The Handbag Clinic, Newcastle

Anyone else keeping their fingers and toes tightly crossed that Santa may be extra kind and bring them a designer handbag this year?  Me too!  I am yet to own a fancy bag myself, and so frequently find myself admiring my friend's arm candy whilst silently cursing myself for never having any funds to buy myself one.

Well my friends, my days of lusting could be over as The Handbag Clinic has opened its largest store right here in Newcastle.  The shop opened on Mosely Street last week and I was lucky enough to get an invitation to the red carpet event.

Newcastle's finest were out in force, the fizz was flowing and delicious canapés were passed round by my friends at Sohe.

For those of you lucky enough to already own something designer, the Handbag Clinic provides a great TLC service offering cleaning, repairing and full recolouring to your designer pieces.  Or if you've simply fallen out of love with your handbag the Clinic will buy your bag off you

But if, like me, you are yet to start building your designer handbag collection you are in for a real treat.  The Handbag Clinic will be selling rare designer bags that you are unlikely to be able to find anywhere else on the high street.  Many of the bags on sale are vintage and pre-owned and are the "must have" pieces you see on the arms of celebs that are quite often impossible to find, offering you the chance to build a designer bag collection that's completely unique.

Whether your favourite designer is Chanel, Celine or Mulberry the store has something for everyone, offering us ladies in the North East a piece of fashion history.

Some of the first handbags for sale in the store will include a Cambon bowling bag (a favourite of Victoria Beckham) and a Celine luggage phantom tote in tan leather (the same model carried by the Kardashians) as well as some hard to find pieces from Chanel and Louis Vuitton.

The store did have a rather gorgeous classic Chanel bag that everyone spent the evening eyeing up, but my good friend Katie snapped it up the second she walked in.  The bag was in fantastic condition and over £1,000 cheaper than it would be brand new.  It was just too good to resist.

Spending a whole evening surrounded by such beautiful bags was a dream and I will admit it's made me start wanting to save for something gorgeous of my very own. 

So, what do you guys think?  What should my first designer handbag purchase be?