I’m back from my blogging hiatus; and it’s been a long one at that. To kick things off I’ll be posting a four-day handbag series dedicated to a dear friend’s fruitless search for a decent bag.

In her words:

I have struggled over the last six months looking a good bag. I don’t really want to spend more than 200 bucks, but might if it was perfect. I want something interesting, woven leather or interesting details in the leather, something like that, and just big enough, medium sized…I want something edgy, but not overly rocker or anything. Probably black as i dont have a black bag. but black can be so plain, so i want the details to make it stand out.

While finding something with quality leather and snazzy attributes under the 200 smacks range is a bit tricky, I do think I’ve successfully rounded up bags to suit a middle-range budget without completely breaking the bank. And because navy is a personal favorite, I’ll start things off with it: 



From left to right, by row:

1. Valhalla Brooklyn Larch Bag in Navy; $300
2. Clare Vivier Messenger Bag in Navy; $345 Been lusting after this bag for a while now…
3. Sessun Aponi Hobo Bag in Navy; $361
4. Collina Strada Bag; no price. I especially love Collina’s Spring 2011 lookbook. So Naomi Fisher of her, don’t you think?
5. Rachel Nasvik Phoebe Satchel in Navy; $350. Red and black are available on the site…I’m starting to feel the red one more! Oh dear.
6. Marc Jacobs Classic Q Hillier Hobo in Navy; $398

Photo Credits // All images from their respective linked sites with the exception of #5 swiped from Miss Danny Jo