The Goyard Belvedere Bag

Today I thought I’d review one of my favorite cross-body bags which I picked up on my last trip to Paris. Yes, I remember that I said in my 2015 resolutions that there were to be no more bags this year. But I am following the one in one out rule (I have a few gaps after my great closet cleaning)…and anyway, I’ve already broken that rule a few times over. So let’s moveon!

The bag is the Goyard Belvedere PM, which I’ve been trying to find in gray for over a year. Whenever I would go to the San Francisco boutique, they’d never have it in stock (and act like I was a lunatic for even expecting it to be available…where am I, Hermes??). Anyway. Hearing from Alice how much she loved hers just fanned the flames more, and I was happy to finally come across the combination at the flagship store in Paris.

I’m boring because the gray, black, and bright blue are my favorite colors that Goyard does. I especially love how the gray pops against the classic yellow lining.

The inside of the Belvedere PM has an inner zipped pocket (perfect for items like your passport and valuables).

Other than that, the bag is pretty much just a large compartment, save for two other slip pockets on the opposite side. I use these for lipsticks, keys, etc. Not big enough for most smartphones.

What is big enough for a smartphone however, is the slip pocket in the bag – it even fits my gigantic iPhone 6 Plus. So convenient.

Here’s a little snapshot of what I usually carry around with me in the Belvedere – some cards/cash, my phone, keys, sunglasses in a soft pouch, and some lipstick/concealer. I could easily fit more, but I like some room to spare for mints, metro tickets, anything else I might need to be carrying that day.

And of course, shown on yours truly. Please apologize both the poor lighting and wrinkled outfit – I took these right after a quick work trip (where I used the Belvedere exclusively when not lugging my laptop around).

The strap is almost at it’s longest point here – you could adjust it to be quite a bit shorter and thus a shoulder bag as well, but I wear it almost exclusively cross-body as I intended the Belvedere to be a hands free bag.

In short, the Belvedere PM is the perfect size for travel or tucking into a larger big tote bag for quick errands. I would highly recommend this bag for anyone looking for a small cross-body bag for travel/errands, and who really values both lightness and comfort. The canvas material is a lot lighter than leather, but I still appreciate the leather detailing.

After conversion, this bag was around $1900 before any VAT refund. I’m not sure about the price in the U.S but I would guess it’d be a bit higher. I’d also note that Goyard apparently charges 30% more for bags made out of any color other than their standard black. So yes, I paid 30% more for this bag (painful, and in my mind, a slightly ridiculous rule). But that’s what I get for falling in love with the gray, and vowing not to buy any more black bags.