Looking for a small, open tote where you have easy access? Look no further than these Piel Leather open totes! I absolutely love these little gems, coming in Piel Leather’s own colors, Toffee, Charcoal and Honey. They are 11.5x10x5 and can hold more than you think. These held all my needs that bigger bags can carry, although they don’t snap shut. There is a clip-snap in the center than can pop open if the bag is filled to the brim. If using public transit like I do, carry by the shoulder strap and hold like a football to make life more difficult for pickpockets. There is the standard 10 inch drop handles that fit easily over my arms and shoulders (if not wearing a coat). They are all fully lined with accompanying colors and have the one outside zip pocket for a key chain, very small phone or slip wallet. I saw these a few years ago and thought they were ridiculously small but have since come around.
A good quality leather can be quite expensive but expensive is subjective. Is it $500 that is pricey to you? $1000? Or $5000? Piel Leather has high quality leather bags made in Columbia, rivaling more expensive brands. Their leather is typically a matte finish, sometimes with a high gloss. These particular open totes were $133 on Amazon for quite some time. A price I thought was too high for such a small bag. I kept them on my Amazon Piel Leather Wish List and waited. Sure enough, after a few years, they each, at different times, were dropped by $50 per bag! I snatched up the Toffee bag when it was $85 last fall. What a find! Then the other two went on sale weeks and months later for $80-85 each. Now they are up to $300 each.
Seasonally, these bags are great for roughly a third of the year each. Now it is Winter, I’d carry the Charcoal from January to April, then the Honey from May to August, and finally the Toffee from September to December. Those are roughly how I would divide them into the year.
How would I wear them? For the Charcoal, I’d wear with my Charcoal Wool Coat (that I bought for a dollar at a Seattle thrift shop) or my black oil slick London Fog Overcoat. For the Honey, shorts and long sleeve tshirts or jeans and pullovers. Very casual and iconic. Fall is for the Toffee and sweaters, colored denim stretch pants. Hey, I’m 51 now so Fashion isn’t my main concern!
Until next article.
Brick ONeil 