If you are in the market for a small clutch you can use on these warm summer evening, you may have been considering purchasing the Pochette Felicie. I have featured this clutch both here on my blog as well as on YouTube, and I have to say that I love this bag!
But I recently in May purchased a Kiragami Pochette set from the Spring In The City collection with Louis Vuitton and I honestly think that its a strong contender for the “perfect night out” clutch.
While these two small handbags look nothing a like, there are more similarities between these two than not.
Because of all these similarities and differences, I thought that for today’s blog, it might be a good idea to look at and compare the Pochette Felicie and the Kiragami Pochette side by side, so that you can decided which bag is the better fit for you.
I have added a table of contents so that you can skip around the blog and find the specific details you are looking for.
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Table of Content
Quick History & Dimensions
Quick History
Keeping in line with the its name, roughly translating to “the art of folding and cutting”, the beautiful Kiragami Pochette 3-1 set (Kiragami set) offers a Russian nesting doll type solution for those looking for multiple small leather goods (SLG) in one.
Originally released in the fall/winter of 2017, The Kiragami set boasted of having a pouch larger enough to cover and iPad mini, one that could rival the popular Mini Pochette Accessories, and one that was the prefect size to be a card holder.
And all for the price of 1 SLG.
The Pochette Felicie (Felicie) on the other hand was released just two years earlier in 2015.
Meaning “Lucky”, “Fortunate”, or “Successful” in French, the Felicie is advertised by the Maison as being a modern and “spacious” clutch design prefect for daily use or nights out. Amongst many other features, the Felicie came with a beautiful chain that could removed.
Unlike other clutch/wallet on chain styles at the time, the Felicie came with two removable SLGs that could be used separately from the bag.
Dimensions & Features
The Felicie comes in at about 8 inches long, 4.7 inches tall and 1.2 inches wide. while Louis Vuitton might claim that this is a spacious bag, I promise you it is not.
This clutch comes with a beautiful gold (or sliver if you buy the epi leather version) chain that is removable with as 20.9 inch strap drop, as well as with two removable insets; with one being a long wallet with 8 card slots and the other being a long zippered pouch.
With a smooth textile lining and gold (or silver for the epi leathers) snap button closure, this bag feels elegenat.
The Kigragami set on the other hand starts out slightly larger at 9 x 6.5 x 0.2 inches for the largest size, 6.1 x 4.5 x 0.2 inches for the medium size and for the smallest size, 3.9 x 2.7 x 0.2 inches.
Each pouch is made of coated canvas on the outside with cowhide lining on the interior with a golden press stud closure.
Because of the 3 different pouch options, the Kiragami is very versatile and the set can be used many ways for different occasions.
Price Comparison & Availability
The Kiragami set today starts at $745.00 USD and goes up to $975.00 USD for special collections. When originally released, the Kiragami was selling new in stores for around $650.00 USD. So a percentage increase of around ~15% over six years (averaging 2.3% YOY) is not bad at all!
Currently, Louis Vuitton is offering two versions of the Kiragami set, both with availability online.
On the pre-loved market, you can buy the set in separates or together. With sets averaging around $850.00 USD and individual pieces ranging from $200.00 USD to $900.00 USD.
Of course, the specail collections cost a lot more on the pre-loved market.
The Felicie currently retails for $1,490.00 USD for the canvas print and goes up to $1,760.00 USD for the bi color emperinte leathers. With a debut price of $875.00 USD, the Felicie has increased by ~70% over 8 years (averaging 8.75% YOY).
At the moment, all canvas (3), epi (2) and standard empireinte leather (5) versions are with available online with 2/3 of the Bi Color options being available online for purchase.
Typically the Felicie can be found for a good discount on the pre-loved market. A lot of the time however the bag is sold in parts instead of the sets. In a way, this allows you to customize the bag the way you’d like it. But this can end up being more expensive in the end.
Sets for the Felice on the pre-loved market typically start off at around $1,300.00 USD for epi leather sets while individual clutches can be found for around $900.00 USD, with the the inserts selling foreground $300.00-$450.00 USD each.
What’s Similar?
There are a lot of comparisons that we can draw between these two bags. I listed what I think are the most useful ones to consider below. While speaking on the similarities, I am comparing the Larger Kiragami case to the Felicie, unless otherwise noted.
Multiple SLG’s
Both of these clutches come with smaller SLG’s that can be use for other purposes.
While the Kiragami set is actually marketed as a 3 in 1 item, so it’s multiuses are apparent, the Felicie inserts can be used as wallets, receipt holders or as a smaller Pochette for other hand bags as well.
With any luxury item, having multiple ways to utilize the item is always a plus.
Envelope Shape
These two clutches also carry a similar silhouette. With their envelope shape, they bring a more modern and feminine spin to your standard evening wear.
While the Kiragami is taller and slightly longer than the Felice (which we talk about in a second) both clutches sit against the body about the same.
Snap Closure
Both come with a snap closure and both can be difficult to close if you have too many items, too little items, or items in the wrong place.
While I think the snap closure is more secure than a magnetic closure, I did want to bring up how annoying it can be to get closed at times.
Occasion usage
I find that these two clutches are best used in the same ways; for casual day time an evening events.
I love the fact that both of these items can be dressed up or down depending on where you need to go. I have used both of them for brunch parties as well as for more formal events such as weddings and local events.
While small, they both fit what you need for finer occasions.
What’s Different?
While there are a lot of similarities to these two bags, there are also a lot of differences too. In this section, I will included and explore the differences between the small pouches that come with each set as well.
Sizing
The sizing between theses two sets couldn’t be more different.
With a base length of 9.25 inches, the Kiragami Large pouch is about and inch longer in length and taller in height. The Felicie on the other hand has a bit more depth to it.
While the inserts of the Felicie are roughly the same size, the Medium size for the Kiragami set is clocking inn slightly bigger than these inserts while the Small size is quite a bit smaller than the Felicie inserts.
Range of options
Because the Kiragami set has a wide range of sizes, you have more options for uses.
For example, you can use your Large Kiragami pouch as a clutch, a packing cube for make up and other small items or a sleve for your iPad.
Then you have the medium size which can be used as a replacement for the Mini Pochette, and the small sized which can be used as a bag charm, card holder, AirPod case etc, etc. Your options wit the Kiragami set are wide open.
The Feliece on the other hand has a limited range of use.
Because the bag and its inserts are more ridged and are all the same size, they can only really be used for carrying cards or cash (maybe pens for the zippered one) and some small essential for the handbag. You really can’t get too creative here.
Flexibility in Use
As mentioned above, the Feliicie is a more ridged handbag. Because of that, you don’t have the same flexiblity to fit thing in it in differnce ways to maximize its space.
The Kiragami set in contrast has a lot more give to it thanks to is more simplistic contraction. This coupled with its taller height allows you to be able to fit more inside.
Bag Modification
The Felicie can be used as a crossbody as is, Or you can remove the chain and use it as a clutch. Or you can double the chain and use it as a crossbody. With a removable chain, you have many options that come standard with the the Felicie.
The Kiragami can be used as a clutch straight out the dust bag.However if you would like to use the Kiragami as a cross body, you will need to purchase some sort of bag modifier.
I prefer theses that hold the Large Kiragami on the outside as it puts less pressure on the corners on the flap inside.
What fit’s
Not much will fit in the Felicie. I covered what I could typically carry in the Felice in this blog post here, but to recap:
In the back interior pocket: a hand wipe and a Shout cleaning wipe, two cards and two flosser sticks.
In the main compartment: my phone, a powder compact, a perfume roller bottle, a Chanel duo lipstick, a small pill bottle, a small eye drop bottle and a hand sanitizer.
This isn’t much at all, but it’s enough to hold all your basics for a night out.
The large Kiragami by comparison, can easily fit my phone, a card case, a six ring key holder, a cles pochette, a compact, AirPods in the smaller Kiragami set, small pill bottle, eye drops, roller ball perfume, a few lipsticks and some blush.
The Kiragami set defiantly holds a lot more and I think is perfect for causal use around town.
The other pouches have their uses also! I will have a dedicated blog all about the Kiragami set and will link it here once I’m finished.
Which Should YOU Get?
Both are great options and I feel pretty blessed to have both! But if you’re debating between the two, this is what I would consider.
Price: The Kiragami set is half the price of the the Pochette Felicie. If price is a major factor for you, I would lean towards the Kiragami set.
Ease of use: If you want something that easy to use straight out the dust bag, the Felicie is likely the better option for you. It’s use is pretty stream line so its ready to go as a handbag straight out the box. The Kiragami on the other hand will require a third party modifier to use as a hand bag.
Capacity: If you’re wanting the bag that can fit the most, the Kiragami Set is easily want you want. Because of its construction, it can easily way more inside than the Felicie can.
Elegant Styling: If having an elegant piece for events is what your most after, than the Felice is the way to go here. With its smaller frame and gorgeous chain, this bag was intended for nights out.
Multifunctional: If you’re looking to build your SLG collection or have more multifunctional items, than the Kiragami set is the better option here. Each pouch has multiplue different ways that they can be used thanks to their structure. The Felicie pouchs, while really nice as wallets are not as multi functional.
Final Thoughts & Future Preception
Both of these pieces are wonderful to own and for a luxury item, they are both great value considering.I don’t think you can go wrong with either one. If you would like to see which one I would choose personally, make sure to head over to my YouTube channel. I will be posting my thoughts on why I would personally choose one over the other in the next coming days!
That aside, I can’t help but think that the Kiragami set will see a price restructuring sometime in the near future. We saw this with the Toiletry 26 when Louis Vuitton pulled it for a short while, only to bring it back with a chain and around double the price. While the price increase for the Kiragami set has been under the rate of inflation since its release, with its recently popularity spike, I feel like Louis Vuition will want to capitalize on that as soon as they can.
And while the Felicie has seen more of a price increase over the years, I also feel like we will see it go up a bit more in price in a little bit here. The reason being that the Felicie has also began to raise a bit more in popularity. Particually with the leather bag options. a lot of people are looking at the Felicie bag as a great luxury entry piece, as options for the Neverfull are now being limited and the Felice is a fair easy bag to get your hands one with a better price point and bang for your buck that other bags both inside and outside the Maison.
