PurseBlog Asks: What’s Your Biggest Handbag Dealbreaker?

By Amanda Mull • Apr 13, 2016

You never know how your circumstances are going to change your perspective. When I lived in Atlanta, I hated bags with extra shoulder straps because their necessity didn’t make sense in my car-centric life, and without an appreciation for their functionality, they just looked like clutter to me. Five years ago, I moved to New York City and all of that changed.

In a city where I spend a great deal of time traipsing around on my own two feet (or standing in a crowded subway car), an optional shoulder strap looks like an oasis in a desert. What I once loathed as unnecessary has suddenly become the only thing that’s a true dealbreaker for me when it comes to deciding on a new bag.

And not only does a bag have to have a shoulder strap, but if it’s not at least convertible to a crossbody, the bag probably won’t make my cut, either. Size isn’t that big of an issue for me–anything that can fit sunglasses, keys, a card case and an iPhone can find a home in my closet. I love bags both neutral and bright, solid-color and patterned, leather and woven. I’ve spent too long in the industry to be much of a brand snob, as long as I like the bag and it looks well-made. No shoulder strap, though? No thanks.

Because personal shopping dealbreakers are so situational and depend on all of our very different daily circumstances, we want to hear what totally rules out a bag for you: chain straps? tiny size? back-breaking weight? Let us know in the comments.

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Sandy

7 years ago

Even if I like a bag I will not purchase it until it is proven, in regards to longevity. I once impulsively purchased a Chloe bag years ago that I liked but ended up being a one season and gone bag…I never use it now and I think it a waste of money. Bags are too pricey to only use for a short time so iconic time tested bags are a must for me.

chae

7 years ago

Reply to Sandy

i agree. i have Paddington sitting on the shelf for years. however i love Chloe’s shoes. Leathers are lovely against my skin.

Sophie Proust

7 years ago

I love this topic! And it’s funny, because I do live in Atlanta, and still only gravitate toward bags with shoulder straps.

My dealbreakers: monograms and very prominent logos; heavy bags; bags that are fussy/difficult to open (I have a deep and abiding love for flap bags for this reason).

Stacy

7 years ago

Anything too deep. No black holes for me.

Mei

7 years ago

If it’s heavy, it is an absolute deal breaker for me. I like a strap too, but I’m reconsidering this as a deal breaker because… BIRKIN!

tiffany

7 years ago

Any bag that is too unstructured will not last long with me. Also, if a shoulder strap doesn’t stay on the shoulder, the bag will be a goner.

bib

7 years ago

My bag must be lightweight and can be carried cross body (dual straps is amazing, hand held or longer strap is a plus!). I want my items safe inside and not a black hole. Durability is also a must

bib

7 years ago

Reply to bib

oohhh I meant both shorter hand held straps with longer ones are my faves

Amanda

7 years ago

I used to work in retail, and the two most asked for features were a shoulder strap and a zippered pocket. Personally, I tend to lean towards pebbled leathers, rather than fabrics- pebbled leathers last a long time, and don’t show regular wear and tear as easily as smooth leathers or fabric materials, for the most part. I also agree with the post below- I’m so sick of monograms…

Amazona

7 years ago

Slippery shoulder straps, too little handle drop, too much slouch, N/S designs, a zipper that won’t cooperate, a closure that’s too much of a hassle (á la Mulberry Roxanne)…the list is very long and prestigious. I’m a very impatient and hate it when I have to concentrate on “using” my bag when it should be an easy, carefree companion in my daily life.

Amazona

7 years ago

Reply to Amazona

Oh and loud logos/mono print, anything that screams brand.

Tinsley Proust

7 years ago

Not a huge fan of non crossbody bags, but they have their place. I’ve really curated my bag contents so all I need is something roughly the size of a Chanel Classic Flap. I just carry lipstick, a card case, my phone, sunnies, and a lip balm.

Taki

7 years ago

MADE IN CHINA. If I’m buying a expensive handbag, I would want it not to be made in China. I know its snob thing to say, but that just how I feel. That’s why I no longer buy Prada, Mulberry, etc.

7 years ago

Reply to Taki

LOL, that’s all I can say. Not just a snob, but a narrow minded and shallow person who’s proud to be an air head.

Sparky

7 years ago

Reply to Taki

We can romanticize “craftsmanship” until the cows come home but in reality the luxury products we buy today don’t require extraordinarily high levels of skill exclusive to one particular set of crafters. The bag is the bag – it doesn’t matter to me if an Italian or a Chinese made it. I read an excellent article about how the big brands prefer to manufacture in China as opposed to Europe because the Chinese factories are much more flexible and business minded than the European ones. A Chinese crafter can be more skilled than an Italian.

Kate

7 years ago

Reply to Sparky

Manufacturing in the US or Europe is more ethical. Workers make good wages with benefits and work in safe conditions. Chinese factories can be more flexible, faster and cheaper because their workers don’t enjoy the same labor and safety standards. Would and will never purchase a luxury handbag made in China. Don’t care if the craftsmanship is identical.

Sparky

7 years ago

Reply to Kate

I LIVE in Asia. I personally know factory owners. I been to dozens of factories from ready made garments to leather shoes (BIG brand leather shoes supposedly “made in Italy”). The TRUTH is the factories that are exporting to major brands in Western markets must be complaint to qualify for export status. I cannot stress enough: These ARE NOT sweat shops. They are multi-million dollar state-of-the art factories that offer better conditions than western factories. Overtime pay. Free child care. Free lunch. Free tea breaks. Free transport. Free medical. Free education. For some employees free housing. The list goes on. Do sweat shops exist? Of course, but they cater to domestic consumption. Its a gross error to paint all factories with one brush to suit a particular narrative. FACT: China is making some of the BEST products in the world. Time to get over the racism. Its a global marketplace. Like it or not.

Pamela

7 years ago

Reply to Sparky

Thanks for this. Good to know your perspective as people do assume it’s all sweat shops. But what about what’s going in bangladesh and some places in china? http://www.thefashionlaw.com/archive/fast-fashion-comes-at-a-very-high-price?rq=fast%20fashion

Baggaholic

7 years ago

Reply to Sparky

Let me tell you, I told the sales associate at Bally that if I buy Bally, it’s better NOT made in China. Their collections that were made in China were a massive fail. Now they’ve relocated back to Europe, wooohoooo!!!!

Aurore de La Gorce

7 years ago

Reply to Sparky

Really, did you ? In the end, it’s all money and money, you know ?
I know a lot of people working in luxury and there is no question of “skills” when the brand start producing in China.
But when TRUE luxury is concerned, brands have to start relocating to Europe, since customer service is too complicated when the bags are made in China. How are you going to repair the bag quickly for a faithful client ? And what happens when you can not tell the client which worker in particular made their bag ?
But, above all, we all should face the truth : producing in China and sending the goods all over the world is polluting too much. Fashion industries in Asia are one of the main causes of pollution on Earth.
Relocating is saving our children’s future.

Amanda

7 years ago

Reply to Aurore de La Gorce

To be honest, I think that bag repair is less about where the parts are located/company willingness to repair products. Some companies will decide that the time it would take to repair and source materials can’t be justified- in a similar fashion to how one would decide to make a repair to their own belonging. A lot of repairs can also relate to whether the brand has the same or complimenting parts still available as well. There are some American brands that have taken steps to bring repair to the forefront by having stations available in the USA, or even in certain store fronts. I think that it is also fair for a company to determine repair based upon the age of the item- in some cases, I think it is completely justified for a company to want to get you into a brand new item, rather than repair what will have more problems down the road.

Sparky

7 years ago

Reply to Amanda

A friend of mine got a gash in her LV Epi bag. She took it to LV. Instead of fixing the gash they wanted to replace the entire side of the bag. $800 just for the later, plus plus. My friend too the bag to a short repair guy. He fixed the gash for $65. You can’t tell the difference.

Amanda

7 years ago

Reply to Sparky

Louis Vuitton, in my own personal opinion, isn’t always known for the best repair policies. I used to work for Coach, and heard a lot of similar stories to your friends experience, and I’d have been really frustrated by that cost, considering the price you purchase for. I’ve also heard similar stories about Michael Kors leaving customers stranded high and dry on items that have had clear manufacturing defects like a handle breaking…while the item is still on their shelves in store. I think that the reason a lot of companies elect to use their own in house repair is to stand behind their repair. While the cobbler was able to repair your friends item, a lot of repairs that we saw completed from outside sources weren’t visually appealing- so it was really a gamble. I also think that sometimes we don’t know how much construction goes into some repairs. I don’t make handbags- so I never knew, until I actually saw a deconstructed Coach handbag, just how many layers and small details went into producing the final product. In general, and depending on the repair- your everyday cobbler wouldn’t be able to replicate the same repair style. Obviously, most of what I have learned has come from the Coach brand- though I no longer work for the brand. I am happy your friend was able to save those extra dollars, and was satisfied with her repair 🙂

Sparky

7 years ago

Reply to Amanda

Yes, definitely depends on the kind of repair required.

Sparky

7 years ago

Reply to Aurore de La Gorce

Here’s the article: http://www.marketplace.org/2009/02/02/business/luxury-item-may-be-made-china

Brenda

7 years ago

Reply to Aurore de La Gorce

But you are aware that China is the biggest market for luxury products, right? So your theories of “being close to customer service” and “air travel creates pollution” are not true.

Aurore de La Gorce

7 years ago

Reply to Brenda

Wow, no one can denies air travel causes pollution. Have you never heard of kerosene ?

However, I can not see the link between the fact that China shops a lot of luxury goods and the fact that pollution caused by air travel would not exist. That does not make any sense.

Besides, Chinese luxury shoppers do not buy what their country makes.
They buy Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Bottega Venetta and so on. They want made in France, made in Italy,they buy a famous, centuries-old craftmanship.
So I really can not understand your point here.
Moreover, China is not the only big client for luxury, there also are Russia, Middle East, and South America.
So really, what’s your point ?
As far as the customer service is concerned, I was talking about European market. It is harder for the brands that produce in China to offer a good customer service.
Lancel sadly has been famous untill last year for having a horrible customer service since their collections were made in China. They had to relocate their production in Italy for that reason, people had stopped shopping their products.
Have you ever heard of a luxury goods client who was bragging about having their 3000$ bag repaired in China ?

Pamela

7 years ago

Reply to Taki

so dont buy any bags lol. All those “made in paris/made in france” bags are bull shit. Have you been to europe? There are barely any factories aka why most people are unemployed. They only have beauty factories left. Everything is made in china. It is just that it’s designed in Europe. Check your iphone. Made in china but designed in California.

Alison Lewis

7 years ago

Reply to Pamela

I make bags in Italy and China. I assure you these two worlds are very different from a production standpoint. In Italy, Each piece is hand inspected and the Italians somehow have a knack for looking over and fixing or repairing or making a detail better without having to be asked. The China factories are affordable, they are not sweatshops, each person does one job on an assembly line. They have one person doing everything from sewing in the lining to gluing and prepping the handle for sewing onto the bag. There is a person for every station with a quality control sheet and image of what it’s supposed to look like. The quality can be very good, but it’s hard to say that the craftsmanship is there. Craftsman work around flaws, fix flaws, they see them w/out having to have a QC (quality control) documentation. The Chinese factories, are that. They are factories focused on fast production. It creates a different product. I am not saying one is better than the other, what I’m saying is – it’s different. The hand work and care between the two worlds is not the same.

Pamela

7 years ago

Reply to Alison Lewis

Thanks for this.

Aurore de La Gorce

7 years ago

Reply to Pamela

Pamela, as a French person, I’m happy to tell you you are wrong !

France is fighting to keep some factories in France, especially when luxury products are concerned.

Just take a look at Renouard Maroquinerie https://www.maroquinerie-renouard.com/fr/femme/index.html it’s all made in France, as http://www.charlesetcharlus.com/ or http://bleu-de-chauffe.com/fr/fr/.

Renouard is especially elegant but all these brands are top qualities. As far as Renouard and Charles et Charlus are concerned, they use the same skins as Hermès.
People come from Belgium, Britain, Germany and so on to buy their bags since the quality and customer services are so good. Besides, the bags enjoy a lifelong guarantee.

Chanel is still making their bags in France, also.

We still have a lot of clothes made in France : Eros et Agape, Les Petites Jupes de Prune, Harpe Paris, and the well-known Saint James and Petit Bateau. And la dentelle de Calais ( really, must I remind you of Kate Middleton’s wedding gown ?)

For the shoes, we have Stephane Gontard, Made In Romans, Heschung, Roger Vivier…

Let me know if you also want me to give names of lingery brands still made in France. Or jewels.

Pamela

7 years ago

Reply to Aurore de La Gorce

When I visited I was in Cannes/Nice region and was told by Locals that the only things left were factories for perfume/soaps etc. I know that some clothes are made but most are sent to China. Merci for your insight. I appreciate it XO

Aurore de La Gorce

7 years ago

Reply to Pamela

That’s weird you’re saying they’re sent to China. None of the companies I’ve mentionned try to send especially to China. Who told you that ? Perhaps in Haute Couture though. I know Hermès has a line of saris for India, for instance, but still… However, the situation in La Côte d’Azur is very different from the rest of France. Brittany, for instance, is fighting very hard to keep most of its production local and has created many brands, in cosmetics, leather goods or clothes.
And in North of France, of course you’ve got laces, lingery, tights…

Taki

7 years ago

Reply to Pamela

I actually been to France, Italy, and Spain. Anyway I said I don’t like buying expensive handbag that is made in China. Meaning if I want to spend over $2,000 I wound want it not to be made in China. I don’t have problem with other contemporary brand and items being made in China and would buy them. Made in China bag are my deal breaker in buying luxury handbag.