2020 resolution - shopping my own bag and wallet collection. Any one else?

[cowgirlsboots]

That’s such a gorgeous tree!

I was thinking of you the other day. I was unpacking and discovered I had used my Trailer Trash scarf as dunnage. And since you’re the Queen of Dior... I thought I’d share another piece from the collection. (Sorry about the wrinkles!)

Thank-you! The tree feels such a good match to us!

Wow, that´s gorgeous! Thank-you for showing me!
I haven´t ever seen any Galliano for Dior scarf for sale here in Germany. They must be rare birds.
And thank you for the Queen of Dior- I see myself rather as a humble maid at the court.

 

[cowgirlsboots]

I may have just ruined one of my bags.
It was one that was gifted to me years ago and I just couldn't fall in love with it. I had it set aside to donate until I got this nutty idea to pull it out and experiment.
I've been wanting a yellow bag but wasn't sure how much wear I'd get out of one. I decided to dye this bag to test out the colour before buying a 'proper' yellow bag. Well, the dye is from a local art supply store, not my usual Angelus brand dye.
It is leather dye but it doesn't work like it. It kind of sits on top of the leather like a layer of makeup.
The colour is great, sitting somewhere in between butter and canary. It's a very soft yellow but still a great 'pop'. However, the paint is chalky and the leather has now lost its natural feel. Not good at all!
Now I have to strip this rubbish quality dye off. Grrr! I'm not sure what state the leather will be in afterwards. I'm hopeful the bag can be fixed up with some conditioner and dyed again with proper dye, but I feel like it was a bad decision to touch it in the first place.
The experiment has confirmed to me that I'd definitely enjoy a small yellow bag, and I'm happy I didn't use this dye on a good quality vintage bag as I'd original planned. An error like that would have been unforgivable.
I won't use anything but Angelus from now on. There's nothing as good.

Oh what a mess! I feel for you! How frustrating!
But don´t worry, usually a good dose of acetone gets any bad paint off leather and once it´s stripped you can apply proper paint.
I once painted a rather large bag with Morena dye- bad decision!- bright red and black like flames on once white leather.... it all came off with acetone and later I painted the same bag a pretty Angelus red and it looked and felt like the real thing, again.

 

[cowgirlsboots]

I last bought a bag in July this year. After that, the reality of people having financial difficulties during this pandemic hit me. While I have a stable job, I felt that I have to spend more wisely. Plus, since I have been staying more in the house, there are a lot of things I’ve noticed that need some fixing.

Maybe it’s a good thing too that I went back to an old hobby - baking. It got my mind off bags a bit.

Btw, I received a gift, a Coach Mercer. In oxblood. While I like this Coach style, I have also a beloved Mulberry Small Zipped Bayswater in oxblood! Not exactly the same shape, but fairly close style. But the gift is not something I can return or ask for a replacement or give to somebody else, or much more sell. So I suppose I will keep it even if it’s some kind of a duplicate. What would you do?

Aww, presents like this are always tricky... I guess you best just keep it as a token of somebody´s love. Something you put in your wardrobe or a pretty box and take out to look at like at a photo album or occasionally wear.

In the past in my former life I far too often made the mistake to ask people to change presents I did not like or to return them myself, in the end causing unnecessary harm. Meanwhile I think if somebody gave it to me they did it with an intention.

 

[cowgirlsboots]

View attachment 4937212I dyed my Diego bucket a shade of yellow with fiebrings beige leather dye. It looks marigold to me!

today is my new 2jours!!! Just arrived.View attachment 4937213View attachment 4937214

merry Christmas!

Congrats on your new Toujours! It´s a lovely bag with a beautiful pop of colour in form of the charm!

May I ask which type of Fiebings you used for the yellow bag? I´m never sure whether to stay with acrylic or to try the oil dye.

Merry Christmas to you and your family!

 

[cowgirlsboots]

Nothing dunks as well as vintage Coach. Once I dunked a Fossil. It got ugly stains along all the seams as they had used glue and it melted. I dunked a newer Coach once. The water I used was too hot and melted off the dark edge coating, but not the clear edge coating that was underneath. I liked the way the edges looked with the clear edges but the melted brown edge coating left little brown stains everywhere. I had to dye the entire bag.

Now I just have to ask: how does dunking work, please? Are the bags dunked in some solvent or just water? So far I´ve always scrubbed with acetone until all coating and excess original colour was gone and then "sanded" with a magic sponge or very fine sandpaper if needed to open the surface a little and get rid of irremovable colour leftovers.

 

[whateve]

Ok, so you can color it. I was wondering about that. You can’t really do that with LV. Is it flexible or stiff? If it has started to crease, is it toast...like will it start to flake off. Is it bare fabric with the color in the coating? Is it worth getting an inexpensive bag and rehab it or is it worth it to spend more for one in better condition?

It might vary depending on when it was made. The two I had in poor condition were older and had the color on the fabric, not the coating, but the color had worn off the striped bag in some places. The one with the thick stripes was stiff, the other two were soft, possibly because the coating had worn down. The bag with the thin stripes was completely smashed when I got it. I got it for $5. It was totally worth rehabbing. It came out better than I imagined, and I was fairly new to rehabbing at the time.

Here is another I returned. You can see some wear in the lower right corner. It kind of looks like the color might be on the coating since it is white in the lines of wear.

 

[cowgirlsboots]

The second pair of retail therapy shoes I bought the other week arrived- and they are gorgeous! Exactly what I love and comfy, too. After searching for ages I now have my "Dorothy shoes". They are John Galliano, obviously from some time ago. Very well made, as nicely made as Dior shoes, I´d say.

 

[BowieFan1971]

Now I just have to ask: how does dunking work, please? Are the bags dunked in some solvent or just water? So far I´ve always scrubbed with acetone until all coating and excess original colour was gone and then "sanded" with a magic sponge or very fine sandpaper if needed to open the surface a little and get rid of irremovable colour leftovers.

Dunking is basically soaking in a sink full of water with dish soap in it and sometimes white vinegar. Then you stuff it and let it dry, then apply coats of conditioner. Never done it myself.

 

[whateve]

Now I just have to ask: how does dunking work, please? Are the bags dunked in some solvent or just water? So far I´ve always scrubbed with acetone until all coating and excess original colour was gone and then "sanded" with a magic sponge or very fine sandpaper if needed to open the surface a little and get rid of irremovable colour leftovers.

In the Coach rehab club thread, dunking means warm soapy water. Most of us use dish soap. Some use a leather cleaner. Some add vinegar to the rinse. We scrub gently, often leaving the bag in the water for 20 minutes so all parts get saturated. Then rinse really well, blot with towels, and lay out to dry. I usually use a towel to prop it open to help it dry, then before it is completely dry, stuff with towels to get it in the shape I want it to dry. When it is nearly dry, start putting on conditioner.

Sometimes we will use acetone too, if there is paint we need to get rid of, but then we dunk after that to remove the drying effects of the acetone.

The complete saturation of the leather helps open up the pores of the leather and make it more receptive to absorbing conditioner. Coach originally used to include a care sheet that mentioned washing your bag with a mild soap. I would hesitate doing this with any other brand of bag unless they were made of minimally processed leather like vintage Coach.

 

[BowieFan1971]

It might vary depending on when it was made. The two I had in poor condition were older and had the color on the fabric, not the coating, but the color had worn off the striped bag in some places. The one with the thick stripes was stiff, the other two were soft, possibly because the coating had worn down. The bag with the thin stripes was completely smashed when I got it. I got it for $5. It was totally worth rehabbing. It came out better than I imagined, and I was fairly new to rehabbing at the time.

Here is another I returned. You can see some wear in the lower right corner. It kind of looks like the color might be on the coating since it is white in the lines of wear.

Hmmm...pics of ones I have looked at had creases that were white-ish, leading me to think it is a coating. I may get a bag for $30 that needs some work and see what the story is...

 

[Purses & Perfumes]

Btw, I received a gift, a Coach Mercer. In oxblood. While I like this Coach style, I have also a beloved Mulberry Small Zipped Bayswater in oxblood! Not exactly the same shape, but fairly close style. But the gift is not something I can return or ask for a replacement or give to somebody else, or much more sell. So I suppose I will keep it even if it’s some kind of a duplicate. What would you do?

If it's not possible to exchange the Mercer for the exact same bag in a different color, I would keep it. I have similar colors in my collection -- in fact, I tend to like black, brown, pink and navy blue bags so I have some color repetition but they all do get used and rotated.

Bag #6(?)
Vintage 1998 Speedy 25 to coordinate with the vintage Cartier scarf my SIL just sent as a Christmas gift. Picking up last minute groceries never looked so chic!View attachment 4937144

Very chic indeed! Love them both. The scarf is gorgeous. I am not a scarf person but if I hang out in this thread long enough and keep seeing lovely scarves like this one, I think I might just get tempted to start adding them to my wardrobe.

View attachment 4937212I dyed my Diego bucket a shade of yellow with fiebrings beige leather dye. It looks marigold to me!

today is my new 2jours!!! Just arrived.View attachment 4937213View attachment 4937214

merry Christmas!

That's a very pretty marigold shade! And I love the 2jours bag!

 

[cowgirlsboots]

In the Coach rehab club thread, dunking means warm soapy water. Most of us use dish soap. Some use a leather cleaner. Some add vinegar to the rinse. We scrub gently, often leaving the bag in the water for 20 minutes so all parts get saturated. Then rinse really well, blot with towels, and lay out to dry. I usually use a towel to prop it open to help it dry, then before it is completely dry, stuff with towels to get it in the shape I want it to dry. When it is nearly dry, start putting on conditioner.

Sometimes we will use acetone too, if there is paint we need to get rid of, but then we dunk after that to remove the drying effects of the acetone.

The complete saturation of the leather helps open up the pores of the leather and make it more receptive to absorbing conditioner. Coach originally used to include a care sheet that mentioned washing your bag with a mild soap. I would hesitate doing this with any other brand of bag unless they were made of minimally processed leather like vintage Coach.

Thank-you @BowieFan1971 and @whateve ! Something new learned today that might come handy in the future.

 

[Purses & Perfumes]

Wishing all of you Merry Christmas!

View attachment 4936879

We put up our Christmas tree this afternoon. It might not be a classic beauty, but it´s perfect to us: the tree came from our yard. It was growing out of a wall and would have had to be cut anyway. The baubles and lights came from a garbage pile at the curb years ago. Some old lady must have died or moved to an old peoples´home and all her "worthless" belongings ended at the curb- the baubles carefully packed in their original grey cardboard boxes.

Loved reading this, and I think it's so cool that your lovely tree came from your own yard. Such pretty baubles, and it's great that you were able to use them.

Merry Christmas! Happy Holidays to all. Wishing everyone the best in the year ahead!

 

[Purses & Perfumes]

Unfortunately, this bag is not faring well. Most of the yellow dye has come off, but some of it is stubbornly adhered to the leather. It just looks bad.
The bag itself has kept its shape and should be good to use after it dries. I'll either dye it black and let it go since I never liked it much, or I'll buy some Angelus dye in yellow and do the job correctly. I'll decide later.

I tried multi-quoting and wanted to add this message to my earlier post and it didn't work. Still need to figure out the mysteries of multi-quoting! Anyway, I wanted to say I hope you will be able to fix the bag and maybe try the yellow Angelus dye on it. Good luck!

 

[BowieFan1971]

It might vary depending on when it was made. The two I had in poor condition were older and had the color on the fabric, not the coating, but the color had worn off the striped bag in some places. The one with the thick stripes was stiff, the other two were soft, possibly because the coating had worn down. The bag with the thin stripes was completely smashed when I got it. I got it for $5. It was totally worth rehabbing. It came out better than I imagined, and I was fairly new to rehabbing at the time.

Here is another I returned. You can see some wear in the lower right corner. It kind of looks like the color might be on the coating since it is white in the lines of wear.

Well, I am going to give it a try...just bought this, my “new” $30 rehab bag. Hopefully it is not in rougher shape than I think, but all the pics in the listing are clear and in daylight...