Shopping in Florence #2

Shopping, shopping, shopping.

In addition to shopping for shoes, Florence is also a great place to shop for handbags, both artisanal and luxury.  Florence has many luxury shops that cater to visitors and locals, including the homegrown Gucci, Ferragamo, Cavalli and Pucci, plus upstarts like Prada, Armani and Missoni. 

Gucci Bamboo Leather Handbag

Susan has a friend in Florence whose husband once made bags for Gucci.  The workmanship had to be perfect--not one stitch out of place.  Plus, Gucci was extremely careful about black market sales.  Every zipper, handle and clasp had to be accounted for, or else.

Of course, not everyone is looking to spend several thousand Euro on a luxury handbag.  For those looking for handmade, all-leather bags, there are plenty of very reputable leather shops in Florence, known as pelletteria. 

One shop is Gioia Chiara, founded about 70 years ago. 

The shop is family run.  They design and produce all of the bags and accessories they sell.  After getting a recommendation from a friend, we have visited the shop several times and are pleased with our purchases--handbags, pouches for makeup and a wallet for Greg.  

The best part?  Gioia Chiara has very reasonable prices and then discounts those prices during frequent sales.  Life is good.        

Here are photos of a couple of purchases--a bag, a makeup pouch and a wallet.

P.S.  If you want to what pure joy looks like, then check out this photo of a very happy shopper who has found a bargain.