In late October last year, Torrid added this Darth Vader handbag to their website. It is made by Loungefly – I haven’t seen this particular bag sold elsewhere, and I really like this handbag style, so it was quickly on my wish list. Not long after it was released, Torrid held a 30% off sale, which coincided with a 50% international shipping promotion – so of course I had to grab it! Originally priced at US$62.50, I paid US$43.75 plus postage – a great price for a Loungefly bag! Sadly it is no longer available at Torrid – but Loungefly.com still has several other Darth Vader-themed handbags available.
The handbag is made from a black faux leather, with a lovely leather-like textured finish. The bag has a full-length zip across the top, handles, and a removable/adjustable shoulder strap. The front of the bag features a two-layer shiny black vinyl appliqué of Darth Vader’s helmet. Of course, the appliqué is a huge point of appeal – I love the contrast of the shiny vinyl with the more natural leather-like finish of the bag. It can be hard for ‘black-on-black’ detail to show up well – this bag keeps the total black colour scheme without losing any detail. The black top stitching on the two layers of the appliqué help accentuate the detail lines – it just looks fantastic in person with light reflecting off the vinyl. The classic Loungefly Star Wars ‘plaque’ on the back is made from the faux leather, rather than the enamelled metal plaque used on other Loungefly handbags.
The handbag measures approximately 36.5cm high, 39cm across, and 15cm deep (at the widest points). I initially thought this bag was similar in size to Loungefly’s popular mini dome bags – this bag is actually larger, so it can hold more, but it’s still a great size. Also, the removable shoulder strap on this bag means this bag can worn over the shoulder – a feature I really appreciate. At it’s shortest length, the shoulder strap measures approximately 80cm long (not including clips), and approximately 134cm at full length (not including clips). I have shown the bag beside the Loungefly Darth Vader 3D wristlet in a photo below, to give an idea of the size of this bag (they also go great together!).
Inside, the bag is lined with plain back fabric, with two pockets (one on each side) – one is open, the other closes with a black zipper. I thought it was interesting that this bag doesn’t use the Star Wars logo printed fabric that appears in almost all of my other Loungefly x Star Wars bags. The lining fabric used here appears to be cotton, but I can’t find information on the tags to confirm. I think the plain lining works well with the ‘simulated leather’ finish, rather than the shiny finish of the printed lining. Also, the metal hard wear on the bag is different to my other Loungefly x Star Wars bags. The zip has a standard style zipper pull, not the larger-size style with the Loungefly logo that I usually see (even on the wristlets and coin purses). The zippers and hard wear all have a gunmetal finish, which work really well with the more subtle style of the bag (not as contrasting as silver). I should note the bottom of this bag does not have the little stud ‘feet’ like the Loungefly mini dome bags – they have less use on a shoulder bag, as you tend not to put them down as often as bags with only handles.
There is quite a few aspects of this handbag that really set it apart from other Loungefly items I’ve seen/bought – but they make it special. I’m not sure if this bag was made exclusively for Torrid, so perhaps collaboration lead to this slightly different style? In any case, I am so happy with this bag – it’s already become a well-used item in my wardrobe. While I love the Darth Vader mini dome bag also made by Loungefly, I already own Loungefly’s earlier black Darth Vader themed mini dome bag, so I felt this was a great option for me – I still get a great new Darth Vader Loungefly handbag, without too much overlap in my handbag collection.
