Bag lust: The Dior Diorissimo day bag almost makes me want to break my ban

I have been very good with my bag ban this year. Its already May and I haven’t bought any and that is seriously something for me to be proud of LOL! Not to say that I haven’t been tempted of course. You know how it is. The minute you put yourself on a ban, suddenly things come into your radar that you may never have considered before.

A classic example is the Diorissimo bag. I was in blissful ignorance of it until a fellow bag fiend gently nudged me in that direction. Incidentally, just before she did all that nudging, I had come across a magazine featuring the Diorissimo from the Cruise 2012 collection, and my eye was immediately drawn to the picture. It was a small one and I could have missed it, but I didn’t. Tells you a lot about my roving bag eye 😉 Then in the latest Female magazine (I believe) I came across a whole page of it – Gorgeous indeed!

So anyway, bag friend and fiend and I went to the local Dior store at Starhill Gallery to check it out (Just looking!) and was floored when we were told that viewing and purchase was by appointment (Edit: For now until it’s officially launched then it’ll be available on shelves as per normal). Whoa! Still, the SA was kind enough to indulge us and I had my chance to paw at this gorgeous beauty.

I like what Dior has done with the Diorissimo bag. Instead of going with their signature cannage quilted leather, they instead went for a smooth calf leather exterior, with a mind bogglingly simple design that simply looked elegant and chic.  I’m a bit tired of all that signature touches and of quilted bags. Too overdone, as far as I’m concerned.

The Diorissimo is a hand held tote that you can sling on your forearm but that’s about as far as it will go. I personally prefer rolled handles to flat ones but the design is such that the handles sit flush against each other so there was a bit of thought in that. There is no zip but a hook to hold it close if memory serves me right. But it stays closed anyway due to the way it is made so there isn’t much worry there unless you are prone to leaving your bag lying around unattended. In which case, WHY??!! 😛

The beauty of the Diorissimo and what sets it apart is the contrast leather. The interior is lined with soft calf leather in a contrasting colour to the exterior. The colour combinations are beautifully matched and the feel of the leather is sublime. The bag is structured but not stiff, so it will slouch a little, and there is a complementing strap so you can sling it.

I love both these colours here, but my preference lies with the Caribbean Blue. Just look at the turquoise blue shade! I don’t have a bag in that colour. I have to remedy that once my ban is over LOL!

It can’t be a Diorissimo though. Locally, the Diorissimo retails at a cool, whopping RM14,000 but I can’t remember if its for the medium or large size (It comes in 3 sizes) *gulp* I need to start buying lottery tickets. Dior stores are apparently a bit tight fisted with this design so viewing and purchase is by appointment only. Wow. (for now prelaunch. Post launch its available on shelves as normal)

Do you like the look of the Diorissimo? I love it. I love how sleek it looks, yet how soft it is when it slouches as you can see in the 2nd picture. Who knows what happens if I ever end up in Paris where prices are usually a bit lower eh? 😉 Ahh… one can dream can’t one? 🙂

Paris B