Ladies Leather Bags 101

Ladies Leather Bags 101

A high quality ladies leather bag can make or break an outfit.  The bag you choose often defines you and your outfit.  Whether you’re talking about a clutch to match your dress or a hobo to match your jeans, it is a reflection of, not only your individuality, but potentially your career, social standing, and your fashion sense.  Following are a few tips which can help you choose the right bag for you and your budget.  A bag that will make you look great, will last a long time and will make you the envy of those around you.  The next time you go shopping for Ladies Leather Bags, try to keep these things in mind.

Identify a Budget

If your intention is to splurge, don’t worry about this tip. In any other case, set a limit as ladies leather bags can be expensive. If you follow only one of these tips for buy ladies leather bags, make it this one. In order to ensure you spend only what you intended to, bring a fixed amount of cash with you.

Watch for Discounts on Ladies Leather Bags

Online is the ideal location for finding great prices on ladies leather bags.  You will also find a much wider selection without having to travel from store to store.  You do have to watch for additional charges, however, like shipping.  Check the shipping rates, the return policy, eg. restocking fees, warranty etc.  Many stores offer free shipping if you spend a certain amount, so you may want to combine your order with that of a friend or relative.  I’ve found a number of great purses on Amazon.  If you enjoy shopping from amazon.com, be sure to watch for their Friday deals.

 

Buying used Ladies Leather Bags

You can find a number of bags being sold on auction sites like eBay. Leather is very durable, so a second hand bag is not necessarily a bad choice.  Just keep the following in mind: Check that the price on the bag is appropriate for it’s condition.  Does the seller mention any defects?  If not, you should send an enquiry as to whether it is in like-new condition since they list no defects. Though most people prefer not to buy used name brand bags, many are obtainable on-line in excellent condition, and at considerably less than the original price tag.

 

Selecting the Correct Bag Size

Small ladies ought to stay away from large bags that can tend to make them look even smaller than they are. Larger bags are fine for taller women. Don’t forget  that bags can, and should be used to call attention to or draw focus away from body parts. For example, Shoulder Bags can reduce the effect of a pear shaped frame..

Ladies Leather Bag Types

There exists no shortage of variety when it comes to ladies leather bags. Here are just a few of the most popular styles available.

Clutches – Small, yet long (rectangular), evening bag without a handle.

Hobos – One of the most popular bag styles of all time, Hobos can be identified by their unique shape. A hobo purse is always crescent shaped and floppy. It comes in many sizes, but is usually an oversized bag.  It is always round at the bottom and scooped at the top.

Messenger Bags – A bag with a long strap to be worn across the body.

Satchels – A soft-sided case usually of leather, used to carry papers or books. Usually has a handle and often has a strap
Shoulder Bags – A bag with a long strap (similar to a messenger bag), yet smaller.

Totes – A medium to large bag with two straps.

Ladies bags have been crafted from leather, vinyl, velvet, nylon, canvas and just about anything else you can think of, with the primary goal always being that of accessorizing and matching outfits, while remaining functional. Leather of course is the all time favorite material for ladies purses due to it’s beauty, flexibility and durability.

The Last Word on Ladies Leather Bags

Finally, remember that your purse is going to be used to store your possessions, from cosmetics to important paperwork so be sure to choose a bag that will be sturdy and functional. Even though bags are generally eye-catching accessories, they do need to be practical as well.  It doesn’t matter if you are buying ladies leather bags for your yourself or for someone else, keep these useful tips in mind and you’ll be able to find high quality fashionable leather bag, clutch or other accessory that complements your wardrobe without emptying your pocketbook.

The Perfect Ladies Purse

The Perfect Ladies Leather Purse

Just for clarification, this article not about perfect ladies, but about, my friend, the perfect ladies leather purse. Now you could go pretty long with this, getting into a debate about various types of bags likes Clutches, Messenger Bags, Shoulder Bags, Totes or even the popular across the body bags, but we will save that for another discussion. What I’m visualizing for our discussion today is your general everyday, take it to work, carry my stuff in purse. My grandma called it her pocketbook which always seemed funny to me because you don’t read it.  Anyway, it is what it is — simply, a ladies leather purse.  This particular accessory is what we ladies carry all our necessities in from little items like lipstick and bandages to big stuff like our wallet and smart phone. To suit the daily needs of women in 2011, it seems to me that there are certain features that make a purse more convenient for me to use.  For the sake of this discussion, I would like to cover a few specifics which I believe are the main factors impacting the usefulness of my handbags.

Yellow leather purse

The Ladies Leather Purse

Which brings me to my first factor, material.  Though other materials are beneficial in some circumstances, only leather purse stands the test of time.  My grandma had one, I have several :) and I’m sure they will continue to be around for generations.  You can get into some really nice patterns going with a good canvas, but now we are getting into fashion accessories — we are talking function here and leather just plain lasts. Keep in mind that I’m not saying the the picture to the left is representative of the perfect ladies purse — it’s just an example, which happens to be pretty cute and pretty close to what I might look for in a purse.

Features of a good Ladies Leather Purse

  • Does not Stain easily like canvas
  • Does not Tear Easily like vinyl
  • Is much more resistant to water than canvas
  • Is much more durable all around
  • Its Shiny :)

The Right Handle for the Perfect Ladies Leather Purse

The next feature I look for in ladies leather bags is what I call carry-ability.  You see, the handles on the purse pictured above are just a little too short for me. They are great if you are only carrying it around like a clutch, but as soon as you get your arms full, you want to be able to put that baby up on your shoulder.  Normally if you think of a shoulder bag, you visualize a purse with a long single strap which allows you to put the purse on your shoulder and allow it to hang down on the same side.  That’s fine if you prefer that style, but then you kind of lose the ease of carrying it like a clutch.

What you need are TWO straps that are short enough to allow you to carry it like a clutch, but long enough to slip up over your shoulder and tuck under your arm.  This frees your hands to do things like carry coffee, keys or children.  If the straps are wide enough they are less likely to slip down off your shoulder, but if they do, length becomes important again.  With shorter straps, you can just keep going along with your purse dangling on your forearm.  Awkward but effective — the long handled shoulder bag, however, would be dragging along the ground, especially if you happen to be five feet tall like me. :)

ladies leather purse

Purse Functionality

So we’ve covered durability and carry ability which leaves us with the discussion of usability.  The perfect ladies purse has to be functional.   I don’t go for the oversized bag motif that you see some ladies carrying around.  You know the ones that are big enough to carry your lunch to work in?  Not for me thank you — remember, we are talking about a fairly standard purse here.  It does however need to be able to hold my wallet.  In a perfect world, the wallet is purchased with the purse and is sized to fit.

Nevertheless, it needs to be easy to get in and out of the purse which means that our ideal purse needs to have a large opening.  I won’t go into detail on the closure except to say that whether its a zipper, snap, magnet or whatever, it needs to be easily opened with one hand.  I also don’t think that flip over ‘flap’ closures should have pockets in them.  If they do, they should only be used for light, small items like tissues.

Finally, I prefer a purse with at least two compartments and a small side pocket or two with zippers.  Since I fancy myself an organized person, I like to arrange my stuff for easy access.  I must confess to some irritation when standing behind another woman at the store who is scrounging through her twelve gallon tote looking for change all the while saying things like, “Oh there’s my debit card.”  Some handbags even have small pockets for phones and a hook for your keys.  I’m not really a fan of the keys on the hook thing, but I will protect my phone by using a built in pocket — if it fits.  When considering a leather bag that has a phone pocket, I would recommend making sure you phone not only fits, but that it will stay in securely while still being easy to get out.

So that’s it.  I’m sure you may have opinions of your own on this subject, but I hope I’ve given you a couple of things to talk about.  It’s important to know what features are important to YOU so that the next time you go shopping for your perfect ladies leather purse, you come home with a winner that you will be happy with for years to come.