I cannot remember the last time I bought myself a new spring/summer bag. I have been using the same, now very tatty specimen from White Stuff for years, I have just sold it on eBay for an impressive £35. If I am going somewhere formal I will bring out my ancient Mulberry Bayswater which is as heavy as a suitcase and I also have a small leather backpack from a local boutique. I was having an online window-shopping session of handbags and the all-seeing Facebook algorithm began to show me advertisements from various leather-goods companies. Pom Pom London were appearing on my feed every time I logged on.
After seeing the Pom Pom London ad for the hundredth time I was sufficiently brainwashed and decided to order something from the brand. I usually choose a tan coloured bag for the summer but the tan bags on the website looked decidedly orange in tone so I decided to go with a colour called Stone. I chose the Mayfair bag, a camera bag style with a pocket on the front. Pom Pom London sell several different styles and sizes of bags with various mix and match accessories. At the time of writing this, each bag comes with a thin leather strap and two free additional straps, a small keyring and a coin purse, supposedly £81 of “free” accessories with a £89.95 purchase. Of course we all know none of these add-ons are really free, they are all factored into the overall price and I do not need a coin purse, which Pom Pom London sell individually for £27.95, I didn’t want the white furry keyring either. I chose my straps, a chain and leather woven strap and a cream and gold striped guitar strap. I couldn’t choose another colour coin purse, it had to be the same as the bag, Stone. I paid £89.95 a the checkout for the “bundle”. Delivery is free, worldwide.
When the bag arrived it was carefully packaged with all the hardware covered and each item individually wrapped. A cotton dust bag is included. The first thing I noticed was an overwhelming plasticky smell. Usually when buying new leather goods the smell is part of the appeal but not in this instance. I did think it may have been the packaging but it seems to be coming from the leather itself. The bag had looked a creamy colour on the website but in real life, it is more of a greige. I liked both the extra straps, the woven guitar strap is really attractive, my favourite part of the purchase. There were lots of different designs to choose from and these sell separately at £19.95 each. The coin purse was a pleasant surprise, much bigger than I’d expected and would easily hold a few bits of make up or some cards and cash. The bag itself is OK but nothing special, the zip sticks a little and the smell is just awful. I can’t work out what it is, if I didn’t know otherwise I would think it was PVC. The bag is lined in cotton, has a useful pocket on the back and is surprisingly roomy inside. It’s the perfect size for keeping your valuables close on a day out. The company have almost eight thousand reviews on Trust Pilot, an impressive 96% of those are five stars. I had a very quick scroll through a few of the reviews and could only spot one that mentioned the horrible smell.
Unfortunately that I will be returning these items and going to the actual shops for a look around. Sometimes you just need to see and feel an item, and to sniff it! If I need a fabric strap for another bag I would definitely revisit Pom Pom London but the bag itself isn’t quite what I am after. I will just add that the returns procedure is a little old fashioned. We are all so used to just going online for a QR code to be scanned at drop-off but to return the bag I have had to fill out an A4 form and print out a postage label The return postage is pre-paid though. Hopefully a refund will be forthcoming.
Thank you for reading
Samantha
Cover Photo by Tamanna Rumee on Unsplash
Silver & Blonde 