The other day, I had the rare chance to have on hand two sizes of the caviar Chanel Diana in my favorite Diana color, “dark beige” or as Asian vintage dealers may say “milk tea” color.
This is my personal beauty, called Sheryl. I have hunted for this exact color combinations since i started collection. Along the way I made other purchases thinking it was THIS particular shade of beige and it turns out it wasn't. That was an expensive learning experience but also how I educated myself on the various shades of vintage Chanel Diana so YOU don't have to!
This was the other one I had found for sale, called Blanca. She was in such high demand and rightly so as this color is incredibly elusive and difficult to find.
I’ve done a post on all the sizes of the Chanel Diana before and given my thoughts on what size might be suitable for you. However, I never did a proper try on of the bags since my original post in 2017! It was such a rare occasion to have both sizes of my favorite Diana in my possession, I just had to take them out for some photo fun!
You can see from below that the medium size as you can see is roughly 1.3 times larger than the small size. 
I tried this on cross-body, and as a shoulder bag (this is how Princess Di liked wearing it). Lots of people ask me about the strap drop length. All I can say on my body is it longer than a classic flap and shorter than a rectangular mini. It's very similar to the square caviar mini strap drop. It sits quite comfortably on my body either day.
I've seen the Diana on more petite girls, and it never looks like you're sweeping the floor as you might with a rectangular mini. What I will say though is that the caviar Diana is significantly heavier than the lambskin version so it will eat into your shoulder with the weight, especially when full.
Crossbody:
Strap drop looks almost similar here except that the medium one covers most of my navel. Still not a huge difference and actually despite my love for the small size, I could probably reasonably still pull off the medium size.
More cross-body:
Both very great sizes. If you're on an actual running around errand day, the medium is realistically more functional. The small size is the perfect nighttime or wedding guest bag.
As a shoulder bag, this is where the size makes the most difference. On me, as an average sized medium girl, I think the medium looks too wide and slightly disproportional. The small also probably honestly looks a bit too petite as well. I want a size right in between!
One plus from these photos is that I now obviously know the width of my thighs, haha!
There you go! Let me know what size you think works best and whether you think the Diana looks better when worn cross-body or as a shoulder bag!
9 comments
Curious if you would ever be open to selling either of these Diana handbags? They are stunning :)
Both are so great and for different situations. While I think the small would be great for me because of my frame, I appreciate that the medium is more easily a crossbody bag. I will definitely want to get both sizes as well for future research purposes ;)
Awesome post showing the differences between the two sizes. I love the crossbody look and prefer the small. However, what you shared about the day-to-day functionality of the medium is enticing!
I’d also be interested to hear more about the shades of beige you’ve encountered over the years. Thanks again and always a pleasure reading your blog posts!
Randomly stumbled upon your IG page and decided to check out your blog. Thank you for your informative reviews and comparisons. Makes it very helpful when deciding on a vintage diana bag. I’ve always been a caviar type of girl because I don’t want to have to baby my bags- but I might take a chance on lambskin when the right diana bag rolls around 😊. Thank you. Btw- love your touch of humor in all your posts. 😆
Thanks for the informative review on both beautiful Dianas! Really helpful to see both sizes next to each other, my preference would prob be crossbody since it’s carefree and it makes the chain shorter hahah. Who knows, I might want a medium size in the future but for now I’m all about the small :). Can’t wait to receive mine first <3