Pros and cons to the Small Gucci Dionysus - 2022 mini review

I don’t know if a lot of people still find the small Gucci Dionysus or the overall line relevant in 2022, but I am still a huge fan and I thought why not give an updated review? I bought mine last Christmas from mytheresa (an online luxury retailer which I’ve covered here) and I have no regrets ever since. Sure, it’s not as trendy and coveted as it was in 2017 but it is still soo so good. I can honestly go on forever as to why I still love my small Gucci Dionysus in 2022 and I thought why don’t I just list the top 5 reasons and give you a mini-review along the way? I get quite a few questions irl about this bag and it’s honestly easier to just get right to it.

5 reasons why I love, love, my small Gucci Dionysus:

1. Versatility

I’ve worn this bag to so many different occasions I can’t even count anymore. I’ve worn it out to parties, to dinners, to walk around the neighborhood, while doing groceries (a bit extra, but it is what it is) and I feel like I’ve just naturally gravitated to this bag for most of the occasions (aside from going to the office). For such a loud bag, it is so simple and it literally goes for almost every single occasion that I can possibly think of.

One other thing that’s really big for me is the fact that I don’t feel as if I’m restricted to a certain style when I wear this bag.

With some bags, I tend to match the aesthetics of the bag to whatever outfit I’m wearing for the day. And, it’s super common for me to feel like a certain style of bag only fits into a certain subset of style (maybe I’m just not creative enough but that’s how I feel). Fortunately, with the small Dionysus I literally feel like I can just wear whatever style of outfits and it’ll still look great and it’ll complement my overall look no matter what. I can dress casual and still wear the Dionysus, I can dress up or dress very very feminine and still feel like the bag complements the style. I don’t know how to describe it, but it’s personally such a big thing for me and I love it.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by H 🐻 (@heyohanna)

Wrapping up, I’d honestly give this bag a versatility score of 9 out of 10.

2. Classic shape & color tone

The small Gucci Dionysus is, in my opinion (and objectively if I’m honest), a classic bag. It’s in the functional rectangular shape and has that classic flap style. It’s so simple and it literally goes with almost everything. Not only that, but the color tone (or color combination) of the classic Dionysus is so muted and can literally be paired with almost every single outfit. It’s hard to compete with the muted beige tones. Plus, the Gucci print is iconic imo. I think that his bag will age very well and I can’t wait to hand this down as a vintage bag one day in the far far future.

The size of the small Gucci Dionysus is absolutely perfect for me. It’s not super tiny that it’s barely functional but it’s not too big either that it feels disproportionate or that it’s simply too big for whatever occasion it is. I struggle a lot with the other sizes of the line as it’s often too big or too square, or too small. This version with the divider in the middle, is my personal favorite.

3. The chains

I can’t believe I’m writing an entire section for the chains alone but honestly, it deserves one. The antique silver color is nothing like I’ve ever seen before and it is so gorgeous. I love how it looks on my skin and it pairs so nicely with most of my outfits. It’s muted so brilliantly and I’m honestly obsessed.

The size of the chain and also the shape of the chain is so nice to hold. It’s not too oversized but it’s like this rounded marble kind of feel. I don’t know how to describe it and it’s honestly not that deep, but I love the chains. It’s nice to hold in my opinion and I don’t know why I love it so much, but I do. Plus, the way it falls or drapes over the bag when you put it down is just so beautiful. I honestly get excited when I see it just sitting. It’s just too good.

4. Hard wearing and dare I say, low maintenance?

I know I’ve only had this bag for less than 6 months now, but I feel like I can and should comment on how hard wearing it is after wearing it out on Kingsday. For the non-Dutch readers, Kingsday is a national holiday in the Netherlands where we celebrate the King’s birthday literally partying and drinking the whole day out on the streets. This bag really went with my outfit so I bravely decided to just go with it. Honestly, it was a nightmare for anyone who’s afraid of destroying their bag.

I was stuck in the crowd of drunk people and beers were literally flying left and right (and some were 100% dripped on the front of my bag). We were at one part of the street where I was literally squished and pushed from left to right. BUT, despite all of that (for literally the whole day and night of being out), this bag literally managed to make it out pristine! Like, I wasn’t super careless or anything, but I wasn’t super careful either.  Literally despite the beers, the squishing, this bag still looked the same as when I first got it.

That whole experience made me firmly believe that this bag 100% can take more than I thought it would. It is a rockstar.

5. It’s so simple and fuss-free

This is a grab and go bag. I don’t think twice about which bag I have to wear for the day and I just grab it and I’m ready. It makes my whole look complete without even trying and I’m all here for it.

but of course, this review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the “cons”

And I say that with quotation marks cause some doesn’t actually bother me. But, objectively speaking it can be a con to others.

1. the chains do dig into your shoulder

as much as I love the chains, I have to admit that it’s not the comfiest. I tend to have imprints on my shoulder from this bag when I wear it out for long. It’s also not especially comfortable when I don’t have a lot of layers on. Around winter time I don’t usually feel a thing from all the layers of my jacket. But, I’m feeling it a lot more in the warmer months where I have less layers. Tbh it’s the same problem that I have with my Gucci Ophidia – but, it’s not that bad overall.

2. it doesn’t really fit a lot of things 🙂

The bag itself is not small by any means. But, the compartment in totality is really small and I can’t carry as much stuff as I thought I could. It’s a super structured bag and this specific version has the middle partition which really restricts the amount of objects you can carry with you. It also keeps you from carrying odd-sized objects. If you only carry the essentials, you’ll be fine – but anything more – it’ll be a bit more difficult.

3. one word: suede

Truthfully, this bag has been low maintenance. I have no reason to say that it’s high maintenance. But, honestly, the nature of suede alone puts me on guard when it comes to this bag. I am always terrified that something will happen to it. After my bad experience with the suede staining and fading on my supermini Chloé faye, I’ve had more reservations when it comes to suede. Maybe it was a one-off cause so far, this bag has made it spotless. But, I don’t know – the suede bits still makes me a bit nervous.

4. the print is loud

This bag is quite obviously Gucci and it screams it. While I personally find that the print is muted and toned down, others do point out that it’s an obvious Gucci bag. I mean, I honestly don’t know if that’s necessarily a con. The Gucci print is iconic and Gucci is its own genre. It is what it is and I love it for it. But, if you are anti-logo, this is definitely not a bag that you’ll be at ease with. If you love the look but you don’t want the full on Gucci print, I highly recommend checking out Luisaviaroma – they have the best collection of the neutral leather tones.

As always, thank you so much for reading this post! I hope to update this in due time but I can get quite forgetful. Unfortunately, I can often lose track of time and things. Please leave me reminders if you want to see specific things and as always, the comment section (and my inbox) is always open to all of you <3

x
Hana