Man!(sur Gavriel) I feel like a Lady

Happy New Year! I hope it's not too late to say that. Thankfully all the holiday sales are winding down now because I went way too hard. I probably didn't deserve any of the treats I got myself, but 2020 was a shit year and 2021 is starting out pretty shit too, so I feel like it's sorta okay? I know it’s been shit for just about everyone, so I’m not pretending it was tougher for me than others. It's just I had a hard time personally, hence the retail therapy. I really need more hobbies.

This holiday season I went looking for a black crossbody bag because somehow I've never managed to find one that I liked. Luckily/creepily, Google Ads has gotten so good at predicting me that they showed me Mansur Gavriel was having a sale, and oops the rest is history.

We Summarize Things

Mansur Gavriel Mini Mini Lady Bag: A-. Sturdy minimalist bag with an interesting (but not too interesting) look. Holds more than expected, although still small.

---

This is for the New Girl fans out there. When I decided I wanted to write this post, the first thing that jumped into my mind was Coach talking about his plans to hit up the outlet mall and he says, “I’m gonna look like a rich person from ten years ago!” In that same vein, I know I’m like eight years late to the Mansur Gavriel party, but hey, a deal’s a deal and I’m not big on waiting lists. Not to mention eight years ago I was broke af.

Can we just take a moment to appreciate the pure gold that is this line dancing scene to Shania Twain? ❤️

Alrighty, back to Mansur Gavriel. I've always admired their simple handbag designs, but I didn't love the bucket bag because I'm paranoid about getting pickpocketed and bucket bags are just asking to be robbed. On top of the security aspect, I'm one of those carry-your-entire-life-in-a-bag kind of people, so committing to a smaller bag is really tough in general. I ultimately landed on the Mini Mini Lady Bag because 1. it was on sale, 2. it had a pretty complicated closure design, 3. it was less boring-looking than the camera bag style that is almost all crossbodies these days, and 4. it seemed to be least awkward size of the Lady bags.

Shipping

I usually don't hold anyone to fast shipping around the holidays, especially when they explicitly say, “hey we’re doing the best we can but things might be a little slow.” That being said, Mansur Gavriel shipped really fast considering the time of year. But if this were any other time of year, it'd be normal shipping expectations. I ordered on Black Friday and received a shipping confirmation email the following Monday. It was standard shipping though, so it took FedEx about a week and a half (plus a one day delay) to actually get it across the country to California from New Jersey. I’m sure if you’re on the East Coast it’s much faster.

First Impressions

I think waiting for my bag to arrive got my expectations way up. It was packaged securely and came inside a nice, big dust bag, so lots of gold stars there. When I finally opened the bag, my immediate reaction was, "oh shit, this is small." They weren't kidding when they named it Mini Mini. Of course I had checked the dimensions with a tape measure before I ordered, but this is also why I hate ordering bags online. Dimensions can only tell you so much.

Nonetheless, I got over the size of it pretty quickly because my next thought was, "oh shit, this leather is stiff." It's really stiff, kind of like patent leather. I don't know if this is so the bag will hold its structure, but I hope it softens a little with more use. The strap (also leather) was neatly folded and tucked into the bag, but when I unraveled it, it kept all of the bends from when it was folded. I just wore this bag for a week straight and it's still all bent up.

Quality

I had read comments online about how Mansur Gavriel's leather scratches super easily, but I spent a month tossing my bag around in my apartment (I know, I need to be nicer to my bags) and it looked pristine. Now that I'm using it more and taking it outside, I checked it again and found a tiny scratch on the bottom. Oh well.

Structure wise, it's holding its shape just as well as Day 1, although that may be due to the stiff leather. If the leather softens and anything changes I'll come back to this and share updates. Unless I forget.

Usability

Despite my initial shock at the size of it, I've found the Mini Mini Lady Bag to be quite handy. I can fit a makeup bag with my essentials (medications, lip balm, hand sanitizer, etc.), a small wallet, and my sunglasses:

Side by side comparison

Proof that it all fits

Obviously as a carry-your-entire-life-in-a-bag person, I can't bring everything with me in this bag, but it holds enough to get me through a grocery trip or other short excursions to the city. Note: since the bag does have kind of a tapered shape (the top is flatter than the bottom) you want to put the chunkier stuff toward the bottom.

The ability to put a lot of stuff in a bag doesn’t mean much if it’s all just hanging out, ready to be pickpocketed. Good thing the flap closure is more complex than it appears. To close the bag you have to loop the drawstrings through a thing (loop?) under the flap, then again through the front loop. So many loops. The fact that opening and closing this bag takes relatively more effort than any zip or magnet closure bag can be annoying as the wearer, but if it takes me that much effort, it’ll take a thief way more to figure it out...hopefully.

Anyway, here’s how the Mini Mini Lady Bag looks when worn:

As a crossbody, I think it's a good size but it does look a little small. The next size up (Mini Lady Bag) might have been a better size for me, but I just couldn't tell from the pictures. In any case, the strap can be adjusted shorter or longer, which is nice since I can't really decide how long I like my bags these days.

Closing Comments

Generally I’m really happy with this bag. It holds a good amount of stuff, feels secure, and is decently interesting looking without being attention-grabbing. While the flap opening and closing process is mildly annoying, I like that it feels decently secure and more inventive than a zip closure. I wish that the photos online had been clearer so I could see the sizing between the Mini Mini and Mini better, but it's too late now. Maybe in eight years I'll get the Mini.