Burberry Handbags and Purses

Burberry Leather Wristlet, $1195 via Net-a-Porter

In my mind, calling a bag a “wristlet” is a precarious thing to do for a manufacturer or retailer. The word “wristlet” brings about a very specific type of simple, relatively inexpensive small accessory; personally, I use a wristlet to hold the small pharmacy that I carry around inside of my real bag. I wouldn’t ever pay a thousand dollars for something like that.

While the Burberry Leather Wristlet is, in fact, a wristlet like its name would suggest, it’s also one of the nicer wristlets I’ve ever seen in my life, and a full-fledged leather clutch with multiple structured compartments. Don’t let the w-word fool you, this bag is a lot more than just an accessory to your accessories.

Do you hear the crickets? Our Burberry category has been quiet for quite some time simply because many of the designs I’ve seen don’t wow me. Sure, Burberry is known for its nova check pattern, but after you grow tired of checkered bags, there isn’t much to lure you in. And then there’s another problem: some designs that we see from Burberry are just… weird. All of this makes me sad because Burberry is a brand I adore, especially their Prorsum line of apparel (the jackets are KILLER).

With that in mind, it brings me great joy to show you the Burberry East-West Buffalo Tote, which not only offers an elegant style but is also priced very reasonably. The little sliver of my hear that wants so badly for Burberry to succeed at handbags is jumping for joy right now.

Images via Vogue.com

Burberry and I have an odd relationship. I find myself lusting after the brand’s ready-to-wear and outerwear every season without fail, and often its boots as well, but my feelings about the British brand’s bags are often a tad…fraught. I can honestly say, though, that there’s not a single bag from Burberry Spring 2012 that I wouldn’t carry.

Perhaps the biggest surprise from the collection was how little leather it included. In fact, only a few of the woven clutches were entirely leather and a couple of the larger totes were suede and croc (be it real or faux, I’m not sure), but the overwhelming majoring were woven raffia with croc trim. That’s something of a departure for the brand, and the resulting totes and clutches felt on-trend (expect to see lots of raffia for spring) and modern. Particularly the fun little clutches, which may have a rather small retail audience but which I’d be delighted to carry to any summer party.

Burberry Buffalo Tote, $1095 via Neiman Marcus.

Like any brand, Burberry has created bags that I’ve both wildly loved and totally hated over the past few seasons. There have been moments of both happiness and confusion at the brand’s accessories, but based on the success of the bags in the Fall 2011 runway show and the beautiful Burberry Buffalo Tote from Pre-Fall 2011, I’m feeling nothing but optimism about Burberry handbags. Plus, I’ve seen a few shots of the brand’s Resort 2012 bags, so I have it on good authority that the dog days are over.

Burberry Mini Check Clutch, $795 via Neiman Marcus.

Combining the iconic check pattern with the fashion-forward belt buckle wrapped body, the Burberry Mini Check Clutch is an attention grabber. I like seeing the classic plaid pattern broken up by the leather and the way Burberry implements this gives their design an edgy appearance.

Help out and fill in the blank so we can see what you think of this bag. Buy via Neiman Marcus for $795.

Fill in the Blank: The Burberry Mini Check Clutch is ___________.

To say that I was critical of the last Burberry Prorsum handbag collection might actually be an understatement; I didn’t like the bags at all, and based on your reactions to our review, I wasn’t alone. Well, it looks as though Christopher Bailey’s accessories crew may have righted the ship in time for Burberry Prorsum Fall 2011 handbags – along with the collection’s splendid outwear, most of the handbags that hit the runway were intensely covetable.

I still don’t understand why Burberry insists on using its novacheck logo fabric on runway bags instead of relegating it to the regular line as most brands tend to do, but thankfully most of the tasseled satchels and smart, structured clutches were all leather. Burberry showed quite a bit of what appeared to be embossed crocodile as well, giving a collection full of texture yet another layer of visual interest. I would be happy to have every single structured clutch and all of the non-logo satchels from this show in my closet immediately.

When I saw the Burberry Heart-Studded Satchel for the first time, I had the same internal monologue that I had while flipping through accessories pictures from the brand’s Spring 2011 runway show. It went something like, Really? That’s it? Christopher Bailey can do wonders with every other segment of the brand, but this is all that us handbag folks get?

Sadly, yes, this is all we get. Despite some accessory success several seasons ago and a few nice-yet-completely-unmemorable bags popping up every few months, Burberry’s handbag efforts have left much to be desired for some time now. I can only hope that the best is yet to come and that Bailey will throw us a bone of some sort in the near future. In the meantime, what in the world does he want us to do with this?