This Under-the-Radar French Girl ‘It’ Bag Got Me Hundreds of Compliments from Fashion Week Guests
Welcome to It-Bag Alternative, a column where we look into bags that aren't everywhere yet but that all the cool people are already wearing. These are the bags that have the true It factor—the bags that are cool before everyone knows they're cool. You can buy them now and tell everyone "I told you so" later.
I posted a selfie in my most complimented coat: a faux fur-trimmed coat by Charlotte Simone that Anya Taylor-Joy also owns. Whenever I walk down the street strangers chase me to compliment the coat. And yet when I posted this photo in my living room wearing the coat with the Nina Ricci bal bag on my arm—I received no compliments on the coat. Instead everyone was asking me: Where did you get the bag?
The Nina Ricci bal bag in question was the medium size covered partially in animal print. The straps are long and the bag's shape itself is also elongated. It fits everything I need for the day and more but doesn't look bulky. It's essentially the perfect everyday bag and I like how the animal print adds some funkiness to any look. Clearly, it even looks good with a statement coat.
When I originally wore the bag, I actually was in Copenhagen for fashion week and the response was very similar to that I get when I wear the aforementioned afghan coat. People would tap me on the shoulder on the street or approach me in cafes to ask about the bag. It's just that kind of bag you see and instantly feel the desire to own.
I think the thing that's best about the bag is that it's an interesting shape that isn't cumbersome. It isn't weird for weird's sake. Instead it has the kind of silhouette that feels more akin to a beautiful statue then to a bag. That detail is exactly what makes it an 'It' bag waiting to happen.
The bal bag feels like a new take on the bowling bag. On Nina Ricci's website, it is said that creative director Harris Reed chose this name to, "Evoke both the world of debutante balls, a space of preparation, presentation, and self-affirmation, and the very shape of the bag itself, rounded and in motion." It feels elegant like a debutant but also confident in what makes it different. That's why it commands attention in any room I took it into. And it's only a matter of time until everyone else starts to notice. Clearly, they already have and I just know they'll be taking show-stopping selfies in their own Le Bal bag in no time.
Shop the Nina Ricci Le Bal bag, below.
