to shop / mansur gavriel london online sample sale review

PSA If you wanted a blush mini bucket or teal saffiano mini mini bucket for sample size prices, go here and use code LOVE20 for 20% off!

Feb 17 Update: Last update. Hope you got what you wanted (drop me a line!). After much thinking of what would spark joy, I ended up getting the canvas bucket in creme/black. 

Feb 16 Update: One more day of the sample sale. MG refreshes the sale page each day but there may be styles from the prior days that are not sold out. Also, if you can add to cart, click on checkout to confirm if it’s *really* in-stock! Good luck!

Feb 15 Update: Fingers crossed that unlike past sales, MG will be updating their online sale on the last day. See below for my Day 4 predictions!

Image: MG

The London sample sale started today. I like data points, so while I’m not able to post real-time updates about this sale (I have a job!), I hope this helps someone out for days 2-4 of the sale. (See my original sale post for the laundry list of tips.)

London online sample sale link

From their e-mail:

Shop Bags, Shoes & Ready-to-Wear 
online and via Instagram Stories 
@mansurgavriel 
February 13th – 17th 
6AM EST ⁄ NYC Time 
11AM GMT ⁄ London Time

Shop in London at
The Music Room 
26 South Molton Lane 
Mayfair, London W1K 5LF 
Wednesday Feb 13th 11AM – 8PM 
Thursday Feb 14th 8AM – 8PM 
Friday Feb 15th 8AM – 7PM 
Saturday Feb 16th 10AM – 5PM

to shop / mansur gavriel la online sample sale review and the london sale

Image: Mansur Gavriel

Since the inaugural sample sale in NYC in April 2018,  Mansur Gavriel had a sample sale in LA in August 2018 and is now having one in London starting in the morning. The best part about these sample sales is that they also have one online! The prices and selection do not compare with the in-person sale, and you may also have to deal with cancellations and hiccups, but it’s better than nothing.

Refer to this post for some tips and tricks and my review of the NYC online sale. Read on for my thoughts on the LA online sample sale (yes, I am a bit late on blogging this) and details of the London sample sale.

Styles/Colors/Leathers and Prices

All items are listed on the sample sale page. Prices were 40-80% off, similar to the last sale, however, the selection was very limited. If you like suede, Blu, Black, you were in luck. I really wanted a canvas bag, but not enough to get a large tote (too big) and bucket (also too big).

2018 thoughts on bags

Updated: Bao Bao Issey Miyake added

Every year I intend to write ‘year in review’ posts. Somehow time escapes me, so let’s see if this works this year. I plan to write on different topics. First up: bags.

I go through periods of times of buying no bags and then bam! I get a few. I bought a few recently, mostly black bags.

($$$$ to $)

• The spendiest purchases were driven by Hedi’s takeover of Céline. I couldn’t get myself to Europe soon enough, so I managed with duty free shops in Seoul. Prices are comfortably below US prices and the # of stores are somewhat plentiful. I went to 4 duty free boutiques – 3 in Seoul and 1 in the Incheon airport! For the most part, what I purchased is what I have wanted to purchase for years but the opportunity and urgency never arose. I have no regrets with my purchases, although I have yet to use all of them. I have invested in Samorga inserts for most of them.

I am hesitant to buy Céline secondhand online. It’s hard to assess the structure of a non-super structured bag on the internet. Or for example, the Trio was quietly redesigned in recent years where the straps that connect to the purse were reinforced. This isn’t apparent in most online listings. I wouldn’t want to buy an older Trio. I haven’t sold any of my Célines, but the resale of some of them look roughly the same as duty free. It’s a no lose situation, in my opinion. Some of the classic Phoebe Philo designs are still around but now don the new Celine logo (no accent over the é) and new colors.

Image: Celine

• (Updated: Can’t believe I forgot to include Bao Bao!) My friend Pam got me into Bao Bao Issey Miyake bags. At some point, they were super hard to buy in Asia. Almost everyone and their mom has one, it seems. They are popular with the older crowd. The brand is Japanese, but I found these bags much better stocked in the US and sometimes on sale/discount! I have four of the totes in different sizes (Prism or Lucent) and got the last one when I was in Tokyo. I highly recommend these for its lightweight, low maintenance, easy to pack (flattens), and uncommon style (at least outside of Asia). I think I’m done for now!

Prism Tote in a Japan-exclusive color

to shop / mansur gavriel nyc online sample sale review and tips

Image: Mansur Gavriel

Mansur Gavriel is currently hosting its first sample sale through April 21, 2018 in Soho, New York City. Today is the third day. I didn’t have high expectations for the sale, but from the sample sale reports on social media, it looks amazing minus the lines. They have significant discounts, variety, no complaints on bag condition, restocking throughout, etc. Sample sales rarely bring out the best in people. When the discounts are 70% off patent leather or fabric bags, 50% off suede, calf, or tumbled leather bags, 40% off vegetable tanned leather bags, $125 for flat clutches, and 65% off ready to wear, it’s a bargain hunter’s paradise as much as it is a reseller’s.

The rest of this post will focus on the online sample sale experience. Hopefully it helps someone who wants to try for Day 4. This is based on my own online shopping experiences as well as tips that other shoppers have left on social media and forums. This is not a true sample sale but more like an overstock/clearance of discontinued items sale.

to shop / mansur gavriel nyc pop-up review & lady bag in tumbled and saffiano leather

The Mansur Gavriel pop-up shop in the Soho area of NYC has been open from mid-November through January 11. After MG announced the expansion of their Saffiano line on December 13, it gave me incentive to check out the saffiano bags. Unfortunately, MG bags are still final sale when you purchase from mansurgavriel.com, which I strongly dislike because (1) they are expensive (2) many styles/colors are only available directly from MG who normally doesn’t have a storefront and (3) MG can be difficult with any flaws on the bag (this is based on personal experience and what I’ve read on TPF). I consider myself lucky that I live near their pop-up.

The pop-up is very spacious, minimalist, and pink. If you don’t like rose quartz pink which is popular with MG and Glossier, tough luck! I went mid-afternoon and got personal attention from both SA’s — not all stocked items are displayed and they also mentioned that they have the large lady bag in stock. There is also plenty of seating for the men and a fancy flower shop.

As I was trying on the bags, I realized that if I ever were to get another, I would need a regular sized lady bag so I can hold letter sized paper. I also was surprised at how gorgeous the tumbled leather is! The tumbled leather bag was lying around (the sales assistants try their best to put away bags while answering questions) and I think I might like it more than the saffiano, which is unfortunate for my wallet. The tumbled leather style is thicker than expected, perhaps due to the canvas lining, and will not stand on its own unless you stuff it. Out of all of the MG bag styles, the lady bag is my favorite and uniquely MG.

Pricing is higher than the bucket, given the style and construction:

• Mini Lady: vegetable tanned $750, saffiano $795, tumbled or calf $1050
• Lady: vegetable tanned $895, saffiano $945, tumbled or calf $1195

Orders with MG sent to NJ, NY, and CA have sales tax.

This “baby bucket” is exclusive to the pop-up and designed for a baby/toddler. It fits your smartphone if it’s not XL.

The mini lady bag in black saffiano and rosa saffiano with matching interiors.

I compared the mini lady with a regular lady in calf leather and quickly noticed the fraying thread. Ick. I have a detailed post on regular lady vs mini lady bag size here.

The saffiano leather is a very structured leather. Maybe it’s a little too structured for the lady bag style.

It’s hard to see, but there were dirt marks on the rosa saffiano. Not impressed even if it’s a floor sample. This cemented my decision to steer away from a rosa saffiano lady. I have a rosa saffiano mini bucket (review) which has some dirt marks that couldn’t be easily removed with a baby wipe. I asked the SA how to clean it and referred me to Leather Spa. That’s a cop out answer to me.

Regular lady bag in peony pink calf leather, mini lady bag in royal blue tumbled leather

Circle of MG lady bags, clockwise from left: black saffiano mini lady, red calf lady, rosa saffiano mini lady, and blu tumbled mini lady.

Love the non-knot of this peony tumbled leather mini lady

Closer look