Herman Bag by Marc Marmel $1,488
Old things are cool (and no, this is not some kind of encrypted endorsement of John McCain). Young things may sometimes be more beautiful, but beautiful is hardly cool. The cliché, as clichés are wont to do, is based in truth. A wrinkled face has more character. A weathered home holds more stories. And beat-up leather doesn’t shine– it glows. Yes, my toddler’s skin is so creamy sometimes I have to bite it, but given the choice of a brand-new Volkswagon bug and one from 1967, I’ll take the original–scars and all.
In the eighties, during the height of the preppie craze (which started as a satire and, in becoming a national craze, lost its sense of humor along the way) I bought one pair of shoes in September every year. They were penny loafers made in a nice coppery color (it went well with nearly disintegrating denim), a very stiff upper (you can draw your own analogy there) and a high shine. I appreciated them at first but only started really to like them around November, when they started to soften up. By December, they had trudged through enough puddles to lose their shine. Come March, they were a few different shades of dull brown, the soles sloped like see-saws (my feet, apparently, pronated), and they were beginning to wear thin at the toes. By June, I couldn’t just feel the ground with my big toe, I could actually touch it. Sadly, as soon as I had gotten them this far, it was time for flip-flops again.
Just looking at this bag makes me feel twelve again (but in a good way), when I would wrestle my shoes out of my mother’s hands as she was headed toward the garbage with them. It is the kind of treasure you would hope to run across in a Florentine flea market or inherit from a thrillingly well-travelled great-aunt. If I see you with one, I won’t blow your cover.
I love this. I wanted to buy it, and it’s terrific. The only bad thing? It’s HEAVY!!! ):
I love how it looks and feels.. very old world.. Now, that doesn’t sound right… but it sure does feel like it!
I like the looks of this bag too and yes,it does look heavy,as above said,don´t know why,but it does. Surely this no bag to tote around the whole day.
Sorry, it´s the leather that is so thick that, that´s why it looks heavy and I´ll add lots of minuses for the back side of the bag,which is so roughly made. The front is ok.
^ Mette, it not only looks heavy, it is very heavy. The leather is of good quality, and I think workmanship is there, but not super good…
Looks different and very old world, I love it, but no heavy bags! they aren’t practical for me in the long run.
so… you suggesting i buy this Hermes knock-off, with its weight and knock-off uncoolness, wear it for a few months until it looks like worn down knockoffs I find in flea markets? Well, i’d rather go to flea markets and find the worn down knockoffs for 2 0’s less! And i’d have an excuse to fly back to north america…
“Much Cooler than Hermes”?!!! Sacrilege! How could you Liza?! Lol.
I love the look!! Is it too big for eveyday? And heavy as above noted. I would love to see it in person.
I would much rather read a bit more about the bag itself, and less about a random penny loafer analogy (especially when the title is touting it as cooler than Hermes). I found out more about this bag from the comments than I did from the article.
don’t do it ladies! this bag is SO heavy and it’s HUGE!
i know this bag and the craftsmanship rather personally…90% of the line is very heavy… Many of the earlier bags have been known to tear at or around the seems..how can such a heavy bag be so weak? it is because the leather is a split, not a top grain. tisk tisk marc marmel.
The bag is shit quality… they use split hides and not even top grain leather… you look closely at the stitching and its garbage too