2003 olive/brown city SB 500

I hate to say it guys - I have an Olive Brown Classique and the handles on my bag are almost as dark. And yes .... I wash my hands thoroughly several times a day! (I also use the shoulder strap about half the time). The body of the bag, though, is almost as light as her bag is. It's just the handles that have darkened over time.

Have you ever seen a frequently carried, vintage LV? Those handles get just as dark, if not darker - I don't believe it's caused by dirt and/or dirty hands - I think it's part of the aging process on these types of leather.

(maybe the body of the bag stays lighter because the leather is thinner and not rolled the way the handles are??)

that is interesting. thank you! i expect that most people who spend upwards of $1200 for a bag are also pretty good with the hygiene, especially people like you who had the style/taste/luck to buy these gorgeous bags back in '03 (wish i did). i actually didn't think they were caused by dirty hands. anyway, i have not had any bbag for more than a few months so i definitely can't comment on what causes the darkening of the handles or whether mine will do the same thing. i tend to think that when mine get to be more than a year old, then they too will show some signs of darkening -- just the nature of the beast.

on a side note, if i ever see you with that bag in chicago, be careful because i may want to snatch it from you. i love it!!! i don't see many ladies around the city with bbags especially not older ones like yours.
 
The whole handle is dark. I think dark handles are gross. Ick. I had a LV bag for 20 years that I used and the handles never got that dark. But then again, didnt someone on here say that handles appear darker than they really are in pictures? I like the bag.
 
Any chance we can refrain from the icks and all the :yucky: :sick: ? There are members (including me) who own bags with dark handles and I am sure we prefer that general statements not be made that our bags are gross.
 
EWWWWWWW! Well the handles on that "army green" city are NAAAASTY! How the bleep can that seller say that bag is in "MINT CONDITION" with near black handles like that?!?! WTF?!!! :wtf:

I'm sorry, but calling THAT bag "IN MINT CONDITION!" is one of the craziest things I've seen on Ebay...

Great description too: "PLEASE NO AUTHENTICITY QUESTIONS-IT'S 100000% AUTHENTIC BALENCIAGA. LOOK AT MY OTHER AUCTIONS, ALL OF MY BAGS KICK ASS."

:rolleyes: Yea that's some kick ass bag with FILTHY handles! No thank you!

:wtf: :wtf: :wtf:


OMG hahahaha :roflmfao: :roflmfao: :roflmfao:
 
Any chance we can refrain from the icks and all the :yucky: :sick: ? There are members (including me) who own bags with dark handles and I am sure we prefer that general statements not be made that our bags are gross.
Sorry. I will try but when a seller says a bag is in excellent condition, and the handles look like she works on car engines all day then grabs her bag, that's really not right. :rolleyes:
 
Sorry. I will try but when a seller says a bag is in excellent condition, and the handles look like she works on car engines all day then grabs her bag, that's really not right. :rolleyes:

I totally agree with you that the bag is not in excellent condition due to the handles, but my point is that some of you are suggesting that dark handles are somehow a sign of lack of hygiene/dirty hands.
 
I think each one of us has our own personal opinions about dark handles on ebay bags, its just our opinions and certainly not a slam to you. We would never intentionally hurt anyones feelings on this forum.

The first thing I look at on ebay bags is the handles. I get visions of women NOT washing their hands before they leave the bathroom and then holding their bag. And then selling the darn thing on ebay.

THATS why I dont like darker handles on bags sold on ebay and yes, thats gross and ick.
 
Yes, everyone is entitled to their own opinions but I do think it is dangerous (for lack of a better word) for you to state that dark handles are a result of people not washing their hands. And, no offense, but I think most of you who have commented (me included) about how gross dark handles are have only recently gotten into Balenciaga bags so I am not sure you (or me) can really claim that we have managed to keep/not keep the handles from getting darkened by washing /not washing hands when we have only had bbags for 6 months or so. As iluvmybags stated, she has had her bag for over three years and she washes her hands and yet her handles are still dark. This isn't personal towards you but I hate the association that seems to be created here that someone with a bag with dark handles has hygiene problems.
 
In spite of the handles this is one of the BEST bal colors imo and is a beautiful contrast to the silver hardware...I have noticed that the earthy bag colors handles usually photograph much worse than they are IRL. The pictures aren't the greatest here, but I like the color
 
filthy, stinking, skanky, grozo, putrid, sewer-handles, come to mama!! It's all mine, mine, mine!

I don't like the look of filthy handles either, but I honestly don't believe that what you're seeing on these handles is dirt. it could be oils from hand lotions, but it doesn't look like dirt to me at all. It's too evenly spread through the whole length of the handles, so I agree with iluvmybags' observations. Also, dirt can be cleaned off, at least to a certain extent. the darkening of the handles is a compeltely different phenomenon from dirt.

Since I got my 05 Olive and posted some pics here, I noticed how dark the handles looked in the pics and not when I looked at the bag IRL. So pics definitely exaggerate the darkening of the handles.

I'll do all I can to clean and pull some oil out of the handles. For now I'm BESIDE myself with joy that i got this gem! :yahoo: :yahoo: