A versatile bag for both formal and casual occasions.

Hello.

The cold weather continues, doesn't it? February is definitely the coldest month...

Today, I'd like to talk about the charm of the newly released "MARIE." MARIE is a mini Boston bag made of genuine square-shaped leather. While it may seem like a sister bag to the discontinued "STEPHANIE" and its successor "LUCIE," it is actually quite different.

The difference lies in the genuine leather used, which is called "SOUPLESSE." It's a premium shrink leather crafted by the same long-established German tannery that produces leather for the Espoir. It's incredibly fine-grained, and like the Espoir, it's very soft to the touch and comfortable in your hand, exuding a luxurious and elegant feel. And it was with this genuine leather, designed with exquisitely calculated nuanced curves, that the irregular plum-shaped genuine leather square mini Boston "MARIE" was born.

So, in the NAGATANI tradition, MARIE is related to "ELISABETH" and "MATHILDE" as they all use the same Souplesse leather. I thought it might be interesting to share this background, as understanding the lineage of discontinued and new products can add another layer of enjoyment to our lineup.

Opening the bag's zipper, you'll find one zippered pocket and one open pocket inside. What else makes it different from LUCIE, besides the main leather? The interior lining material is also different. While LUCIE uses 100% rayon fabric, MARIE luxuriously employs pig suede (with some rayon). The luxurious texture makes my heart sing, and the soft, pleasant feel makes me want to carry it every day.

It's convenient to keep handkerchiefs and small items in the open pocket for quick access. Even just looking at it, the texture of pig suede is quite appealing. Since it's suede, I personally feel it somewhat resembles Alcantara. This calm, moist texture further enhances the sophisticated adult atmosphere.

*Alcantara is the brand name of a synthetic leather suede manufactured by Alcantara S.p.A., established through a merger of Japan's "Toray" and Italy's "ENI." The version manufactured in Japan is called Ultrasuede.

Let's compare the sizes of MARIE and LUCIE...

• LUCIE: Width 30cm × Height 18cm × Depth 11cm, Weight 680g
• MARIE: Width 24 (bottom 22) cm × Height 15.5cm × Depth 11.5 (bottom 9.5) cm, Weight 530g

MARIE is smaller and lighter than LUCIE, but I'll go ahead and show you what and how much it can hold. The items prepared in the photo above are the SAHO long wallet, the BONHEUR tri-fold wallet, the KARIN glasses case, the TSUBAKI card case, and my everyday iPhone 12 Pro. Initially, I tried to keep everything black, but when I took the photo after storing them, it was too dark to see clearly, so I changed only SAHO to beige. Lol.

The photo above shows everything stored. SAHO is in the front, BONHEUR (tri-fold wallet) is to the left in the next row, TSUBAKI (card case) is to the right, KARIN (glasses case) is in the row behind that, and my iPhone 12 Pro is in the open pocket. It might be a little hard to see, but... that's about 90% full. It's almost completely packed. There's only enough space left for something flat in the zippered pocket. By the way, a 500ml plastic bottle can be stored horizontally, but it takes up a lot of space, so you won't be able to fit much else. Lol.

You can fit a TSUBAKI (card case) vertically in the back pocket, so it might be good for keeping cards you need to access quickly. However, since it's an open pocket, there's a slight security concern, so it might be necessary to use a keychain or charm to prevent it from falling out. That would be safer.

So, that's what I wanted to talk about regarding the new "MARIE" this time. I think you'll find it easy to carry for both formal occasions like graduation and entrance ceremonies, as well as for everyday casual outfits.

If you have any other requests, please let me know and I'll try to write an article about it.

See you next time.

Genuine Leather Square Mini Boston Bag "MARIE"