took place in Florence, Italy last month. I was there on tour with a baroque choir (I play the cello). We had a few hours of free time one day before our concert in Florence – I had read about and seen travel shows about the huge open-air leather goods market there. And let’s just say as I drifted along the street leading away from the Ponte Vecchio, I smelled the leather before I ever saw the market! I was seduced…

Black and white Daniela Moda hobo bag

Basically, amidst the literally hundreds of handbag and other leather good vendors in this market, I was immediately seduced by this little beauty. I LOVE black and white two-tone anything, the shape is adorable, and it was also in my price range – 32 Euros, about $50 American.

The construction and design of this bag is immaculate and well-done. Each of those two-tone panels are stitched separately onto the face of the bag. The hardware is not cheap-looking or feeling and is a shiny slate-grey. There are a couple of interior pockets, but it’s not really designed to be a day-to-day bag – I would say this is an evening or special occasion bag.

People: Italian leather, especially from Florence, is very fine. They raise an excellent cow in that part of the country. Apologies to the vegetarians and vegans of the world… Florentine designers are also very fine: think Prada, Gucci, and Versace, to name a few BIG names.

My research on Daniela Moda reveals that she is a relatively new designer, based in Tuscany. And I have to say, I love my Moda bag and it now has the place of honor in my admittedly small (for now) collection. Searching Moda online revealed a couple of different options, one was strictly wholesale, and the other was in English, but prices are listed in British Pounds.

I never saw my little two-tone hobo on those sites though, so score one for me and my original tastes!