Okay, Yeah, I Want the New Neely & Chloe Bags

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The first time I looked at the new Neely & Chloe bags was when my coworker, Eliza Brooke, published a reported story on the brand called “The Other Burch Girls,” which is, well, about the two Burch girls behind it (nieces of Tory and Chris, cousins of Trademark’s Pookie and Louisa).

And then, at the opening party of the brand’s New York City pop-up shop, I decided I wanted to own one. Lucky for brands, all you have to do to make me buy something is have it look like Mansur Gavriel, produce it in a few neutral colors, keep it under $200, and call it “direct to consumer.”

So, as Eliza said in her original story, here we are. Except where I am is on the checkout page for the No. 8 Oversided Clutch, which isn’t really a clutch as much as it is a small crossbody bag.

The product description bills it as “the essential bag for your night out on the town,” which is actually the one thing I somehow do not own. I realized this when I went to the Hamptons (for the first time) this summer for a bachelorette party (my first one), and only had a bright orange felt bucket bag to bring with me to the strange restaurant-club hybrid we ended up at. As a wise friend of mine later told me, “Most cool-girl bags are too prude for the club.”

Do I need this bag? No, I don’t. I don’t have another bachelorette on the horizon, and I don’t really need to go back to the Hamptons. But I want it. It’s clean, simple, polished, and — as I realized when I actually picked it up and felt it — really well-made.

So, just as hard as I fell for Trademark, I fell for this other Burch brand, too. So, yeah, I'm a sucker, but a sucker with a really nice bag.