I should know by now that impulsively purchasing a bag just because it’s on sale is ALWAYS a bad idea for me. And most years I manage to avoid these sale impulse purchases but for one reason or another (but mostly because of YouTube) I fell for it this year. And two out of two of these Shopbop sale items are a total miss.

Back in June, I wrote a post about my most used bags for the first half of the year, so here’s the ones I used the most for the latter part of the year.

This In-The-Loop 23 was the second bag I got straight from the Hermes boutique (the SF one), but my first new bag after getting back into Hermes (the first was my Evelyne, which I ended up selling). And for awhile it stayed on my shelf because I found the top-handle only style very inconvenient to carry.

Of the three kinds of bags from The Row that I’ve owned thus far (the Margaux, the Park tote, and this Sofia crossbody), the Sofia seems to be the least popular. And I can kind of see why. It’s the smallest of the bags but just as pricey as the Margaux 10 (current retail for the Sofia is $3990!). Luckily I got mine secondhand (from Brandear) and paid about a third of that price. So do I think it’s worth it?

As I mentioned in one of my monthly recap posts, I got this bag from the Hermes boutique in Waikiki during one of my visits home. I found a really nice SA there who offered me this after the purchase of the Roulis wallet. Even though Picotins are pretty common on the resale market, they’re also commonly faked so I decided to play it safe and get it straight from the store (even though it’s about $1-$2k more than resale prices). So how do I like it?

Growing up in Honolulu, about a 10-15 minute drive from Ala Moana, I never realized how blessed I was when it came to luxury stores. Some luxury brands offer a “Hawaii price” that’s cheaper than the Mainland (that’s the continental US) price. Not all brands do this and the following list (in alphabetical order) details which of them do (or don’t) and what percentage is offered.

Since going to South Korea I have great respect for the fashion lines coming from that country. They tend to be on trend but also super affordable. And two of Korean brands that caught my eye are Nothing Written and Dunst. Both are sold by online retailer Ssense, and I snagged one bag form each when Ssense was having a sale. But I only kept one, can you guess which?

As I had mentioned in my March recap post when I bought this wallet, the Roulis Slim wallet was not my first choice from Hermes. I had returned some shoes and using that credit purchased this wallet, in somewhat of a f* it, it’s my birthday mood. However seeing how I’ve only used this wallet twice since March I can fairly confidently say that this purchase was a fail.

So as I disclosed up top, I got to borrow this bag for free from Fashionphile for a month. And I took them up on their offer by borrowing this Goyard Sac Cap Vert in green. Well, would I buy it now after trying it for a month? It’s a definite possibility.

2024 has been a banner year for buying bags for me. I finally let myself buy the bags that I want, and yes I may have gone overboard (especially thanks to a newfound Hermes addiction). So amongst all the bags in my collection, which one did I use the most? Here are my top five:

In the past I would never have sold a bag without doing a full review of it here on the blog. But in the last couple of years I’ve started to let things go without a review. Is it laziness? Perhaps. It’s probably also a sign of overconsumption (I’m getting bags faster than I can review them). Though if they were all stellar bags I’d definitely be reviewing them, so maybe I’m just in my phase of not wanting to review bags I didn’t absolutely love. Anyway without further ado, this is a brief review of three bags that I sold (mostly on Fairly Curated closet) did not fully review on the blog.

My very first bag I got from an Hermes boutique (with no prior spending or purchases might I add) was the Evelyne III PM in the Etoupe Taurillon Clemence leather. You can read my Hermes Evelyne III PM review here. Any-who, I ended up selling that bag on eBay (at a $1000 loss I think), which is a shame. But I figured lesson learned and I didn’t go in to an Hermes boutique for another couple of years. But currently I’m in the grips of an Hermes obsession and I have this vintage Vespa bag to thank (that and the Havane Picotin 22 I didn’t buy at the RealReal). And who would have guessed it would be the Evelyne’s close cousin that would get me back under the Hermes hypnosis.

I purchased this Loewe Dice bag as a souvenir from Japan back in November of last year. And I have not used it once in the last six months, which should tell you a little something about the bag. Sure I’ve stared lovingly at it countless times, but I haven’t actually put things in and taken it out of the house.

Thank you to all of you guys who have requested this review and waited patiently for it! Unfortunately even though I love this bag I haven’t used it very much so I didn’t think I could give it a fair review. But I’m not sure when I’d be consistently using this bag and the fact that I haven’t really used it might be a great data point as well. So without further ado…

I’m writing this review about 13 years too late considering this Celine Trio bag came out in 2011 😂. But I did get some interest from people who are still toying with the idea of getting a Trio bag, so this one is for them!

Thank you to all those who’ve been patiently waiting for this review of the Loewe Mini Hammock bag. As you can see from these photos, I purchased this bag in late Fall and have been using it off and on for about four months now. I used to have the original Loewe Hammock bag (review of it here), but ended up selling it because I didn’t really use it. I think I stopped using it because of the way it aged and the fact that the bag is so open. So how would I compare that to the new Mini Hammock bag?

I was lucky to try on some new bags over at Loewe and Bottega Veneta a couple weeks ago and I put a little poll up on Insta asking if you guys would prefer my opinions on Insta stories or on the blog. And I’m pleasantly surprised that you guys said on the blog (I guess you long format people are my people 😂).

I accidentally bought a fake The Row Park Tote from my go-to eBay seller (who didn’t do me wrong for five straight bag purchases). I actually bought this one for a friend so I was quite bummed when I got it. I knew as soon as I felt it that this was a fake. The leather was rubbery and the handle was too stiff. But since that’s not much to go on, here’s the various ways I knew this was a fake (and it was a really good fake at that too).

I received this Toteme T-Lock Clutch bag as a Christmas present from the family (but of course I picked it lol). When deciding between the clutch size and the regular size, I decided to go with the clutch since the regular one looked so much larger. But I did want a top handle to hold it with since that’s my favorite way to hold a bag so I added a chain I found on Etsy and it’s the perfect combo.

For those who’ve been following me on Insta, you know that I’m completely obsessed by The Row’s N/S Park Tote. I first encountered it secondhand in a shop in Ginza, and even though it was quite worn I couldn’t pass it up (I went back the next day for it). Ever since then I’ve been on a hunt for secondhand Park Totes (I got them all from Japan) and have gotten two mediums (one in the pebbled leather and one in smooth), one small, and one large, along with a brand new pebbled medium one from Saks in cognac.

In late July I ordered two Loewe Puzzle bags from Fashionphile, one in the mini size and one in the small. after watching some Youtube videos from Maggy, a fellow handbag enthusiast, rave about it. Plus the Puzzle has been around for so long it’s starting to become a classic. And the news of the classic Puzzle being phased out, motivated me to give them one more chance. And I’m glad I did!

Back in August I had a bit of a bag-buying spree that was kicked off by this navy Longchamp Le Pliage XS crossbody bag. While there I also checked out the leather version of the XS bag, called the Le Pliage XS Cuir, but didn’t really want to spend the extra $300+ for the leather upgrade. However when I saw this cuir version secondhand at the RealReal for just $20 more than what I paid for for the nylon one I couldn’t resist. And now I have two Le Pliage XS bags, but I plan to keep both!

I’ve been eyeing this Celine small vertical cabas bag for years (like around 5+), but never pulled the trigger because I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend $1300 on a fairly simple bag.

I’ve always admired Loewe’s Flamenco bag, with its soft structure and two knots on the sides, ever since I saw it on another woman. However, I never thought to purchase it myself until I saw it in the Loewe store at Ala Moana (Hawaii) when I was home for the holidays. As soon as I tried on the mini Flamenco, I knew it was the bag for me because it was everything I had wanted the MG Protea bag to be (and if you remember my Mansur Gavriel Protea review, I was horribly disappointed at how flimsy it was). The Loewe Flamenco has none of the flimsiness, and that’s probably due to the thick and luscious leather.

Every once in awhile I’ll do something crazy like buy two Hermes wallets at the same time. Well it all started when I was browsing Instagram (isn’t that how many impulsive consumer tendencies begin? Well at least that’s true for me 🤦🏻‍♀️), and I got the notion to have a wallet that’s large enough to fit my usual card case items + my phone. I think it’s something a lot of people do, but I hadn’t really the need until I started working (and switching bags). I like my minimal card case (an oldie but goodie from Everlane), but I wanted something that could fit my phone. And like I’m wont to do, I went straight to Fashionphile to see what they had in stock.

As I did in the Quince fine jewelry review and Quince linen review, I thought I would round up all the Quince bags I’ve purchased in one review. As a bag lady, I’m quite particular about my bags (see my whole bag review section here). And having tried everything from Hermes and Valextra (brand with bags handcrafted by one artisan) to Longchamp and Moop (canvas bags sold on Etsy), I feel like I know what quality bags look and feel like. And I have to say Quince makes great quality, practical leather bags at a really good price point. Most of their bags are made of Italian leathers and some in Florence, a location that is known to produce high quality leather goods. Without further ado, here are the Quince bags I’ve tried thus far.

I was 100% influenced to look at this bag by the Korean drama Hometown Cha Cha Cha (pictured below). In it, the main character, who loves bags and clothes moves from the city to a seaside town to open a dental clinic. I loved this romantic comedy with a charming look at rural life in Korea. Plus who doesn’t love a good city girl falling in love with the country boy trope. So when I found this bag at Fashionphile for a good price (quite a bit less than the $8550 retail), I decided to just try it out to see if I liked it. NGL I was fully intending to just check it out and then return it, but unfortunately (fortunately?) I fell in love with it and didn’t want to send it back.

So back in 2019 I ranked my purse collection from my least favorite to most favorite. Well sometime late last year someone asked what my purse collection ranking looks like now (so thanks for that post idea). Since I’ve purchased quite a few new bags (and sold quite a few too), my list now looks different enough to warrant an update. So without further ado here are my bags ranked from least to most favorite:

As I mentioned in my February Recap post, I bought this Ree Projects Ann Tote Mini bag from Saks on sale and as an early birthday present to myself. This is my second bag from Ree Projects, a black woman-founded bag brand out of Amsterdam that makes all their bags in Italy with gorgeous Italian leathers.

Can you believe I bought this Hermes Evelyne III PM (also known as the Evelyne III 29) bag last May when I was in Hawaii. It’s been almost a year and I’ve worn it maybe five times so far. So I guess you can tell from that how much I love this bag (sadly not very much). Ah well let me get into it here: