This was the best buy of the sale season by far. I was at Tod’s LA boutique not even seriously looking for a bag to buy, I was just browsing and wanting to see what was on sale when Carla, the sales associate, brought this Besonville in midnight with lizard trim out from the back. She actually had several bags in her arms but I spotted this one right away and immediately snatched it from her exclaiming loudly, “This is on sale??!!” Believe it or not, not only was it on sale, it was 40% off!! Exotics have never gone on sale before and the fact that this one was still sitting around for me to take home to be mine was just fate. Thank God for pre-sales!! This was a limited edition bag that was made for just the NY and LA stores, so it’s even crazier that it made it all the way to the sale! Just look at the amount of lizard that is on this bag, every pocket, strap, handle and even the key holder are all lizard. And the color cannot be more perfect, I mean how much do we love the blues these days but this in particular would not be as sublime in any other color. I know you’re all waiting to hear the price and I am saving that piece of info for last because it is truly incredulous, only $1290!!! That’s like the price of any ‘ole all leather bag, not a classic like the Besonville and certainly not a Tod’s exotic. But the story doesn’t end there, after the salesgirl realized that I am a Bag Snob (she noticed that my Amex Gold Card said “Bag Snob” on it) she brought me up to the PR office on the 3rd floor and showed me the Fall Collection. Derek Lam designed 2 new bags, both bowling bag styles, that are specifically Derek Lam for Tod’s (rather than just overseeing general design direction for the entire line). There is a quilted tote that is going to be big for Fall and a line of nylon bags similar to the Roxy that became popular after Cameron Diaz was spotted carrying one (Bag Snob featured it before that). We will have specifics and photos when we get closer to Fall.
