Mansur Gavriel Bucket Bag <3

The Mansur Gavriel Bucket Bag debuted a couple years ago and was such a hit that everyone was trying to get their hands on it.  At first I thought it was just ok, but as I saw more and more pictures of it on different people (see Google image results for street style with this bag), I decided I wanted to join the bandwagon!  Maybe I got brain washed lol.  But seriously, it looks great on everyone and a variety of outfits!

But, it was so freaking hard to get my hands on this bag because it sold out sooooo fast!  (Although right now you can pre-order from Barneys, only a few left though).  I joined their mailing list about a year ago, which sends you an email letting you know when they will be back in stock.  The first time it came back in stock after I joined the mailing list, I literally tried to buy one at the minute they launched.  But apparently they sold out in like 5 seconds or something, in every color!  So even though I added one to my cart, I could not check out.

Fast forward like 6 months later, I saw another email about them coming back in stock.  To be honest, I was a little over it already.  But I went onto their site anyway to see if it would let me check out.  Well... it did!  It was right around my birthday so I figured... birthday present to myself!  Hahaha.  So I decided to just get it, even though they don't allow returns.

Oh, but they did raise the price between last time and this time.  I think this bag was so popular both because the style is cute and because the price was very reasonable.  The large bucket bag (it also comes in mini size) was $495.  But when I bought it last month, it became $595.  Still not bad, but that's a 20% price increase!  (I work in finance, so I can't help but to think of it this way.)  Although, you probably don't have to pay sales tax if you are not in New York where they are located.  And shipping was only $10.

The bag comes in many colors.  For each outside color, you get quite a few choices of the inner lining color.  So there is definitely a decision making process there.  I finally decided on "cammello" (nude) as the outside color and "rosa" (pale pink) as inner color.

However, I came very close to the Cammello/Royal combo, but at last decided it wasn't as easy to match as rosa: 

I think the black/flamma is beautiful too, but I preferred a nude bag over black.

So my bag actually arrived pretty fast.  I've had it for a few weeks now and have had a few chances to carry it.  It's so pretty!

It arrived in a box like this:

When you open the box, the bag is sitting inside of its dust bag:

Then... taaadaaaa!

My first thought was that it's a quite structured bag!  Looking at pics, I thought it would be softer.  But I guess it makes sense to have a harder leather material so that it retains its shape.

Here's the rosa color inside - it's a very very light pink:

The inside is just plain open space.  There are no additional pockets or compartments:

The strap is adjustable:

Because I got the large sized bucket bag, it comes with a detachable wallet whereas the mini bucket bags don't.  The price difference between the large and mini bags is $100.  So I think the large is a better deal since you get a bigger bag and a detachable wallet for $100 more.  

It's attached by just a strap with a button which you can easily undo:

Inside of the wallet - no other pockets in there.  When I use this bag, I put my cell phone in this wallet and then it won't get lost in the bag.  It can't hold a whole lot more other than some credit cards or cash.  Definitely nothing bulky.

You don't really have to untie the bag and then tie it again when you use it.  In fact, the leather is stiff so it is not very easy to make a tie at all.  You can just leave it tied with enough room on top to stick your hands in and take out stuff.  I made the mistake of untying it and then I couldn't tie it again and make the bow look decent for a long time.

Not sure if you can see, but the Mansur Gavriel name is very inconspicuous.  It is in tiny gold writing towards the bottom of the bag:

Here's a close up:

This bag is actually bigger than I thought it was going to be.  I'm 5'5 and I wear it at the shortest strap length and it still does not look small on me.  If I lengthen the strap, I can wear it as a crossbody.

But it can hold a lot of stuff!  One time I put my wallet, sunglasses, keys, phone, workout gloves, grips, and water bottle all in there at once and it wasn't even full.  I could have thrown in an ipad easily too lol.  But no matter if you have 10 things in there or nothing in there, the shape is exactly the same so that's pretty good.

I also read somewhere that the mini size can't even fit a regular sized ipad while being able to tie the top.  So that sounds a bit too small for me, and is another reason I got the large size instead of mini.

Apparently the leather of this bag is untreated, so it will get scratches rather easily.  I read about that before on some Purse Forum discussion threads.  But strangely I don't mind that in my leather products.  To me, scuffs kind of make the item more unique.  I like my things to look used and loved, rather than a museum piece.  Though my bag has yet to acquire any scuffs.  

So, now I am finally an owner of the bucket bag!  I do really love the style and I think the color I got is great.  I think it looks understated and effortless, which jives with the SoCal vibe pretty well.  It's also practical since it fits a lot of items, and the top opening makes it easy to reach inside and get things.  As for the quality, it appears pretty good but I guess only time will tell.  I'll try to do some periodic updates!  Mansur Gavriel also does have other bag designs.  If you are interested, I suggest you join their mailing list.  But to ensure that you will get one, the best way is probably to pre-order from Barneys right now.  Barneys also sells a couple other styles that are in stock, as well as pre-order of the backpack.

Happy shopping!  =D