See by Chloe makes a solid everyday satchel

See by Chloe Stamped Dotty Carmen Satchel, $495 via Neiman Marcus.

At first glance, the See by Chloe Stamped Dotty Carmen Satchel is a pretty nice choice. The leather is neutral and plentiful, the shape is classic and at less than $500, the price is right. But the more I look at it, the more a couple of things about the design are bothering me, and I’m wondering if I’m the only one.

First, is this supposed to be ostrich? The bag’s retail listing makes no mention of the leather’s possible faux-exotic intentions, only that it’s embossed, and the texture isn’t quite right to mimic real ostrich. So depending on who you are, you might look at this bag and think, “Oh, dots,” or “Oh, really bad fake ostrich.” My compulsion is the latter, unfortunately, and now that I’ve had the thought, I can’t unthink it.

As See by Chloe bags tend to do, though, that’s not all that’s bothering me. I don’t like when designers add on visual features that are usually functional, but do so purely for aesthetic sake, and that’s the case with the twee little pockets that you see here. What are you supposed to put in there, a single breath mint? I’ll partially forgive the design faux pas because the company saw fit to provide an optional crossbody strap, but still, those pockets bother me something fierce. I kind of want to saw them off. Buy through Neiman Marcus for $495.

rose60610

Too blah. The “dots” don’t make a dot statement; and I don’t think Chloe’s intentions would be to make a bad faux ostrich. I’m all for detail, but these pockets look twitty. This $495 bag will become a bargain table special. After the fourth markdown I might buy it if the leather is really scrumptious.
Rashida

I kinda like it…
Blaine

No. Just?… No.
FashionFanboy

I like the main design, but the stamped leather just gives the impression of the fact that the bag is made out of fake ostrich.
Although, if it IS real leather, It is a great price for it!
I agree completely on the small pockets – useless and, frankly, tacky.

The material must’ve costed extra (although not much, In fact I think they just had some extra material and said
“oooh, what can I do with this? Oh, I know, let’s force it on some bag which already looks OK!”

I do adore the little flower hardware, though! It’s so see by chloe and incredibly cute!
Lulugurl

For the price it is just blah….not overly interesting in anyway…..I will save my pennies.. :)
Kat

Those tiny pockets were the first thing that ticked me off, too. Like, what could I put in there, a couple quarters? A few dimes? It’s so pointless.

For me, embellishments should either be functional or make the bag more beautiful. These teeny pockets fail on both counts.
Katie

I’m kind of in love! Wow, what a classy looking satchel?! Very plain, but so nice!
Martha

I agree that the bag just doesn’t make it. It’s too bad, because with unstamped leather and perhaps a normal sized outer pocket, this bag could have been quite classy. It has a nice size and shape, and with good quality leather, it would have been a lovely bag.
Thu Hang

totally agree with you about the little pockets. They’re simply useless and not beautiful.
ninjaninja

It’s dreadful.
LB

I’ve seen it in person. The leather feels veery cheap, they also call it stamped dotty–so i don’t think they were trying to imitate ostrich.
edoardo

This bag is cool but the leather reminds me some model of Bottega Veneta ;D

http://fashiondoesntexist.blogspot.com/
lisa

it’s eeehhh…so-so, nothing great. the leather also looks almost ‘plasticky’ if that is a word. i think that at almost 500 bucks, it seems like it’s overkill…
Paulina

This reminds me of the Rebecca Minkoff Casanova. Very similar shape, cheaper price point, especially via the secondhand market.
QQ

meh

it looks cheap. is it leather? i didn’t even read the description i was so bored. it looks like nasty ultra suede you’d find at jo-ann’s… or on a bad couch. and what’s up with the baby pocket? is that to hold my dime bag?!

pass!
Amanda

The tiny pockets on the sides are totally useless!