Handbags

[dragthewaters]

I'm a Vera Bradley fanatic...but for their older patterns from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Not so much the newer stuff, which is too bright for my taste. I'm really into vintage stuff and wear a lot of grunge and hippie type of clothes (flannels, Doc Martens, 1970s long cotton print dresses, etc.). I get all my older VB stuff on Ebay or Etsy for usually $10-$30 each. Most of my purses in my collection are VB. A few of my pieces were definitely "pre-loved" and have some wear on them, but now I generally try to find mint or excellent condition pieces. Since they were USA made back in the day they hold up well. I have pieces that are almost 25 years old, used by me regularly, and still in really good condition.

Here are some of my all-time favorite VB patterns! (Images are not my own.)

1) Bluebird (available 1998-2000) This is my favorite pattern ever. I think it is so beautiful!

2) Springtime (available 1993-1996)

3) Animal Kingdom (available 2000-2003)

4) Chanticleer (available 1998-2002)

5) Perennials (available 1998-2000)

These are my favorites out of patterns that I own. My wishlist includes most of the 80s patterns (the only one I have is Mist Green; usually they are hard to find and/or expensive) and any of the 90s or early 2000s holiday patterns (same story), among others. Also I have really been liking the Mesa Red pattern lately, which is very easily found. I haven't bought any VB in a long time but that's probably going to be my next purchase.

My favorite styles of items are the Classic Handbag, Petite Paddy, and Pocket Wallet (all of my wallets are Pocket Wallets).

Do any of you guys love the older and vintage patterns the best?

[1Professor]

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@dragthewaters wrote:

I'm a Vera Bradley fanatic...but for their older patterns from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. Not so much the newer stuff, which is too bright for my taste. I'm really into vintage stuff and wear a lot of grunge and hippie type of clothes (flannels, Doc Martens, 1970s long cotton print dresses, etc.). I get all my older VB stuff on Ebay or Etsy for usually $10-$30 each. Most of my purses in my collection are VB. A few of my pieces were definitely "pre-loved" and have some wear on them, but now I generally try to find mint or excellent condition pieces. Since they were USA made back in the day they hold up well. I have pieces that are almost 25 years old, used by me regularly, and still in really good condition.

Here are some of my all-time favorite VB patterns! (Images are not my own.)

1) Bluebird (available 1998-2000) This is my favorite pattern ever. I think it is so beautiful!

2) Springtime (available 1993-1996)

3) Animal Kingdom (available 2000-2003)

4) Chanticleer (available 1998-2002)

5) Perennials (available 1998-2000)

These are my favorites out of patterns that I own. My wishlist includes most of the 80s patterns (the only one I have is Mist Green; usually they are hard to find and/or expensive) and any of the 90s or early 2000s holiday patterns (same story), among others. Also I have really been liking the Mesa Red pattern lately, which is very easily found. I haven't bought any VB in a long time but that's probably going to be my next purchase.

My favorite styles of items are the Classic Handbag, Petite Paddy, and Pocket Wallet (all of my wallets are Pocket Wallets).

Do any of you guys love the older and vintage patterns the best?

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@dragthewaters: I love the retired Veras, too!

Hadn't seen bluebird or springtime, both lovely. However, I just checked eBay for those two patterns and "pre-owned" they were still around $75. Wow!

[dragthewaters]

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@1Professor wrote:
 

@dragthewaters: I love the retired Veras, too!

Hadn't seen bluebird or springtime, both lovely. However, I just checked eBay for those two patterns and "pre-owned" they were still around $75. Wow!

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Really? Did you sort from low to high price? I think maybe it's because you put "pre-owned" in the search query. I usually just put "Vera Bradley" and the name of the pattern.

I just searched for "Vera Bradley Bluebird" on eBay, sorted from low to high, and pressed "Buy It Now" (I don't like bidding on stuff) and found several bags (mostly Mimi backpacks for some reason) in a much lower price range than that, in excellent condition. Such as this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VERA-BRADLEY-VINTAGE-RETIRED-BLUEBIRD-MIMI-BACKPACK-MAKEUP-CASE-LOOK-/122076...

I have a Bluebird Classic Handbag which was like $20-$25 I think, two Pocket Wallets which were maybe $10-$15, and a Small Cosmetic which was around $15.

I also found several fairly inexpensive search results for "Vera Bradley Springtime." Such as this. I already have this purse and I got it for something like $11 a couple of years ago (there was this seller who had a whole bunch of old Vera stuff they were offloading at a reduced price).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Vera-Bradley-Designs-Springtime-Barrel-Purse-Tote-Bag-Spring-93-RARE...

It also depends, sometimes you get barely any good search results and sometimes you get tons of great stuff. You kind of have to hunt around a little bit. I'm used to that stuff because I'm into thrifting and vintage shopping, but some people might be annoyed by it.

My most expensive Vera Bradley item so far was a sling backpack in LilacTime, which was $40. That's kind of a hard to find pattern though because it was only available from 1997-1998. And I use it all the time. (Not my photo.)

If I wanted bags in some of the other patterns, like the 80s patterns or the 90s-early 2000s holiday patterns, I would have to be prepared to pay even more than that. It really depends on the pattern.

[1Professor]

@dragthewaters

I didn't put pre-owned in the search, just Vera Bradley and the pattern. They come up pre-owned, so I was bemoaning a high price.

I only like the totes and larger handbags, so didn't care for the smaller items. However, $75 for a tote pre-owned is very high, in my view.

I do adore Vera and have a lovely pile of her bags. Haven't enjoyed any of the patterns in the last two years, though.

[dragthewaters]

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@1Professor wrote:

@dragthewaters

I didn't put pre-owned in the search, just Vera Bradley and the pattern. They come up pre-owned, so I was bemoaning a high price.

I only like the totes and larger handbags, so didn't care for the smaller items. However, $75 for a tote pre-owned is very high, in my view.

I do adore Vera and have a lovely pile of her bags. Haven't enjoyed any of the patterns in the last two years, though.

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Oh I see. I do have a couple of larger tote bags that I got for under $25, but not in those patterns. The mid-2000s patterns are much easier to find at a reasonable price point for the larger sized bags. But I prefer the more medium-sized bags, such as the Classic Handbag, Petite Paddy, and Petite Villager.

However I usually carry two bags -- a medium-sized purse with regular purse items, and then if necessary, either a mini-backpack or tote bag with larger optional items such as a metal water bottle, umbrella, etc. I just find that it makes everything easier to organize and carry for me.

Plus there is always still the wallets or other accessories.

[KathT]

@dragthewaters

So nice to meet another Vera fan, welcome! I like & collect both the older & newer patterns. Some of the older patterns I like are Java Blue from 2006 & Katherine & Villa Red, both from 2004. Katherine is one of the very few yellow patterns, in a soft yellow. I like to carry the Villa Red over the winter; it is perfect for the holidays through Valentines Day. I like to carry Java Blue summer & fall.

I am looking forward to checking out the new release of Java Floral next week. Hoping it will coordinate with Java Blue. I have a Villager that I love, but the accessories are showing their age. I am also considering an On The Go or Little Hipster Crossbody for the times I want to be hands free.

When looking at some of the newer patterns, I am reminded of elements of the old patterns. For instance, Blue Bandana, which was released, I think last year & already retired, which I don't understand. Parts of it remind me of Nantucket Navy (2005) & Calypso (2009).

[dragthewaters]

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@KathT wrote:

@dragthewaters

So nice to meet another Vera fan, welcome! I like & collect both the older & newer patterns. Some of the older patterns I like are Java Blue from 2006 & Katherine & Villa Red, both from 2004. Katherine is one of the very few yellow patterns, in a soft yellow. I like to carry the Villa Red over the winter; it is perfect for the holidays through Valentines Day. I like to carry Java Blue summer & fall.

I am looking forward to checking out the new release of Java Floral next week. Hoping it will coordinate with Java Blue. I have a Villager that I love, but the accessories are showing their age. I am also considering an On The Go or Little Hipster Crossbody for the times I want to be hands free.

When looking at some of the newer patterns, I am reminded of elements of the old patterns. For instance, Blue Bandana, which was released, I think last year & already retired, which I don't understand. Parts of it remind me of Nantucket Navy (2005) & Calypso (2009).

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Hello fellow Vera Bradley enthusiast!

Those are some good patterns! I did also notice that a couple of their newer patterns are reminiscent of the ones from ~10 years ago. And I think maybe their struggles as of late (just look at their stock price over the last 5 years) have led to them always advertising "new new new" and retiring the old patterns super fast. Hoping to keep the hype train going maybe? Honestly I think the main thing that led to their decline were a) some of the patterns got a little "out there" in the past couple of years, and b) many people felt the quality declined after production was moved to China. I have also noticed that they seem to be doing too many things at once, stretching themselves too thin. Before they were more of a limited brand and that helped to give the impression of quality over quantity.

I sometimes get a bit of anxiety over the items wearing out, LOL! When I first started purchasing older Vera Bradley I didn't pay as much attention to the wear, so some of my pieces have quite a bit of wear on them. Especially the bottom and top corners and straps. In particular my Mist Green items, which are my one 80s print, have a lot of wear on them, but I did get them for cheap. Nowadays I don't buy anything that has wear on it, unless it is very minor. I was thinking of getting some sort of cloth strap covers made to protect the tops of the straps on my bags. Like what they have on luggage. I'm not sure if that would ruin the profile of the bag though.

Just made a few purchases...oops. I haven't bought any VB in a long time, possibly over a year. But I'm kind of on a budget right now so...probably shouldn't have! Too late now.

I got the Classic Handbag in Chanticleer (available 1998-2002), perfect for fall. It was $23.64 including shipping and is in excellent condition. Chanticleer is something of a hard to find print so I was really happy to pick this up! Previously I had a Small Cosmetic and Pocket Wallet in Chanticleer. Now all I need is a Coin Purse. I use Small Cosmetics as my "walking pharmacy" bag and Coin Purses as my tiny cosmetic bag.

And this is my favorite style of handbag. I already have four of these style of handbags in various prints. It can fit a lot of stuff despite having a small profile, and it has a sizable outside slip pocket which can hold my hand sanitizer and pepper spray

I also got two smaller items, both from the same seller. Each item was $7 and currently the shipping is about $3 on each, but hopefully I can get combined shipping (I ordered them one after the other but sent a message to the seller about combining shipping). They are both in excellent condition and the wallet is described as new without tags.

The Pocket Wallet in Red Bandana (available 2001-2004). My first purchase in this print.

And the coin purse in Jasmine (available 2003-2004). This is also one of my favorite patterns and one of the first patterns I ever owned. I already have a Petite Villager in Jasmine and a small going-out purse (not sure of the name).

[EdithEllenLily]

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@1Professor wrote:

@dragthewaters

I didn't put pre-owned in the search, just Vera Bradley and the pattern. They come up pre-owned, so I was bemoaning a high price.

I only like the totes and larger handbags, so didn't care for the smaller items. However, $75 for a tote pre-owned is very high, in my view.

I do adore Vera and have a lovely pile of her bags. Haven't enjoyed any of the patterns in the last two years, though.

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Same here @1Professor !! 

[Sister Golden Hair]

@1Professor@hicindy2 Have you seen the "Northern Lights" print in person?

I found a bag that I think my SIL would like but wanted some input about this print?

Or anyone that can help me Thanks

[hicindy2]

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@Sister Golden Hair wrote:

@1Professor@hicindy2 Have you seen the "Northern Lights" print in person?

I found a bag that I think my SIL would like but wanted some input about this print?

Or anyone that can help me Thanks

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@Sister Golden Hair   I have, I have.  This is a tricky print. To be honest with you, it works best if it is broken up a bit, like on the small Vera tote.

If you liked Canterberry Magenta, you would like this overall in color, however, look at the old and new hipster

See, the newer bags don't have those contrasting stripes for visual interest: this just looks mis-matched.

It does look good in this style

I like it with the microfber gray as an accessory

I love it as an organizer (I have been gifting these to friends/relatives with great success)