This week while readjusting back to the proper time zone after three weeks in Europe, I’ve had some early morning hours to sit and binge-watch And Just Like That…. This show is not nearly as great as its predecessor, Sex and the City, but I am ok watching a show in the background while I pick up around the house, fold clothes, and make the kids’ meals. What I do love seeing is the styling on the characters, and while we have been covering the bags of each episode, there is one bag that truly stood out to me in all its glory: Charlotte carrying her Ralph Lauren Alligator Ricky Bag.
The backstory of the scene felt reminiscent of the SATC plots that I love: Charlotte’s child, Rock, was scouted to be in a Ralph Lauren campaign, and when Charlotte showed up with them on set, she was dressed in head to toe vintage Ralph Lauren. This scene was quintessentially Charlotte, with her Upper East Side perfectionist aesthetic, and I loved everything about it!
The bag that she carried by hand was a bag fitting of Charlotte’s personal style, one that revolves around storied brands, tailoring, and an Upper East Side Americana feel. I’d call that specific outfit one of quiet luxury while also noting that Charlotte is many things, but quiet luxury is not her repeated go-to.
The Revival of a Storied Bag
While our bags are intended to serve a purpose and designer bags can get us caught up in a discussion that goes much deeper than surface level, sometimes, when something is beautiful enough, a bag is just about owning something beautiful, nothing more.
This is a bag that I first truly discovered while we were living in NYC, and strolls through Central Park and on the Upper East Side allowed me to run into people carrying the bag, and that is when I first fell in love with it. It’s a bag that takes me back to a special time in my life, a time when I was learning who I was and learning how to live in a city that I found both enthralling and exhausting, but this bag reminded me of the beauty of the city and the design.
I think that is what Charlotte was showing off when she carried it – of course, she was excited for her child to star in a Ralph Lauren campaign, but she also had fun pulling out items from her closet that spoke to her and tied back to her roots as an upper-class dweller of NYC. Or maybe, it wasn’t that deep. It was Charlotte being thrilled to become a momager and have her child star in a Ralph Lauren campaign. Either way, the spotlight on this bag made me smile from the inside.
About the Bag
The Ricky is named after Ralph Lauren’s wife, and when speaking about the bag, he shared, “I was always looking for a handbag that would have a timeless kind of style, beauty, and character. When I found it, I knew I had to name it after my wife and muse, Ricky.” The Ricky is a bag that sits in that beautiful zone of being recognizable but many times more by those in the know, versus the logo-splashed bags that are more in-your-face recognizable. The line of Ricky bags is handcrafted in Italy and takes artisans 10-12 hours to make.
The line has expanded, offering different sizes, materials, and finishes (the more structured original along with the Soft, which offers a more malleable leather as its name suggests). Naturally, Charlotte was seen carrying an alligator version, which goes right in line with her style, but there are leather options that are far more reasonably priced.
