I haven't done a bag post in a long time and it's definitely one of my favorites posts to do. These days, I've pared down what I need to the essentials and am usually carrying a mini bag crossbody. I picked up the Chloe Mini Marcie Bag ($795 at Neiman Marcus) in late July and it's been such a carefree summer staple. It is small but if you need to, you can definitely stuff it. I used it all around San Diego this summer and had it stuffed while going to the Zoo, Legoland and Sea World. I wore sunscreen all over and I could easily wipe it off the leather strap. I've noticed that the leather is getting softer which makes me love using the bag even more. I stuffed it a lot when I was on vacation and it fit everything I needed: paper tickets, a map, small wallet, sunglasses (w/o case), iPhone, lipstick, lip balm, mints and a pack of kleenex. I kept a hair tie in the front slip pocket and sometimes receipts. I will say one thing is that the opening of the bag is smaller than the bottom. Make sure you are careful when you take out your items so things don't fall out. I actually lost my keys a couple of weeks ago when I was taking out my iPhone while walking my dog. Since I have my house key on an LV key holder and it's only 1 key and 1 fob, I didn't hear any jangling noise from it falling on the ground. What I love about the Tan color is that it works perfectly year round and looks equally stylish for summer and fall.
If you are looking to save a couple hundred dollars like I did, you can easily purchase this bag (or other luxury bags) online from Europe! Our exchange rate is so good now and some of these larger department store sites have great shipping and also return policies (please check each one carefully). Of course, if you are set on a particular color you may find yourself checking the site frequently for any updates to their selection. It took me about two months but I did finally get the Tan color in the Chloe Mini Marcie that I really wanted from the French Monnier Freres site. I ended up paying $665 total which included tax and duties. This bag retails for $795-$890 (Nordstrom has raised their prices for this bag to $890 this fall) before tax here in the U.S. so all things considered I saved a significant amount of money without leaving the country! The bag also came within a week of my order and it was packaged so nicely in a beautiful big box with ribbon and inside was a Chloe dust bag with my beautiful bag inside. I check the Chloe page on Monnier Freres often and the prices do change from time to time. I'm not sure if this is because of exchange rates or whatnot but sometimes things go down (and up). I got this tip from the blogger Allyson in Wonderland and can't thank her enough for this!
Currently, this bag is really a deal at Harrods and is available in Intense Green or Black. Make sure you choose the USD $ currency from the top right menu and then add your selection to your cart. The Chloe Mini Marcie bag is $653.82 but if you choose guest checkout you can see that they minus out the VAT so the total amount comes to $578.55 including delivery. This is a huge savings! Selfridges has the black and nut color available for $550. I'm not completely sure if they minus out the VAT already but it seems like they have and will just add some of the import duties after but you don't know the final price until checkout (and you have to add in all your info to do so).
So there you have it. My beautiful Chloe Mini Marcie bag and a few more options to online shop and browse to find the best luxury handbag deals!
