2.12.26

i've always loved the look of the La Luice rabbit bags! they're something of an oldschool and traditional styling staple. the price of them has always thrown me off though--when chinese indie brand With PUJI revealed their take on a similar, lace-clad, animal bag, i jumped at the opportunity to grab one, settling on the little black cat Nana after some deliberation (mostly because black won't show dirt stains as easily as they would on the sheep, Yuki).

about a year later i found a good deal on a la luice shoulder rabbit bag and ended up buying it. now that i have both bags, i thought it might be a good opportunity to sort of review and compare the two, to help people decide which one might be better for them.

first off: cost. this is the starkest difference between the two items. the with puji bags go for about USD$32 on 42lolita--i ordered mine through spreenow pre-tariffs, and it was even cheaper there too. it seems like with puji is still actively producing the bags so they're pretty available and even more widely available secondhand on xianyu. the classic la luice rabbit bag backpack is also still actively being made by la luice and they are available on their site for 17380円 (roughly USD$110, i think this is even a sale price). this is ignoring the price of shipping (and tariffs). you can usually find the la luice rabbits for secondhand as well but the price seems to vary so i would suggest just buying new unless you find one for a good deal (and also isn't the pochette). the price of the la luice rabbits were the biggest thing preventing me from wanting to buy them; i'm usually fairly reserved with spending lots of money on fashion but bags and shoes are things i'm willing to spend more on. before i begin my review my la luice bag is the "rabbit shoulder" bag which is smaller than the traditional backpack and designed to be carried crossbody or over a shoulder.

the with PUJI bag.

like i said, i ended up buying 'nana' who is the little black cat. both bags come with bunny ear bonnets to tie around the animals heads so they can look like rabbits if that's your goal. the with puji bags have swappable cloaks as well, so you can theoretically buy the white capelet and bonnet from the yuki set and put it on your nana bag, and vice versa, creating a fun bxw effect. i hated the included strap on my bag. the buckle never stayed in place and it was ridiculously long, so my poor nana would be floating somewhere around the middle of my leg. the withpuji bag strap is removable, so you can buy your own strap and replace it, or just use the plushie like a pochette in a larger tote (i did this a few times to store my keys and wallet in a cuter way within a large tote bag). eventually i just bought a cheap black bag strap to replace the one that came with my bag. having the option to replace it at all is really nice, especially since the provided strap is made of the same delicate, lacey fabric as the bag itself, and i could see it eventually ripping on me.

the internal size of the bag is surprisingly large especially considering this is a mascot bag; the with puji bag is more rotund than the la luice bags, so the main body is a pretty decent sized oval pouch. the bulk of the bag's size comes from the visual weight of the cloak you can button on the bag but the body itself is quite squishy without much padding. i have no issues putting my phone, my LGV30 music phone, keys, wallet, lip gloss, and an essentials pouch in the bag. of course, this is still a mascot bag, so i would recommend bringing another bag or fitting a small reusable foldable one in the body if you plan to do some shopping or carry it around on errands or something. my one caveat is that because the cape ties around the body of the bag, sometimes accessing the zipper underneath the cape can be a pain.

the quality of the fabric is really nice. the lace is delicate but i haven't snagged or ripped it on anything. i would say it looks and feels very similar to the lace fabric used on the la luice bags. the bunny bonnet part of my nana bag unfortunately did have a small hole on one side where the stitching came apart, but it was an easy fix, and honestly i just let nana flaunt her cat ears.

due to the body being more squishy than you'd expect it doesn't have a lot of weight or ability to sit up by itself unless it's filled with things, relying more on the way you angle its stuffed limbs and head to prop itself up. this doesn't bother me since i like that it was designed with spaciousness in mind (again, for a mascot bag) but i know some people mostly prefer having mascot bags as secondary to their main bags and like them more for being cute plushies with hangable straps and this will look a little lifeless if you don't put a thing or two in it; and getting it to sit up on the table is pretty hard without a wall behind it.

the La Luice bag.

well, if you honestly want the tldr, i think the quality of the two items is more or less comparable. anyway, the shoulder bag's internal size is a bit smaller than the withpuji bags', but it's also 49cm in height and the traditional backpack is 72cm, which is a pretty big difference! my rabbit bag is the white colorway. the body is still small and squishable without much padding, and instead of the buttoned-on cape the nana and yuki bags have, the visual weight of the la luice bag comes from some stiff layers of tulle to amplify the triangle shape of the body. i haven't had problems putting my phone, wallet, keys, and a small essentials pouch in there. with some manueuvering i can get my music phone in there, but at that point it's kind of hard to get stuff out and i usually have to take everything out to pack it in order from large items to smallest if i want to check my phone.

i think the poseability of the la luice bag is a bit more fun; the ears have stiff wires in them you can bend and the shape of the legs is a bit more defined than the withpuji ones. the zipper is also more easily accessible due to it not hiding underneath a cape layer and i think it's smoother than the withpuji one too.

like i already said, the lace detailing on this bag seems to be basically the same quality and similar-ish design to the ones used on the withpuji bags. they both seem fairly delicate and can be a little nervewracking to use initially, but i'm not really worried about tearing the lace since it's not really ballooning off the body at any point to be easily snaggable as long as you're mindful.

the bag strap is not replaceable on this bag unfortunately. i did already drop the bag due to the way the strap behaves; it's like one long piece of lacey fabric you have to lock off at whatever length you want yourself instead of it being a strap you can adjust with a traditional bag sliding buckle thingie. because my bag is the 'shoulder' bag instead of the backpack this is probably just specific to the design i have. that aside, the strap not being replaceable is a pretty big bummer for me. the quality of the strap is a bit better than the one that comes with the withpuji bags, but i definitely foresee some wear and tear accumulating and i'm a little scared to drop my bag again because you have to lock off the length yourself, especially since i have the white version and it's not like dirt won't ever show up on the bag.

maybe it's just because i've seen the la luice bags more so i was #influenced but i think they're a bit cuter than the withpuji ones, mainly because i like the way the legs are designed with their jester-like feet. that said, the withpuji bag gets a huge shoutout for being customizable and letting you mix-and-match.

verdict.

i think the two bags are very comparable to each other. my la luice bag is a bit smaller than the withpuji one, or at least not as round, so fitting things in it is a bit difficult. the bag strap being replaceable on the withpuji one is a huge bonus. the only real difference in quality to the items is in the zipper; the la luice bag's zipper is really smooth and nice and i definitely struggle with the withpuji one a bit more. it's not a bad zipper, it's just not as smooth as the la luice one. due to the price point and not having to fight with the strap, i see myself using the with puji bag a bit more even though i like the overall design of the la luice bag a little more. i think this is a great option to look into if you like the la luice rabbit bag aesthetic but don't want to commit to buying one; or you could buy the with puji bag and save up for one of the fabled 'large rabbit backpacks' from la luice for some extra size variation between your two bags if you want the with puji one as a test run to see how you do with a delicate & lacey mascot bag.

i will try to post some comparison shots of the two bags and update this later!