My Vintage Chanel Bag
Filed in: Fashion, Handbags, Secondhand, Shopping
Today I decided to stop by a thrift store I usually visit a couple of times a week. When I enter the store the first thing I see is a quilted handbag. It´s underneath a pile of other bags, and if I was to follow my new inner voice that says “Don´t buy anything unnecessary” I wouldn´t have picked it up as I already have several bags like it. I ignore the voice and pick it up anyway. Then I notice the Chanel logo. “Great” I think to myself and immediately assume I have come across a fake. When I look inside the bag I realize that it´s most likely authentic. The reason for that is number one that it´s all leather, the lining and everything. So, OK, it can still be a good fake. But number two; the bag is old. Very old. You can tell because the lining is worn so much that it´s starting to fall apart. On the outside it looks just fine, but on the inside you can tell that this bag has been worn and loved for decades. It also has a number but I´m not sure if it is an authenticity number.
I hug it close to me and plan to look around the rest of the store. I´m too stressed however and it´s almost like I fear that if I don´t buy the bag right away and get out of there someone will steal it from me. So I go to the counter. The bag has no price tag and I ask what they want for it. The girl studies it for a while before she calls another girl. I´m preparing for it to be expensive, but I keep calm to not give anything away. “I think it´s $7″ the girl says. The girl behind the counter looks at me and repeats “It´s $7.” I try not to smile and pay for it without showing any signs of emotions, cause to myself I know that their normal price for leather bags is $11. $7 is what they charge for bags in faux leather. This is a Chanel leather bag. On the way home I can´t stop smiling. And here my new bag is. It will need a few touch-ups, but in my mind it´s already perfect:
