Bag Lady

Primark Leopard Print Bucket Bag (in store)

I popped the top pic on Instagram the other day and commented that I wasn't sure it was a keeper or not. The general comments were very favourable and you have to concede that at £9, it was a steal from gold old Primarni. Fact is, I didn't set off out to look for a bag like this, I just thought I'd have a nosey to see if they had any cute little bags which might work with an outfit I had in mind. But I just happened to come across this and it looked interesting. It reminded me of this one actually. But a whole lot cheaper.

Elizabeth & James Cynnie Leopard Print Bucket Bag

And which Mango may have something rather similar to as well and which I prefer actually.

Mango Leather Bucket Bag

Anyway, I popped the bag across me and looked in the store mirror and thought, not too bad. We'll hang on to that for the time being and slung it over my arm and carried on my way.

Now, did anyone pay attention to the Rebecca Minkoff autumn/winter 2015 collection? Did it pass you by as you were looking at the usual big name suspects instead? It passed me by but then again most of the collections do anyway - I just wait to be told what's coming in by my weekly Grazia and I'm good. And in one of the recent editions, I was led to a Rebecca Minkoff bag with a strap of wonder and serious tassel overkill.

I LOVE IT! (though you can only fit your keys and a bit of loose change and a packet of tissues in).

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And then as I dug around to find out more about this wonderful bag, I happened on more fabulous pics from the Rebecca Minkoff show and the one thing I really paid attention to was the straps on the bag. They are FAB.

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So you can imagine how excited I was when I spotted this tan number in Primark resplendent with fancy strap and tassels. Excited and happy to the point where I may have danced a little happy dance (but only in my head and not on the shop floor).

Primark Fancy Strap Bag (in store)

And do you know what doubled my excitement and happiness? Finding that they also do it in black.

I think this is what the Chinese dub as "double happiness"

The bags are obviously faux leather but at around £10 they are very well made and the finish is good. The size is erring on generous (for reference, it fits in a regular sized iPad) and it is light and has a magnetic fastening.  With nothing in it, it's almost too light but then again the strap is not a heavy duty one so I would say try not to fit your whole life in the bag and it should do you just fine. My wobble with these two bags is that I love them for the strap but the strap is just a little bit flimsy - it's basically a pretty woven fat ribbon. Regardless, I popped them both over my arm and carried on my way round the bag section.

Around the corner, I came across this little beauty.

Gap Cashmere Jumper (similar here), Jack Wills Jeans (old)

Primark Snakekin Bag (in store)

This one is a real goody. It's well made for the price and well finished. It looks a lot more expensive than it's £7 price tag - just look at the raised ridge detail on the snakeskin flap which just takes it up a notch. It's not the biggest bag on the block but neither was the little white one I also picked up from Primark earlier this year but that one proved to be a useful little bag and added a nice little bit of interest to my mostly monochrome summer outfits. This berry coloured one is going to do the same but for the autumn winter. One thing to bear in mind - the strap is very long. And with no adjustment. What you can do is, from the left, take the strap under the flap and do the same with the strap on the right so they cross each other under the flap. This shortens it to a much better length or if you're tall - you're sorted :o)

Obviously, I popped this over my arm too and at this point, looking rather like a real life bag lady, I went and paid.

So ... what have I concluded, having had all the bags at home now to assess which ones are the real goodies. Well :

The little berry snakeskin number is a no brainer. They also have it in black which I may have to go back for.

The leopard one is not for me as the finish isn't quite there and I really want the Mango one - I prefer the cheetah print but that is dependent on how good it is in real life. I was hugely disappointed with the Sofia Coppola LV lookalike that they did earlier this year when I finally got to see it in real life in store. The finish was very poor. Very poor.

The guitar strap bags. I was going to return them. But I keep trying them with different outfits and they joosh things up a bit. At the time of writing ... they are still with me.

Any take your fancy up there?