Dec 23, 2009 08:11 PM
7294 Views
(Updated Dec 23, 2009 08:18 PM)
Like all women I too have a passion for buying sandals and purses.
And as there are numerous shops around my residence having a very good collection of purses, my buying streak is high. I was never too brand conscious regarding anything as along as it was of my choice and was good enough for me.
Even after marriage this habit of buying sandals and purses continued. Every time we went out shopping I would rush to the purse counter and start scanning through the purse section.
My husband seeing me rush off to the purse section would loiter here and there so that he did not have to buy any purses for me. But I had my ways. I would drag him there and keep praising the particular purse that I wanted. He would not say anything. Ultimately I would make my intentions clear that I wanted one for myself.
My hubby would all the time complain that I had so many purses what was the need of buying another one. But there would always be one colour that I did not have and so finally we would end up buying that purse. On one such occasion I brought a Golden coloured purse of Longhorns. It had almost cost us around 1500 bucks. But since I had to attend a marriage I convinced him to buy that purse as it would go well with my sari. With a very heavy heart he bought that purse for me.
Being a Longhorn purse I did not mind paying that 1500 bucks as I felt sure that the quality of leather would be genuine. The purse in itself was very beautiful for parties. So I went to Mumbai to attend the wedding carrying my precious purse. On that tour the purse fared well and so I was very happy with my purchase and proud of it too. However when I returned from the wedding I had to go to visit my family. So I planned to take that purse on this tour too.
But this time around the purse started showing its true colours of wear and tear. The very next day I noticed that the so called genuine leather of the purse started to peel off. Because of this shedding of the leather the metal piping inside the purse started to show. Even then I thought that it must have happened due to my mishandling. I tried to get that purse mended but to no avail.
When I returned from my place I told my husband about the purse. I did not tell him because I wanted him to do anything about it, but because now it was time for a new purse. This time again we went to the Longhorn's studio and brought another red colour purse. This purse turned out to be even worst than my previous purchase. I had once again spent 1000 bucks but I felt cheated on seeing the quality of the leather. Another purse which I had purchased of the same brand from the same studio was of equally bad leather quality. The quality of the leather is so bad that you can see the leather coming off the purse. The leather simply falls off the purse. Even though the lining and the chains are of quite a good quality but the basic thing for which one pays so much money is of an extremely poor quality. The longhorns collection is also not too exciting. It is only occasionally that you feel that they have a good purse. You will however not feel so satisfied with this brand. Most of the time, they neither have any good designs nor any good quality of purses too. Most of the time you will find out of date models which do not sell easily.
There is no doubt that the collection of Hidesign purses is of no comparison to longhorns. Telling about the quality of a Hidesign purse is like showing a torch to the sun. Having used both the brands of purses I can easily say that the leather of the HS is excellent and it is truly genuine quality. The price range is very steep but then a purse once purchased never lets you down as the durability is awesome. At times you may feel that they too do not have much of a collection. But this feeling only comes if you are looking for different colours in the purses. HS mostly designs purses in the natural leather colours. But then you can also get them in different colours but you have to be on the look out for these colours. Unlike the longhorn purses which uses soft quality leather, they use the proper thick leather. You get the satisfaction of using leather and that too of great quality. The finish and the make overall is superb. If you intend to buy colored purses(blue, green, red kinds) you can blindly go for Hidesign as their tanning is permanent and of high quality. You can even use these purses for rough traveling. You have my word that these purses even though they are a drain on your pockets are of the most superior quality. My HS has traveled with me throughout India with out giving me any reasons to complain. It traveled from the hot deserts of Rajasthan to the cold and freezing Kashmir. But the purse has remained intact and is always ready for the next tour.
On the other hand the purse of the Longhorn studio could not stand the heat of Jaipur and gave away to a disastrous break down. The purse was in my hand and the leather all over my clothes and the roads. There could not have been a more embarrassing situation for me. Thank god! I had my other HS purse with me and so I was saved. The quality is so bad that I will not hesitate to say that even a 300 rupee purse is far better than a longhorn purse. It is thus far better to spend money on a local unbranded purse than on a longhorns purse. I can assure you that you will not feel bad about your decision. BUT NEVER BUY A LONGHORN'S PURSE!
PS - A photo of one of my Longhorns Purses is uploaded:)
