Miche Bag Prima Big Bag Shell - Chelsey Urban Bag

I own the Chelsey Prima Miche Shell shown here. I bought it soon after purchasing my Prima base bag (here's one here: Miche Prima Base, and it's still one of my favorites. As it's white I consider it more of a summer bag, but I used it quite frequently then and I'm sure I will again next summer. The shell is durable, and although it's white, it never picked up a speck of dirt. Its embossed with an all-over criss-cross pattern and rivet detailing. The flap top has a zip pocket and really gives this bag a different look than many other Miche bags. Both of the front lower pockets have additional room for a phone or other compact items. The super neat thing about this bag is its one of two Miche Prima bags that can double as a backpack due to discreet loops on the back of the shell. (The other is Laurie, which is identical except it's a steely grey color). To use it as a backpack you need to purchase TWO Miche Adjustable Long Straps in either black or brown. Even without the straps, the bag is still super cute as a regular purse. And actually, as a backpack it's a little floppy and the top doesn't always stay down right, so I use it more as a purse/messenger bag anyway.

For those that aren't familiar with Miche, the purses have three parts -the base bag, the handles (plus carabiners that hook the handles to the purse), and then the shells. There are four sizes of base bags & shells. Smallest to largest they are: Petite, Classic, Demi, and Prima (also called the "Big Bag").

The draw to these bags is that you don't have to switch out all the contents of your purse every time you want to change your purse's look -the shells easily slide over the base bag, and the base + shell securely attach at the top with strong, credit card safe magnets. (Some of the smaller base bag sizes have shells that just attach to the outside of the base, but the Demi and Prima base bags are entirely enclosed in each shell you buy.) The Prima base bag is the largest of the bases -it's for the girl that takes "everything but the kitchen sink" everywhere she goes, but still wants to look great doing it. As a 6-foot tall woman, the bag looks perfectly normal-sized on me, but I've seen photos of really skinny, tiny model-y like women with the Prima bags, and the extra large bag size looks great on them, too.

The Prima Base bag comes with the standard black handles and carabiners. The Prima shells, like Chelsey shown here, come with nothing extra -just the shell shown in the photo.

Once you have the Prima base bag (and handles), you can purchase Prima shells, like this one, that come in many textures and colors, each of which instantly changes the look of your purse. There are different types of handles you can purchase separately, too, which can change your bag's look even more. However, the basic black handles do look fine with most of the shell styles. Just make sure when you buy shells that you're buying ones that match the base size you own -if you own a Classic base buy Classic shells, a Prima base buy Prima shells, etc.

I don't sell Miche -I've never even been to a Miche party. I heard about these bags this summer, and bought some online because the idea really made sense to me. This interchangeable shell system has solved my lifelong purse organization dilemma. Before getting this bag (and some shells) I typically used the same 2-3 bland purses for many years in a row, never caring how they looked in general, and especially not caring if they looked good with what I was wearing. Often, when I would switch between my sad few purses, I'd invariably leave something important in my previous purse. Now, I look forward to which "look" I'm going to have each day and know everything I put in my purse yesterday WILL be in it today, regardless of which shell I choose.

I bought this for my daughter-in-law for Christmas. It came quickly and was exactly what she asked for.

I will buy others in the future.

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