Is it just me, or is Chloe not a brand that makes a whole lot of hobos? Well, that’s not entirely true – they usually manage to turn their popular bags into hobos at some point in order to capitalize on their popularity – but it seems like most of their bags don’t start life as hobos, right? But today is a new day, because the Chloe Marcie Hobo is a hobo from birth and it’s, eh, medium amounts of successful.

The stitched texturing on the front flap looked good upon initial examination, but now I’m not so sure. It gives the impression that the leather is layered, but in reality, it’s just a clever sewing trick. Which is cool, I admit, but it just kind of…stops. There’s not a seam there to mark a natural ending point, which means it rather looks like someone got tired of sewing. Which, I mean, I can understand that. Sewing looks hard.

Other than that point, and it’s a small one, the bag is quite pretty. Chloe uses some of the best leather of any designer, and the creamy beige color shows it off well. The wrapped handle is a nice touch to keep things from looking to under-designed, and I like the thickness of the dangling drawstrings. Chloe should really consider making hobos a larger part of their original repertoire. Buy through Nordstrom for $1595.

I am thinking they should change the name of this bag. This bag should be called the Chloe Hella Large Tote versus Chloe Hedda Large Tote. Dimensions are large, 22″x22″x7″ with a short handle drop of 4″. I am having a hard time even reviewing this bag because of the size factor and the obvious weight factor that will come into play.

One thing Chloe bags are very well-known for is their hefty weight. The leather Chloe uses is extremely thick and sturdy. It has become rather expected from Chloe bags. I still love my Chloe Paddington, but I would be lying if I said it never gave me a problem because of how heavy it is. And now this bag comes into the picture.

The Chloe Hedda Large Tote is a cool bag, don’t get me wrong. There is a very urban street chic vibe going on. The double handles only have a 4″ drop so this would need to be carried in the crux of your arm or by hand. The body of the bag features black stamped leather and gold tone hardware. The front features a fold-over flap with a turnlock fastening, which seems to be a trend we also saw on the Coach Kristin collection recently. All I need to finish my review of this bag is a scale to weigh it, and/or a half day carrying it around with my typical essentials to see how heavy it is. Chances are this bag will double as a weight lift workout for those that carry it (make sure to switch up arms!). For me, this bag is too much to handle. Buy through Net A Porter for $2030.

Now this? THIS is how you make a unique clutch! Forget the mess of paillettes that we saw earlier this morning – the Chloe Leather Bow Clutch is head and shoulders above that bag and most others that I’ve seen lately.

First, the color. Dove grey is the perfect shade to accent the rhinestone-studded bow detail and bring out its glittering, vintage-inspired beauty. It’s hard to make a light-colored clutch look appropriate for cold weather, but this is exactly the sort of thing that I would love to pair with a sweater dress and 1940s-inspired retro coat.

And then there’s the matter of the materials used. The leather is so smooth and perfect-looking that I wouldn’t have guessed that it was actually leather on first inspection, and that’s exactly the kind of leather that needs to be used if it’s supposed to be evening-appropriate. The types of rhinestones that were chosen are also perfect for the look – they don’t look brand new and sparkly, but slightly gritty and old-looking (in a good way). The bag could pass for an exquisite vintage piece, but it looks just as appropriate on the store shelves today. Plus, when you open it, you get a great surprise – it’s lined in bright gold leather. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $1095.

See, there’s these people called “hipsters.” They’re the ones that have been wearing skinny jeans since 2003, and Wayfarers as well. They shop for lamé leggings at American Apparel and live in Brooklyn (or Silverlake or East Atlanta or any other number of enclaves) and are responsible for a lot of music, most of it terrible but some of it reasonably good. They also wear some ridiculous accessories and handbags, most of them vintage, and most of them looking strangely like the Chloe Polka Dots Leather bag.

And since these hipster people can be thanked as either the starters or early adopters of a lot of what we see going on in fashion today, I can’t blame Chloe for giving them a nod. The thing about borrowing from hipsters, though, is that you have to be very careful about what you take and how you interpret it, and this particular bag is probably a bit too far over the line to be successful. It’s kind of cute as a novelty piece, but as a bag for a serious purse lover, I don’t think it measures up. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $1450.

Oh, it’s so pretty. And so functional. And so every-day usable. And so luxurious. In short, the Chloe Python Marlow Bag? It had me at “hello.”

I’ve given the regular leather version of this bag some loving in the past, but it is truly eclipsed by the beyond-gorgeous python version.

To me, this bag is exactly what useful luxury should be. It’s big and roomy, it can be carried every day, it would fit in with a variety of wardrobes without being obtrusive or obvious. It’s quietly fantastic, and it has a slouchy sumptuousness to it that is hard to find in anything but the best materials.

It looks like an exquisite vintage piece that only the most fashionable person you know would ever be able to find at a flea market, but here it is, easily accessible. Well, if you have four grand, that is. Buy through Luisa Via Roma for $4962.

I still love this bag and prefer it in python, like all of the hot stars continue to sport. The color of choice is black python (pictures of Rachel Zoe continue to surface with her sporting hers). When this handbag came out it caught our attention, it drew us in, and we all were loving it. Is this just a bag of last year or is it a bag that is here to stay? What do you think about the Chloe Paraty now?

Buy through Net A Porter for $3820.

This bag is made of Lurex, so no great heavy leather here. But there are some extremely subtle details that are worth noting: the twisted rope handles and the interesting clover-shaped turn-lock closure. So yes, it looks cool and classic and all that, but I think something is missing here. There’s a hint of blahness that is just not going away for me. I’d say, pair it with an amazing outfit to distract from that. Otherwise, I’m not sure this bag is worth its high price of more than a grand. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $1,250.

Well, the Chloe Kathleen Shoulder Bag is actually a shoulder bag that I’d love to see hanging from my shoulder. Bags of this nature don’t normally make themselves into my closet, but there is no time like the present! One of the first things that drew me in was the urban-chicness of the bag. The grey leather is not dull or boring, it is actually nothing less than gorgeous. The long shoulder strap is long enough that you can wear the bag across your body without the bag itself seeming to snug. I absolutely love the gold hardware and oversized ring that can be found at the front of the bag. It all works so well together. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $1360.

Anyway! So we’re talking about the Chloe Marlow Top Handle, right? Right. And it’s great, I love it. The grey leather looks so supple that I want to reach through the computer, yank it out, and rub it against my face. But that’s not even my favorite part. What makes the whole thing is the unexpected brown belt that circles the top, giving the bag a vintage, New England sort of look. It looks like the bag that your college TA would carry, if your college TA was the most fashionable person in the history of grad students. Buy through Luisa Via Roma for $1558.

And now, approximately four years later, I saw a Paddington on Nordstrom’s website today and it got me thinking – how does the purse world feel about this historic handbag a few years down the road from its peak popularity?

When I look at it, I feel mostly nostalgia – it reminds me of the period in fashion where an It-Bag was the most important thing in the world and waitlists were a mile long for almost anything worth buying. Bags are certainly more available now in general and the Paddington, once impossible to find, is now fairly common. Does the bag stand the test of time? I think so, although looking back, I like some of the other variations better than the original (the ginormous Paddington Tote comes to mind). The big lock is still really cool, the colors and the leather that they use are still great, and the bag is still fairly functional, if notoriously weighty. And even if you’re not a fan, or just not a fan anymore, you’ve still got to admit that it holds a fairly unique place in modern handbag history. The biggest difference between the Paddington of yore and that of today, though? The price.Buy through Nordstrom for $1875.

Another reason that I sometimes like when Chloe does this is that occasionally I like the derivative bags better than I like the original. I think that’s the case with the Chloe Heloise Hobo. I wasn’t a huge fan of the original Heloise satchel, but this? This I kinda like. I’m partial to hobos in the first place, the the knotted strap and pieced body give it just enough visual interest to not be boring, and it seems more functional in this configuration than as a satchel. I’m a little meh on the color, but we all know how I feel about neutrals. This is a fairly interesting shade for a beige, though – it’s a little grey, a little cream, it’s kinda nice. Look at me, liking neutrals. I guess there’s a first time for everything. Buy through Saks for $1595.

Now, on the bad side: there’s something off about the flaps (pleats?) on the front of the hobo, and the bottom of the bag also has flaps that make it look too heavy. Also, the cream and blue color options are just not quite right- it’s like Chloe was a shade off. Even though I like a few details, the fact that the color and overall shape are wrong just makes the whole bag seem icky. Next time, Chloe, keep the good deets but get your colors right. Buy through Saks for $995.

The accent to detail in this bag is what makes it gorgeous. Notice the careful gold hardware outline of that makes the subdued violet color pop, the delicately woven gold straps, and the overlap on the double-flap front. By taking advantage of Net-a-Porter’s Zoom-In feature, you can get a close-up on the gorgeously pebbled calf leather. It’s a fancier bag and you can see that in the construction, which is exactly why I’m lusting over it. And of course it helps that my favorite color is purple. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $1396.50.

And it’s…perfectly serviceable and at least as nice as some of their designs that are much more expensive. We’re not breaking new ground here, design-wise, but the leather does look quite nice (if a bit too glazed and shiny for my taste) and the bag looks like it would be enormously functional and useful for women with all kinds of different personal tastes and lifestyles. I could see it on everyone from a working mom to a downtown hipster, and at the somewhat reasonable price point (for Chloe), a lot more people will be able to consider adding it to their collections than with most of the brand’s other bags. I can’t find anything to dislike here, and I even tend to like the shades of tan that Chloe uses, as much to my own surprise as anyone else’s. Buy through Saks for $1295.

Which is why I want to talk about the Chloe Shelby Shopper today. Holy crackers, look at that leather. I can almost feel it through my computer screen. This is one of those bags that, if it were mine, I would be constantly petting it. The Shelby has that super-matte, velvety texture that reminds me all over again why I love handbags in the first place. And when you combine that leather with a beautiful, rich, unexpected color that can be used year-round, you get a handbag that will be on my mind for some time to come. Buy through Nordstrom for $2175.

The pattern is large enough and contains a small enough amount of colors that it would still be wearable with a number of outfits and colors, and the colors of the bag are attractive in their own right. The bag’s flap is made of Ayers snakeskin, which is a type I’m not familiar with, but the scales look smaller and flatter than python. This may or may not make the snakeskin more durable, but my best guess would be that it would result in less flaking. Also, I just kind of generally like it when a brand uses a snakeskin other than python – it shows a bit of creativity. This bag might be a BIT theme-y for me, but overall, I think it’s theme-y done well. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $2560.

I HATE when designers do this – it’s somewhere between regular leather and a full-on patent gloss, and it tends to make leather stiffer, less touchable, and less like anything that actually came from an animal at some point. In short, it makes the bag look cheap, and they did some weird striping with it that made me questions whether it was real leather or just a treated canvas. For two grand, I don’t want to have to question. This also isn’t my favorite color, but compared to the other issues, that’s not that big of a deal. On the upside, it does look nice and roomy, the lining is light-colored for easy of use, and I like the woven handles. But that’s really the only upside I’ve got for you on this one. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $2055.