weekend recap & handbag-shopping reviews (Chloe, Celine, Chanel)

I hope you guys had a wonderful weekend! It was a beautiful one for Boston standards, and I loved getting to do plenty of cooking at home with Nick and also catch up with girlfriends. The fluffy little one up above is my friend’s labradoodle puppy – he LOVES being picked up and cuddled (or maybe it was just the Polka Dog Bakery treats in my pocket…)

Every Christmas my friends and I get afternoon tea & champagne at the Taj hotel, but we figured why not try to make it ourselves potluck-style? We split up some menu items, and our collective homemade spread blew me away!

Later while running errands, I stopped by the mall to try on some handbags I’ve been eyeing. All photos here are from my Snapchat story (username: extrapetite) yesterday, so please excuse the curt captions with typos. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so much Mansur Gavriel in stock! Their bucket bags are almost always sold out moments after they become released, but Barneys had a whole wall of ’em and I see Bergdorf Goodman has several online. I love their minimalistic bags, which actually fit a lot inside. My favorite size was the mini bucket (left); I see they have a beautiful rosa pink mini in more scratch-resistant saffiano leather, available for pre-order. The regular bucket has a leather pouch inside that can be removed and used as a little clutch.

This was my first time trying on the Chloe Drew bags, which are certainly adorable and petite-friendly. My favorite color combos have to be the motty grey or cement pink leather with gold chain. The leathers felt soft but durable in a pebbled texture, which I personally prefer to smooth ones. The chain strap did not seem to be adjustable, but a good cobbler can make it shorter if needed. I was told I’m trying on the small (left) and medium / regular size (right), both of which I thought suited someone my height well.

The Celine box bag is high on my list of forever-classic purses, but I was usually deterred due to the signature smooth leather that it comes in. I am klutzy so can see any super smooth surface getting scratched up in no time. This was my first time seeing a textured leather box bag in-person (I believe it is goat leather lined in lambskin) and it was really lovely. The box is a style I wouldn’t mind buying pre-loved (some of the vintage editions are my favorite), since pre-existing scratches would make me feel a lot better about giving it additional marks of love!

Last but not least, this was also the first time I tried on a Chanel Boy bag since it came out nearly 5 years ago! I’ve always liked the design but recently found myself really loving it, each time I saw it on a passerby (which is not very often in Boston). Out of all the bags I tried on, this one immediately felt the most my style, and I know given the cross-body design it’d get tons of wear like my wallet-on-chain bags. The strap can also be worn just on one shoulder, or doubled-up as a shorter-strapped purse. Current retail is $4700 for the “old medium” I’m trying on the right, and $5200 for the larger “new medium” size. This is less than their classic double flap, but hefty considering the bag is fabric-lined instead of leather-lined. I was surprised to see most Boy bags on the secondhand market actually being listed for more than current retail. The clutch above was a narrower and slightly longer version than the medium Boy…I wish they made the chain strap longer so it could be worn cross-body.

All the Boy bags in-store were in either lambskin, patent, or some exotic material. I was told by the sales associates that Chanel hasn’t made that bag in caviar leather (pebbled and more durable than their classic lambskin leather) for over a year, and was unlikely to this year. To my surprise, they said the US was one of the only markets that likes caviar leather, while shoppers in other countries prefer lambskin for how it gains character while it ages. The medium size for me was love at first try, but finding the right leather/chain color combo and my preferred material will be a journey in itself!

What is your current favorite handbag? Which is your favorite out of the options above?