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REVIEW: Kate Spade Joy Larchmont Avenue Wallet + comparison wear and tear with older bags

Hello All, I have not updated this blog for a REALLY REALLY long time and decided to update with a review on my Kate Spade items.

A bit of a history: I am a huge fan of Kate Spade bags. My first designer bag was a KS bag. I love the bow designs, bag styles, and reasonable prices.

Most of the bags were purchased during the KS surprise sales. Please note do be aware that the surprise sales usually have KS outlet and KS retail store items. Outlet items are usually of lesser quality and do not feel as great.
I personally went to a physical KS outlet store and their bags were not great to the touch.

So onward to the review. I will also post a comparison with the older bags I purchased in the past below.

I recently purchased this Joy Larchmont Avenue Wallet during the surprise sale for around $40.00. I am a huge fan of long wallets, but decided to downsize a bit.

This wallet was just right and I'm a huge fan of pebbled leather, so I decided to make the plunge.
Let's start with packaging. I didn't take any photos, but the packaging wasn't exactly pleasing. Maybe I was expecting too much.

My wallet arrived in a small box. Inside was one layer of white tissue paper, wallet, and another layer of tissue paper. That's it... I guess I was expecting the wallet itself to have some sort of box?? But I guess not.

This is the wallet. Very nice pebbled leather, but was a bit dry and rough compared to my older KS pebbled leather bag.. 

Outside is pebbled leather, and inside is a smoother leather. 

Three-fold. Plenty of card slots. 
Didn't take photo of the section that holds the cash, but the material is a cloth with KS logo all over. 

close up of the Kate spade embossing.

Close up of the interior leather

Outside of leather

Close up of pebbled leather. 

Overall, the wallet was great. It was small, convenient, and a very decent price. 
UNTIL THIS HAPPENED... 


Yes, the zipper for the coin section broke off... 
I had only opened this zipper compartment less than 5 times. I had only had this wallet for less than a month and it was already broken... 

More pics. 

I can easily force the zipper back in and it'll zip again, but the zip isn't smooth anymore and gets stuck if I open the zipper all the way...

Wallet defect, or just poor craftsmanship, or declining quality?? 


COMPARISON WITH PREVIOUS KS BAGS:
This is a BEACON COURT NISHA 
that I had purchased back in 2015. 

The wallet is still in fabulous condition, and it was the only wallet I had used from 2015- 2019. 
The bow broke after 4 years of use. 4 YEARS! 
Everything else is still intact. 



This is a Cobble Hill small Toddy shoulder bag that I purchased back in 2016. It was also a bag I used daily from 2016. I am still using this bag. Nothing is wrong with it. Everything is still intact. 

The leather is SUPER soft. 

Only issue is discoloration which is quite evident in this photo. 


Overall, I am highly disappointed in this wallet purchase in comparison with my older purchases. I cannot believe the zipper just broke off like that after several uses... Nevertheless, I will still continue using the wallet... but as to future purchases? 
Maybe not anymore.. 



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