Well, so much for my “no more shoulder bags” assertion. I got the Nomade Hobo on sale a few weeks ago, but haven’t carried it yet – I’m hanging onto it for fall. I fell in love with this bag when it first came out (it has ruffles, but not in a sicky-sweet way), but couldn’t swing the $672 price tag at the time. Not that it isn’t worth it — HH bags have wonderful details, and the quality is excellent — but the budget just wasn’t there. Imagine my delight when I got the notice for a private sale…and it was marked down to $190!
When it arrived, it was packed in a lovely, heavy-duty pink dustbag with sturdy black grosgrain ribbon ties. The Nomade is part of the Paule Marrot collection, which I think is a limited-edition thing. I honestly don’t know who Paule Marrot is, but the dustbag is the nicest I’ve ever seen. The Nomade Hobo barely fit inside it though, it’s a very big bag.
Bittersweet is a rich dark brown color, and the leather is distressed so there are some color variations. Distressed leather can be thin and delicate sometimes (like some Balenciaga bags), but this stuff is thick and soft, and I think it will wear very well. As always, I am delighted with the tiny details that HH does so well – the little studs lining the edge of the outside pocket and the strap, the lacing at the top edge of the bag, the sturdy rings on the strap and pockets, the perfect, even topstitching, and of course the ruffles. The HH hardware is a really nice brushed brass, which glows with a perfect balance of shiny and matte. Did I mention the pockets? There’s a huge one on the outside front, plus the smaller ruffled one on top of it. Both of these pockets and the top of the bag fasten with invisible magnetic closures sewn into the leather. There are two smaller pockets on either end of the bag that close with a flap, and snap on a leather strap that slips into a brass ring. I will probably never use them, but they are quite functional, and lined with the same fabric as the bag — see what I mean about quality details? Hanging from one end of the strap is a round leather tag with a small pocket on one side and a brass plate and brown grosgrain ribbon on the other. It looks a little like a luggage tag, but to use it as one, you’d have to tuck your identifying info into the tiny pocket. It’s cute, but I wish it were a big HH tassel instead. I’d add one, because I’m a tasselly kind of girl, but I can’t find one in Bittersweet.
Inside, there are two pockets — one patch pocket, and one zipped one. The zipper has leather trim around the edge with tiny studs and small scallops, and has a small dogleash clip attached below to hold your keys. The patch pocket is divided to hold a cellphone and iPod (or in my case, a BlackBerry). The lining is a very cheery cotton print with a pink background and mostly green and blue flowers (I think this is the Paule Marrot part). The strap is wide, thick, almost padded, and has leather trim in the shape of a leaf sewn to the top.
As I mentioned, this is a really large bag. I mean…it’s fucking huge! I know, it’s called “Oversized,” but still. The product description said it’s 16 x 5 x 17 inches, so I knew it was going to be large, but it’s hard to get a sense of size from the website photos. It arrived packed with some stuffing inside, but not nearly enough to fill up the bag, so I threw some more in there to find out what it looks like full. I was able to fit a pair of jeans and a t-shirt in there, and still had room left over. Honestly it’s bigger than I will need for every day, but this bag looks really good on. Maybe the sheer size of it makes me look small in comparison, I don’t know, but it’s just stunning. It’s comfortable too — it sort of snuggles against me, and the top of the bag slouches nicely under the arm. It will be good for taking to work because sometimes I need to throw in my lunch or other stuff. Hell, I could probably fit my whole laptop in there. I’m looking forward to carrying it in another month or so.
I’m glad I got this bag when I did, because it’s now gone from the Hayden-Harnett website. They are still available at Amazon — at the original price — but as of today they have only four left, so if you want one, now is the time!