bought second hand just the once. Tbh I prefer to get a new bag but in the sales. Bicester village has lots of choice.

Hang on now. When asked why you were on this thread you said I just opened it randomly out of interest. And it comes as a surprise that anyone would spend 2k on a handbag…And that there are actually people who could drop 2k on a handbag without a second thought

Which, on first reading sounds plausible. Ish.
But you go on to describe yourself as liking handbags, thereby suggesting you’d have some knowledge of what’s available out there, even if it’s not within your price range. I mean, I like nice watches. I’m probably never going to spend more than 5k on one though, because I don’t like them enough to do that. But I know the Patek Phillipe price point exists.
But anyway, you then talk about bags you’ve seen in stores costing 3k approx. So, you’ve clearly been in the designer handbag section of stores. So you know these bags exist and that people buy them… if they didn’t, they wouldn’t be on sale.

So why the wide-eyed faux naïveté of “it comes as a surprise that anyone would spend 2k on a handbag”? It’s bullshit, this thread didn’t teach you that, you already knew it. You’re here to demonstrate what you think is your superiority and martyrdom. But you’re just looking pathetic.

@narniabusiness one of my favourite bags ever is Gucci, bought more than 25 years ago. No idea what the style is called now but £ per use is minimal.

I have a Jackie I bought in 1999 still have the receipt. It was £350. And I’d just bought a new work bag in Karen Millen for £195. The gap wasn’t quite as wide then. But of course I still have my Jackie. I don’t buy bags now I just use the ones I have.
And for someone who mentioned food banks. It is not the poster’s responsibility to give money bequeathed to her to others.
And I come from an economics-based background. The widening gap between the super rich and the very poor is a huge concern, but it is not solved by one singular person donating a bequest. We can all donate via Trussell Trust if we so wish.
It is an entirely different issue.

Don’t buy a bag at Bicester village without researching the model first. Most of their stock is made for outlets, it’s lower quality and will never be for sale outwith outlets. It may seem like a bargain, but it really isn’t.

You might find the odd good deal on end of line items that are original products, but it’s becoming rarer these days.