Status but every day handbag

[MademoisellePraline]

I've decided to treat myself, but I don't know where to start.

Firstly I don't know what else to call the kind of bag I'm after, hence "status" bag. I like Chanel, LV, which I know some fashionistas like to sneer at, so please, if that's you, respect that we all have different preferences.

I'm looking for a lovely every day bag, that I don't look stupid with on the school run etc. We live rurally, and didn't before, so all my Chanel and LV with chain straps etc would look majorly over done and I'd feel ridiculous wandering round town on casual shop with one. I do sometimes take my neverful but I'd like something much smaller. Slouchy and comfy as opposed to stiff leather.

What's a casual but still "status" bag that I could go for? I don't like massive gold logos etc like the GG Gucci bags, or the ones with big YSLs down the front. I would like it to be recognisable as branded, but from close up, not from across the street if you see what I mean.

Thank you.

I'm a bag person, what do you think of this bag?

Toteme has a quiet luxury aesthetic.

It is fascinating. People are so different. When I look for a bag, I look for the quality of leather, the number of useful pockets, how easily the zip goes up and down, and how it looks. I’m actually turned off by labels such as Prada, LV, Gucci etc and cannot stand them as they seem incredibly tacky to me. And then there are people looking for the opposite it seems!

*The women i know with birkins (who all live in beaconsfield or berkhampstead?!?!)+

Ha, I know the types!

@MademoisellePraline - unfortunately shoulder bags - especially ‘good’ ones - are targeted by muggers - particularly in central London - on bikes and otherwise. It’s why I always use a bag with a crossbody strap nowadays when out and about, even though I don’t love them.

I have lots of lovely shoulder bags left over from the days when I had the money to go wild in the sales and just don’t dare use them except when I am literally going round the corner to the pub with DH AND I remember to dig them out 😿

Longchamp are fabulous for everyday use, and I also own more expensive bags. But the leather tote that I use for travel is really good quality.

Yes was just coming on to say would definitely go YSL with the black or smaller gold hardware. Also love the balenciaga city bag

I love the Mulberry Bags. I live in the countryside and though it does have the chain it is a woven leather one. The leather is so soft. It is the Lilly.

Another brand that isn't status, but does lovely buttery soft leather bags that I would have thought would be suitable for a rural parent lifestyle is Anna Pugh... around £300 for a large bag

https://annapugh.co.uk/collections/cross-body

Yup. That was my thought too.

I use a Bayswater satchel which is good for day to day stuff and it comes with a strap. I’m eyeing up a Gucci Jackie for Christmas, it might suit your needs OP.

This. A handbag does not give you status and if you think it does, there’s something lacking in your life.
Buy what you really, really love - why not support a British boutique label rather than the made in China mob?

I don't understand the love of bags either. But I've come to enjoy lurking occasionally on threads such as this because I like the enthusiasm and knowledge even if I don't share it. I also admire the patience with which you bat off the sanctimonious posts (most of them, I'd wager, composed on a made-in-China phone).

Anyway, my contribution: if I were to get into bags, I'd probably go after a 1950s Norman Hartnell - yes I would want a brand with a heritage, not sorry - and I'd wear it on the crook of my arm, like the late queen.

This handbag was made from the sun roof lining of a Bentley flying spur, the car price starts at £250,000 and the sun roof lining costs £4,500.
It is a beautiful bag and it feels so nice.

Aspinal. Not too heavy plus they have a strap.

I think wanting understated but an obvious brand is tricky. I don’t get the love of YSL or Mulberry and people who know bags quite like understated bags.

Some brands never discussed are Wandler, Toteme, Isabel Marant, Proenza Schouler, Valentino Garavani, Maison Margiela and of course Tods. All have classic understated bags that bag people know - and Dragon Diffusion for modest budgets!

I did put a read-between-the-lines disclaimer in the OP because of course the sanctimonious amongst us have to pipe in that life must be so vapid if you like certain things. My neighbour is like this about her sister. She just can't afford what her sister buys, so she likes to be derogatory about it, as if that's the reason she hasn't got similar things.

Makes 'em feel good about themselves I guess. Contributes nothing to the conversation, but can't just scroll past eh 😁

Oh I love the late Queen and her stoic bags. Like tiny colourful bricks, always hanging from her arm. Ahhh...

It looks very utilitarian.

I have got a Valentino, but it's a shouty Rockstud.

That's like the anti-bag I'm after at the mo 😁

Those Lauder bags are classics.
Have you looked at Demellier? Much loved by Camilla and Kate, and not too obvious.

https://www.tkmaxx.com/uk/en/womens-gold-label/gold-label-accessories/gold-label-handbags/c/01040901?st=&sort=&facets=is_flash_event:%22false%22&page=0

Worth checking out this list.

Yes! But not until this thread, hadn't heard of them.

The New York and the Siena...it's a toss up between the two. Think that's what I'm going for, with a Bettina on the Christmas list from DH.

The honesty is breathtaking.

Yes, I've noticed other pp have recommended them as well. I think they fit the bill.
I find Mulberry bags far too heavy, I wish they did lighter versions!

Do you have one? Recommend one style over the other?