Cheap designer handbags

So somehow this seems to be the first time I’ve had a coach handbag here on the blog. I’m not sure why as they’ve really grown in reputation over the last few years but at the same time they are not to everyone’s tastes. For example I just noticed this Floral Audrey tote which is definitely allot to take in at first glance as the floral design does anything but fade into the background.

I suppose it also has to be mentioned this isn’t really the season for flowery prints so it could be just me looking at it with wintery eyes. I do like the top clasp and gold handles which remind me of wristbands from the 80s though as somehow they still fit into this outrageous colour scheme. I suppose it’s one of those bags you either love or you hate, though usually they are the best ones. There seems to be so many designers playing it safe these days so it’s great coach are out there creating something memorable. One plus is it does look quite cheap for a Coach as its around the £200 mark on the official site although I could only find the standard Audrey bag.

Valentino isn’t well known for their cheap handbags and this floral tote really is no different as its well over the £2,000 mark. Still it is cheaper than his last few offerings so maybe this is progress after all?

Obviously the first thing I or anyone else is going to notice is the petal ruffles that seem to have just landed on the bag from a nearby tree in autumn (ok I don’t know many trees with pink leaves but you get the idea). I suppose the main selling point is it makes a difference from tall the faux animal skins we get in the designer handbag world month in month out, there is a limit to how much leather any one girl needs (i think). Also its very season appropriate which is a rarity for a tote and since autumn is my favourite season by a mile it wins on both on counts for me.

Only thing that does scare me just a tiny little bit is how hard will this handbag be to keep clean? I mean it just looks like it will be a magnet for spilt coffee and chocolate? Maybe I need to be a little bit more optimistic, it is my favourite time of year after all! Check out the official site for more…

So Fendi is one of those designers that can slip by quite unnoticed a lot of the time and I suppose when you’re in the business of fashion that’s not generally a good thing. Maybe it’s the down to earth style or the grown up tones but they rarely seem to ripple the handbag world pond with anything even slightly weird, then again there’s plenty of designers doing that already so why crowd the market?

Still I wouldn’t call this Fendi Peekaboo Tote that I just spotted conservative as the pink/violet leather really jumps out at you from a distance, yet it does seem dark enough to fit with a good range of trousers and belts. At the Fendi site it actually says the bag is made from goat and calf skin which is strange as it looks more like lizard or python to me, though at the same time all that really matters is that it looks great right? I also have to note another worrying pattern in the form of this tractor beam attracting me to handbags over £2,000 of which this is one (price will vary a lot though). Sometimes it’s hard to remember that this blog is supposed to be about cheap handbags lol, though as I keep saying what’s expensive to some is cheap to others. The thing is everyone’s range seems to be different these days (apparently there’s a recession on) so for some anything over £200 in the bag market is going to be out of reach. Still I do think there are lots of great bags in the “discount” range (apart from this one) eg DKNY and also Breadcrumb at only £15.

With all that being said if you do have a spare grand lying around doing nothing and also a passion for deep pink then check out the latest Fendi collection for some grown up bags!

I do want to at least try to be positive about this latest handbag from Stella McCartney as I think she comes up with some really off the wall ideas when it comes to fashion, and for that she should be applauded. However you will quickly realise after forking out £600 for this “python” bag that it is not python at all but full lovely nylon instead. Yes while it really is great and noble that Stella refuses to use any animal skins in her work I really don’t think this comes anywhere close so some of the python bags I’ve reviewed here by Nancy Gonzalez and Carlos Falchi.

Even if you put aside the aesthetics (i don’t know why you would) the feel of 100% pure nylon sends shivers up my spine every time I think about it. How a bag feels is just as important as the look and I know that python and some leathers really mould to your body with use and if you are using your bag for practical reasons and not just for show then this is essential.

On the one hand I could understand Stellas stance if it were fur she was against as that bandwagon has been going since the 90s, but python isn’t an endangered species (according to Wikipedia which hasn’t lied to me yet) and cows as far as I’m aware aren’t going anywhere soon. Besides if you where a cow (stay with me) would you rather end up as a lovely Crossbody from Donna Karan or a big mac in McDonalds? I think I need to stop writing posts late at night lol

So been a while since I’ve had some quality Miu Miu here on designerbags as I just haven’t seen anything to get me interested but I did spot this new tote in chocolate Suede which is looking very equestrian in its style. I suppose the first thing that comes to mind is this is a tote with winter in mind. It’s true that the colour is an autumn regular and this will probably put people in the height of (supposed) summer in doubt.

I do have to mention that Suede is definitely not for everyone as its nowhere near as durable as leather, somehow spills and especially water just seem to seep into it from every angle, and don’t even get me started on food stains. However if you are going to go for a Suede bag then I’d say dark brown would be the way to go as its going to hide those accidents much better than any colour I can’t think of. By the way has anyone ever tried some of the specialist cleaners for Suede as I have heard some good things but I’m always weary about using a 3^rd party product on my handbag.

As you can see from the picture the leather handles and buckles fit really well with the overall theme even the gold shoulder strap that I definitely wasn’t sure about from the start grows on you after a while (it is detachable). It’s cheap for a Miu Miu at around £1000 in most places but for a bag that’s really only for one season this could be too expensive for some.

So time for another bag review here at cheapdesignerhandbags even though i know a lot of you really loved the last post here on how to find genuine handbags on ebay (which i hope to do more of). This time I want to review a Christian Louboutin bag who is of course no stranger to this blog and i suppose you could say i am a fan. There are of course those of you who think he should stick to making shoes but do think he has something really different to offer, especially when you look at many of today’s bags which are just a sea of leather.

As you can tell from the picture this Rider Fur Tote is quite a statement as there isn’t a shiny surface in sight! If you’re wondering what the fur is then fear not as it’s not endangered (I know you care lol) as its coyote. Only thing I knew about coyote up to now is its some big scary dog you get in the US, however we all now know that it looks great too. The weird thing is that I’ve very rarely been a fan of any type of grey but this really does seem to work on a lot of levels (any type of dark jean will look amazing with this). I admit though that fur for obvious reasons isn’t so popular in summer so this probably more suitable for a few months down the line.

The biggest problem I have found with Christian Louboutin is his bags can be so hard to find, in fact tracking them down offline is usually more trouble than it’s worth. Speciality sites like neimanmarcus are probably the way to go where you can get it for around the £2000 mark (turns out coyotes are expensive). In fact it is quite a good question, is anyone shopping for handbags on the high-street anymore? I know boutique shops are great for that must have bag of the season from DKNY but if you want something specific from a small designer like Christian Louboutin or Miu Miu is it worth the effort hitting up smaller shops only to be disappointed? Till next time…

So i decided to stop being lazy and write another post for you guys on the latest and greatest in the handbag world. In order to get suitably motivated i decided to pick something just a bit crazy in the shape of this Marc Jacobs fur bag. The picture says it all really as purple fur on a designer handbag is not something ive seen before and i think it’s unlikely i will again soon.

One question that is likely pop up is the dilemma of wearing fur and whether you agree with it being used for fashion purposes or not. Personally I’ve never had a huge problem with it if the material isn’t from an endangered animal of course. However at the same time I’ve yet to see fur used well in the designer accessories market and so I’ve stuck firmly behind the leather school of thought when it comes to handbags. I just think it’s very hard to make fur look classy/stylish when it comes to accessories, wild and unkempt is fine on a coat but when it comes to a bag you want to stay refined.

Im actually not sure what type of fur this is to be honest as there weren’t a lot of details about the bag from Marc (i was too lazy to look to hard lol) but im sure you can find out all the details at his site.

So been a while since I’ve posted about a new bag here but sometimes it can be hard to find anything particularly inspiring to write about. I suppose maybe your favourite designer has the same problem when trying to come up with something new, different but most of all great! As we all know its not hard to create something unique in the fashion world but creating something that people want to actually pay £100s for is not easy.

So with all that being said i wanted to post about this new Yves Saint Laurent tote bag that’s just been released as while it is on the practical side of the bag market it does look quite good. One thing to note that this isn’t full leather as you can probably tell from the picture but even with that being said you’re always going to get great material with Yves. The price point is quite low for a bag in this range at £400 but it does seem like good value.

I mentioned at the start that this is a practical bag mainly because of the size you could easily fit a laptop inside and a lot of other valuables. I suppose it could be the ultimate day bag for many people as its going to work for most purposes and anything you want to carry, If you’re interested check out the official Yves Saint Laurent site.

So this Valentino Petal Tote bag does have a really weird look i have to say. I suppose it’s in keeping with the metallic theme that i seems to be happening on cheapdesignerhandbag lately (im not sure how long this phase is going to last btw). The most noticeable thing about this bag apart from the metallic look is the massive petal design on the front which does kind of take over the whole thing i have to say. However the bag does still remain slightly understated due to the neutral brown colour so i suppose this handbag is going to fit with a lot of different party and daily occasions.

One thing to note is that the main look of this metallic bag is achieved by sequins and not the actual leather which depending on your point of view can be a bad thing. I really love leather and ive always thought that the whole point of a designer leather handbag is to show that leather off. Now i know leather can get boring sometimes and designers have to think of new ways to make it more exciting but this can often be achieved with effects on the leather itself as opposed to putting lots of “stuff” on top of it. Still if you are interested you can buy this bag online for around £2000 in the right places.

So i think its been a while since ive had a post about a new Prada handbag so thought i might write something short about this new Saffiano tote that has just come on the market. I suppose its a bit of a weird bag to start with as looks like some wallpaper left over from the 1970s. Still its a pretty interesting print bag and it does have a very retro look about it which i think will appeal to alot of you ladies.

One interesting point about this bag is that the pattern is that it is from the Prada archives and has been used before in other designers from them. I suppose its great that they are reusing stuff but at the same time id like to see Prada focus more on new stuff as lately i haven’t been too excited about their latest offerings.

One thing i do have to point out is that this isn’t exactly a discount handbag (by my standards) as its going to cost you at least £1300. Now for Prada this isn’t actually too bad but in terms of designer bags in general its definitely at the expensive end of the scale. I suppose it raises the question of how much you are willing to pay for that real designer look that you can only get with the top designers like Prada and DKNY.