It’s results post time! This challenge was to find a new black bag, which was necessary because of the dire condition of my Cynthia Rowley bag:
Notice the lovely frayed straps
My inspiration pieces were two lovely bags by Michael Kors, both of which are WAY over my budget:
Michael Kors Jenna Large Tote, $464 CAD Bloomingdale's
Michael Kors Gia Ostrich-Embossed Leather Satchel, $805 CAD Zappos Couture
So keeping these bags in mind I set out to find a new one. Easy right? There are millions of affordable black bags in this world! Well, apparently not anywhere near where I live because I had the hardest time finding one that wasn’t way over budget or one that looked even remotely close to the Michael Kors bags!
I finally managed to luck out at Aldo. Correction, the third Aldo that I visited. I had no luck at the outlet or at the Aldo accessory store (or Payless, Ardene, Smart Set, Forever 21, Jacob, Le Chateau, Winners…my list could go on and on!) but finally found something at a regular Aldo shoe store in the mall:
Aldo Pressel, $55 (front view from the Aldo website)
Back view of the bag I bought
Now I really like this bag, I’m a big fan of big bags that you can store your whole life in. However, I don’t know how much it resembles either of the inspiration bags. I kind of think that if I squint it looks like a mash-up of the two Michael Kors bags but that may just be me seeing what I want to see. I don’t know, you’ll have to be the judge on this one.
Also, I went slightly over budget. The bag retails for $55 (so already $15 over budget) and after taxes it came to $62.15:
So the SpendThrift Savings Bank is going to take a hit this time!
Was it worth it? I like the bag but my success is for you to decide!
Up next tomorrow I’m going to delay my next challenge post until Monday but I have a very good reason for it…and it involves an orange box (squeal!!!).
The SpendThrift Experiment 
great find! i love aldo because it’s such an affordable place for bags. i remember one black friday shopping spree i got two bags from aldo…both under $15!
Two for under $15?! That’s incredible!
I am just surprised you dipped into your Savings Bank for a black bag – just as you’ve written I feel like you can get a stylish looking black bag at a reduced price. But what do I know – you did the shopping!
Yeah, I know. I think that I was in one of those OMG I need to find something modes so I’m actually considering returning it now…
cute bags! 60 is a bit much to be considered thrift priced.
-Bianca at http://theinbetweengirls.wordpress.com/
I know, it’s totally beyond being a budget find. I’m feeling a bit of buyer’s remorse because of the price so we’ll see what I end up doing with it.