Italian Leather Handbags from Florence

My trusty rusty steed

Italian Leather Handbags from Florence

Ciao again from Florence!

As you know, your Chasing La Bella Vita team has been fanning out across the globe to bring you travel information, photos of beautiful places and even some photo bomb selfies that will make you hemorrhage with mirth.

My cohorts Lisa and Geoff are heading in this evening from Venice having spent time there and in Zurich. They will have lots of great information to share with you about those places.

For my part I have been tirelessly (Well, tiredly) zipping around Florence on my trusty rusty bicycle looking for and ultimately finding the best quality hand made leather handbags for the best price.

This morning my trusty, rusty steed threw a shoe. Actually the basket completely disintegrated and hit the pavement with a clatter dumping all my possessions all over and making me feel conspiculous (Yes, conspiculous is a word…now…. and I believe it is a zillion points in scrabble. )

I had to somehow strap the basket back on the bike and peddle home in mid day Florentine traffic while holding my junk in one hand. (Not that junk, I don’t own junk like that and please divert your mind from the gutter.) It was not anything like pleasant.

I merely tell you this to let you know how much blood, sweat and tears I have suffered on behalf of these handbags.

Still the battle not well fought is hardly worth winning so I consider my discovery of this leather shop in Florence a well won victory.

But before give you all the details of my victory, let me tell you some of the wonderful things I found out about today.

This morning I peddled with an already sore butt through the streets of Florence again. I spent the entire day yesterday zipping all over. It was exhilarating. The traffic here is exciting to say the least! It does take a toll on your butt though, especially when the saddle on your trusty rusty steed has seen many, many, many better days and undoubtedly better butts.

After much peddling, bike walking and jumping red lights I finally made it to the Scuola di Cuoio, Firenze (“Scuola” mean school and “Cuoio” means leather) . This school is located inside the monastery of Santa Croce.

 After WWII, the friars of the monastery with the support of the Gori and Casini families, both leather crafting families from way back,  created the school with the purpose of giving young people who were orphaned during the war, a skill and career that they could use to support themselves.

Old dormitory space was converted into workshops by the friars and the school was born.

Scuola de Cuoio

A walk through the courtyard looking for the entrance is beautifully serene. A large primary school is next door. The halls were loud with happy children. I looked into the playground of the school and it a beautiful park with lawns and shady trees.

School playground

An old cat languished on the roof of a tiny playhouse and the entire place radiated calm and peace with nature.

I climbed the stairs to the second story that housed the shops. Here there were show cases side by side and facing them were leather workers working at their desks. It looked as if they were stationed there to answer questions or for photos.

The cases that held the purses were museum  cases. Each purse was a magnificent work of art. I have never seen styles like this. They were uniquely beautiful and obviously the work of masters. I would have loved to bring these amazing art works home for you to purchase for your friends for Christmas but honestly you would have had to re mortgage your house to afford them.

Italian leather handbags

I opted at this point to go still very high quality but way more affordable. The purses I chose are not so much wildly artistic as they are classically beautiful. A purse like the ones I will bring home for you will be with you for a long time. They simply never go out of style.

You can also purchase more than one for different purposes. The one I bought today is a wonderfully practically and beautiful bag for travelling.

shoulder bag/ back pack

It is a shoulder bag but the strap unzips to form two straps and then it becomes a backpack. I love this feature! This evening, I was out on my trusty rusty steed again and a normal shoulder bag would never have worked. With the two straps, it worked perfectly. This is a great bag for moms who need both hands all the time.

zipper straps

This bag is hand made from the softest calf skin in the studio behind the shop. Supplies are limited because the shop is run by a family and each piece is made separately, never in bulk.

I purchased this one for myself but tomorrow I will go and get some to have available for you. I plan on getting a collection of different bags to see which ones you like best.

Stay tuned! You are going to LOVE these bags!

For more belli photos from Florence check out my Pinterest site!

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