A Few Thoughts On The Coach Riley Top Handle Handbag!

A Few Thoughts On The Coach Riley Top Handle Handbag

Hello friends! I’m back again and today I want to chat all about a new Coach bag for SS19! It’s the Coach Riley Top Handle Handbag and I have to admit… I’m obsessed! Now I know I say this about every Coach bag, but this one is FANCY AF! It was first introduced in the 1970’s so it’s got a vintage vibes with ladylike touches. Today we are going to chat through the design, quality, branding, price, finish, materials, and so much more… are you ready to deep dive?!

Materials

Much like the Classic Coach Riley Bag, the Top handle Riley is made up of the signature coated canvas with leather trim. As for the side panels, this bag is made up of sections pockets so the bag can fan out like an accordion to fit more inside. However, the top handle Riley has naturally sits quite open and has a chunkier look, where as the classic Riley has a much more slender, streamline resting silhouette, if that makes sense! The inside flap of the handbag is made of a beautiful plum coloured leather and the rest of the lining is made of fabric lining, again in the plum colour. The hardware is chunky brass (which we’ll chat in more detail in a mo’!), the strap is tan coloured leather on one side and a darker brown leather on the other side, the darker side matches the trim leather. The luggage tag is also light brown on the back side and the darker brown on the front side, which is a nice detail. The signature coated canvas is obviously really hardwearing and will be protected from any ice cream drips and beer spills, and the leather is smooth and lovely to touch, but it’s been treated, so its also protected from most spills ‘n’ thrills. The stitching is prominent in a lighter brown colour to contrast with the dark leather and beautifully finished with nice big securing stitches.

Branding

I really love the branding on this bag, the Coach ‘C’s on the coated canvas are prominent but not too much, in my opinion. The rest of the branding is all stamped and moulded from the chunky brass hardware. The large horse & cart logo at the fastening, it reminds me a little of a western style belt buckle. The luggage tag is also adorned with the brass horse and cart logo (this is removable though). The D-rings and strap clips have a small ‘Coach’ stamped into them and the top handle also has a subtle Coach stamped in at the top of it, fun fact, this is one of my favourite details of the entire bag!

Hardware

I’m going to keep this part of the post fairly short as I’ve already discussed that the hardware is brass and stamped with the Coach branding, but I just want to mention here how much I LOVE the hardware on this bag. It’s chunky, beautifully finished brass. It has a real traditional, ironmongers / saddlery vibe and it’s cold to the touch. The thick, weighty brass just gives a real ‘something something’ to this bag which I love. A traditional twist on a modern handbag. I love it!

How To Style

This bag is one of those perfect, dress up or dress down style bags. It’s just as cute with a jacket and jeans, as it is with a vintage floaty dress or a cute little suit at work. With the right outfit you could just as easily wear it in Waitrose as you can in a bar. There are options!

What Can You Fit Inside

Probably the main drawback of this bag, it’s deceptively small on the inside. because it’s got thick lining (a sign of quality) and plenty of pockets (perfect if you don’t want your phone to scratch against your keys), these two things do reduce the amount of room on the inside of the bag. Sure you can fit your keys, phone, make up, purse and even a small camera inside, but on the whole, it’s a little less roomy inside than something like the Coach Camera bag, mainly because of all the pockets and lining taking up space. But let’s be real here, it’s a small handbag, it’s not like you were ever going to be able to fit a laptop inside!

Three Ways To Wear

This bag can be worn as a long shoulder bag, crossbody bag or as a top handle bag. For me, I love the top handle as a decorative feature, but it is possible to comfortably carry the bag this way. The strap is adjustable with about a 6″ range, but if you want something short, that sits about your waste, then you could also try buying an interchangeable strap. Personally, I’m all about the crossbody. Also, I noticed on the Coach website, there’s a review which says when you carry the bag using the top handle, the bag easily opens, I have tried this and I haven’t personally found this, it feels securely shut to me. I just thought I’d mention that!

Price

The Coach Top Handle Riley Bag you can see in the photo is £550, however, there are versions with slightly snazzier leathers which are a little more, but to be honest, this is my favourite. I also LOVE the star print Riley which is £595. If you are looking for a slightly cheaper Riley, there are smaller, less intricate variations on this bag which start at £275. Personally, I adore the top handle, but the Classic Riley is also a brilliant bag, especially with the painted floral design, which you can see here.

Other Coach Bags I LOVE…

As you might have guessed by now, I’m a HUGE fan of Coach and I love the Top Handle Riley Handbag, however if this bag isn’t for you but you do want to dip your toe into the Coach waters, then you should check out these post; the Coach Parker Top Handle bag, The Coach Callie bag which is a small wallet on chain style bag which is a really handy little bag, the Coach Bowery Bag is also brilliant,  my favourite is the Coach Rogue bag, I just love this bag and I’ve got three of the now! Hopefully this is a nice round up for everyone, a post about lots of different Coach bags and which is the best!

Watch My Coach Riley Top Handle Bag Video

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… And there we have it… The Coach Riley Top Handle Handbag! I hope you love it as much as I do!

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