I have always been such a handbag fiend and over the past few years, my designer handbag collection has seen a few lovely additions. One of those additions is my vibrant Mulberry Darley Small Grain Clutch, which I purchased a couple of years ago for my 20th birthday and ever since has been a staple in my handbag collection. Whenever I consider purchasing a new handbag, I always do my research beforehand before offloading my hard earned cash on a new handbag, so hopefully this review will assist anyone who’s thinking of purchasing either this particular bag, a Mulberry or a wallet on chain in general.
FEATURES OF THE DARLEY
Before I tell you about my experience with this bag and the pros and cons, here’s a little bit of information about the bag. This Darley in particular consists of grained leather on the exterior and smooth leather on the interior. My bag in particular is in the shade ‘Bright Orange’ and the interior is the infamous Mulberry Taupe colour, in ‘solid grey’. Though it may be a little bag, it’s not short of compartments and organisation. It has 8 credit card slots, in addition to two zipped sections, one on the interior and one on the exterior and two slip compartments on the inside. This bag is 19cm in width and 13cm in height, with a depth of 4.5cm and it comes with a detachable gold chain, therefore can be worn crossbody with the strap, or a clutch simply by removing it.
WHAT FITS INTO THE DARLEY
There’s no doubt that this is a small bag, so you can’t fit a huge amount. I find that I can fit my house keys, car keys, moisturiser and a lip product as well as some cards (in the card slots). If you overfill the bag, it will start to lose its shape and if it’s well over packed, it simply won’t close. You definitely have to be refined with what you decide to put in this bag, for example I can fit my phone, but then I won’t be able to fit much else in (but that’s what pockets are for!)
WHEN I USE THE DARLEY
I personally love using this bag, particularly when I’m abroad on a city break – it’s my favourite bag to take with me when I go to Amsterdam, as everything is safe and close to hand. I also love using this bag when I know I’m going to need to be hands free, for example on a trip to IKEA or when going to a theme park. It would also be a good bag for festivals and concerts!
PROS OF THE DARLEY
| Due to the fact that you can remove the chain and it’s size, the bag is highly versatile and not only can it be worn in various ways, it also can be worn to different occasions and events.
| Although it’s a lot of money for the size of the bag, it’s a more affordable/attainable designer handbag at £595.
| The colour! Yes this is dependent on whichever colour you choose, but I absolutely love the vibrancy of this bag. Orange is definitely not a colour I would usually go for, but this bag definitely has a place in my closet.
| The style of this bag is such a classic. The envelope style bag is one that will always be trendy and never outdated.
CONS OF THE DARLEY
| As the interior leather is so smooth, it’s easy to scratch the leather, especially when you’re going in and out of the bag as items such as keys or even your rings and nails can scratch the interior leather.
| Something that I’m not a fan of with the bag is that the chain is sprayed gold, so as the bag endures more use and wear overtime, particularly the iconic postman’s lock can start to go back to silver.
| As you can probably gather from my little segment about what fits into the bag, it is definitely a small bag, so you can’t fit much in it and you do have to sacrifice some things. That being said, it all comes part and parcel with the notion of having a smaller, cute bag.
| Although the chain is 56cm, it’s just about comfortable to be worn as a crossbody. I’m 5’5/6 and a size 16/18 and it works perfectly as a crossbody, but it I was any bigger or taller, it would come up too high on my body.
WOULD I RECOMMEND THE DARLEY?
I would definitely recommend this bag if you’re looking for an entry-level designer bag or if you’re on the hunt for a good wallet on chain bag, that won’t break the bank as much as the Chanel WOC would. I absolutely love this colour (although you can’t get this exact colour anymore) and it goes with a lot more than I initially thought and it makes a nice pop of colour to my otherwise neutral handbags. It’s a great bag for travelling or when you want a cute little bag. This bag now retails for £595 (it was £550 when I purchased it back in 2017), which for such a small bag, may seem obscene, however I have gotten more use out of it than I could have ever imagined. Also in terms of a designer handbag, it is on the lower end of the price spectrum.
What do you think about this cute little bag?
