Purseonals: Mansur Gavriel Bucket Bag

I’ve been meaning to review my Mansur Gavriel Bucket bag for quite a while now, and after carrying it for the past month straight, I am ready to give you an in-depth look at this sought-after bag. I received this bag as a gift from the brand and was beyond ecstatic to get my hands on this gem. The color, Rosa, exudes femininity, and the bag itself has become the anti-It Bag It Bag.

Check out how my Mansur Gavriel Bucket Bag scores in our Purseonals below!

Aesthetics

The Mansur Gavriel Bucket Bag gets a 5 out of 5 stars for aesthetics. The bucket bag shape was not reinvented by the brand’s design duo, but consumer adoration for this shape came back full force when Mansur Gavriel released this bag. Since then, countless brands have added bucket bags to their roster, and while many are beautiful, the Mansur Gavriel option is the most recognizable.

The color on this bag is another wow factor for me. The black with red interior is one of the most sought-after combos, but I think the Rosa pink is the prettiest option out there. I have been told by countless people how beautiful my bag is when I carry it. It’s gotten almost out of control how many compliments this bag gets, and at one point, I thought someone was complimenting me, but they were really complimenting my bag.

There isn’t a ton you can say about the design because it is exactly what you think of when you think of a bucket bag. It closes with a drawstring, and the leather Mansur Gavriel uses holds its shape well, which makes this bag even easier to spot.

Usability + Functionality

For me, a bucket bag is much like a bottomless pit. The tall body of the bag (mine is the large size; Mansur now offers a Mini and Mini Mini option) makes the interior roomy, but I can never quite find what I’m looking for. When I reach my hand into the bag, I pull out everything other than what I want. My lipgloss is always hidden, my phone seems to be eaten by the interior, and there’s a lot of digging without actually finding what I’m looking for.

The bag does offer a snap-on skinny pouch on the interior of the bag, which you could take out and use separately. I actually haven’t used this pouch yet, but I could start putting my lipgloss inside and see if that helps me find hard-to-hunt-down small items.

The drawstring top of the bag is not an easy open/close; it’s self-tie, which can also make it harder to open and expand on demand.

One of the upsides of the usability is the adjustable shoulder strap. I wear the bag long enough that when the bag is on my shoulder, I can easily reach down to get something in and out of my bag. My wallet and pouch are super easy to find, and I love how long the strap can get, especially for someone as tall as me.

Quality + Construction

I was really interested to see how this bag would hold up with use. The color is, of course, worrisome, but I can report that even with the light pink color, this bag is holding up magnificently. I am quite surprised, to be honest–not that I thought it would fall apart, but I expected the leather to start to scratch and colors to transfer onto my bag much more easily.

My bag has a coated calf finish, and it has stood the test of extreme use. When I start using a bag on a daily basis, I really use it. I take it to the gym and put it on the floor (I know, the horror!), pit it in my shopping cart at the grocery store, put it on tables and seats. This bag only shows a bit of wear on the bottom corners and a slight scratch in one spot, but otherwise has remained fresh and clean.

The leather was much more structured than I anticipated, but that has ended up being something I love about the bag. The shape that gives the style remains and the top shows the waves of the drawstring top which appears really beautiful when you look at it.

Mansur also offers vegetable tanned leather and tumbled leather; the vegetable tanned shows wear a bit more (I’ve seen Amanda’s black with red interior, and it looks much more worn than this bag does), and I’m sure the tumbled leather only gets nicer with wear. I’m a big fan of the coated calf finish; it keeps the bag looking lovely.

My bag has been rained on, had things spilled on it, and really been used for well over a month now, and it still looks close to brand new.

Value

My bag costs $695, and that is an amazing price. Other contemporary designers at this price point are not making their bags in Italy, and for many of them, the quality is sub-par, to say the least. Mansur Gavriel will be a price hike in the near future, but the bags still remain a very good value and price point.

The coated calf finish is the most expensive; the tumbled leather is $625, vegetable tanned leather is $495 and the canvas and leather combo is $445.

Staying Power

A very simple design and concept tends to have the most staying power when it comes to a relatively new designer. We know the likes of the Louis Vuitton Speedy and Chanel Reissue will always stand the test of the time, but with a newer brand, you want to look for the lines of the design. A bucket bag will always be a staple in the handbag world, and because of that, this bag may not always be at this constantly sold-out height of the bag market, but it will not fall into obscurity.

Total

The Mansur Gavriel Bucket Bag gets 4.3 stars in our Purseonals ratings. If it weren’t for the usability and functionality, the bag would score much higher, as each other category scores near perfect, if not perfect. I liked this bag when I first saw it but didn’t always get the hype, but when I got one for myself, I ended up learning to love it more than I expected. It’s easy to wear, looks great, and the price is hard to beat, especially when other major designers are upping their prices by 10% a year.

Stay tuned to PurseBlog to figure out how to get your hands on one of these bags for yourself–we always try to let you know when they become available!