2025 Resolution: Shopping my own Bag and SLG Collection

[papertiger]

Do wet want some new challenges in August?

How about wearing one non-black neutral per week (whatever is a neutral for you)

 

[cowgirlsboots]

Pre-loved v new

As you know I like both, but there are bags, particularly structured, that are hardy as their very vintage counterparts will testify if looked after correctly but somehow many people just trash their bags.

Hermes are often kept well because they were always expensive and venerated but other designer bags seem to be treated really thoughtlessly. I don't mind a little tiny 'flaw' but I deal with seeing past abuse. Some Gucci BTHs look sat on, some Dior LD look bowed from overstuffing. These handbags are not supposed to carry laptops and bottles of water and dogs.

I think it comes from past bag trauma -drama. Once upon a time I lent my small 'Biscotti' Gucci Horse-bit chain shoulder bag to a friend and it came back with a water mark along the bottom. The bag's not even big enough to hold a mini water bottle. She kept it for much longer than the even she asked to borrow it for. I literally went to collect it unannounced after getting repeated brush-offs and rescheduling. When she handed it to me back it was in the dust bag, she didn't even mention the damage to me, and when I inspected it and pointed it out, she said it was already like that. Later, I showed her a picture I took the day before she borrowed it, and she said "I hope we're not going to fall out about this". The leather is a pressed leather so there is nothing that would ever repair it. We have never spoken again. This was not a poor woman, and she had plenty of other bags. I would never lend a bag again. Gift, yes, lend, never.

Inspect everything when you but new or preloved. I have rejected scratched brand new bags (Selfridges/Harrods) to be told "it's that kind of leather" or "It's just surface" by SAs. Even my very expensive Georg Jensen ring had unexplained deep scratches on the underside of the shank - I only found out when I went to get it engraved (what caused it, a complete mystery).

In my work I have seen far too many pen and lipstick and goodness knows what marks inside, scratches and stretches, claw marks, brick-scrapings, paint marks, nail varnish, over-painting and using black biro to cover scuffs... Always be careful, there are usually reasons most people sell their bags

I fully agree!
Especially the low price segmemt of preloved is prone to have many more flaws than sellers chose to mention. At close inspection the reasons for selling often become very obvious.

As long as I stick to the bottom end of the price scale I am willing to take on challenges.
But only to a certain extent. The YSL Mombasa for example, that arrived covered in mold spots in all the places a quick wiping had not temporarily removed them, went back asap!

I'm feeling rage and totally feel for you about your former friend ruining the bag you lent her and her indecent attempt to get away with it.

 

[cowgirlsboots]

I looked after my Mother, whilst my Father went out yesterday, to give him a break, and next Wednesday is his birthday-he wants to go to a smart restaurant , so we are going somewhere nice to celebrate, sadly obviously my Mother can’t attend.

My hysteroscopy is booked for next Friday-I’m not looking forward to That!

I’ve done a little bit of shopping, nothing as nice as @papertiger

I’ve bought Sacai collab sneakers, and Skims pink striped cotton poplin camisole and boxer pyjamas

I’ve also been seeing my admirer..

Your purchases are lovely!
I'm sending you a big hug.

 

[textilegirl]

Thank you so much!

OOPs!

They are all sideways. Here it is the top way up (I hope)

View attachment 6177489

I think black and gold is classic. I tend to try to feel fashion rather than think it. I am absolutely fine with black and gold. Only last night I wondered where all my black and gold scarves went.

My mother gave me all her early '90s black and gold Chanel around 2000. I love black (even though strictly, it's not supposed to be my colour) and gold is good on me so long as it's not too strong actually as makeup on my face. High contrast is OK for me too. Red lip may look good(?).

Parures des Sables, like all the bejewelled scarf designs work for evening or 'ironically' for day dressed down. Maybe I'll wear it today and take a mod shot.

The blue (same style) as a whole looked better with my colouring, but actually, that looked a 'tired' and fussy in terms of the design See below. the design (Festival des Amazones) on a scarf (same cw) is a bit 'blobby' on me. They didn't look like saddles. I think because the whole belly was highlighted and the sleeves were blue (obviously dry cleaned quite a few times). If it were half (pre-loved) market value I may have just chucked it in the pile too. Because my contact is on the top-ish-end it forces me to choose and just go with the best.

View attachment 6177490

I even left the blouse and another top that went with my new Hermes silk skirt. That was total restraint. Strangely the blouse was a fr40 (UK 12) and the skirt and other top a fr38 (UK10). Such a shame because the colour is my perfect corral.

Totally the right choice to go with Parures over Festival and in my mind these two examples illustrate the discipline I think is needed when shopping/curating one’s own or another’s closet. Some vintage pieces are going to be more dated-looking than others, or at least a real challenge to style, and those are the ones I try to edit out/avoid because I prefer not to have to work hard at getting dressed. A convo for another thread perhaps, but I just don’t think Festival is that strong a design, even when in some super cws. Yup, blobby!

Closet Clean Out: two bags off to consignment, one about to be gifted to a dear friend!

 

[cowgirlsboots]

Apart from my new H casmere, these are my latest vintage additions

Hermès Twillaine sweater (I resisted buying the blue too !!!)
Gucci 1970s (Stivali da equitazione)
Two Cartier (blue-purple 1990s and pink jacquard is probably 1980s)

That's it now. I'm off to sell a few more unloved/unworn rings this week - coz I think I overdid vintage spending this month. In many ways I think my scarves are like jewellery - but 'jewellery' I wear.

View attachment 6177444View attachment 6177445View attachment 6177446

Glorious finds! So lush!

 

[cecchetti]

Thank you! My daughter had a lovely registry office wedding. It was rainy and cold, but she and her husband had such a happy glow to them, that the weather didn't matter at all.

I wore my " cooler weather option" which I was glad I had prepared.
View attachment 6177607

The bag of the day didn't fulfil the May challenge: black, not a spring colour...

View attachment 6177608

I didn't want to get my pony Dior Diva bag and shoes all wet and muddy, so I opted for the black Diva and D&G heels.

You looked beautiful !❤️

 

[cowgirlsboots]

You looked beautiful !❤️

Thank you!
After all the panic I had about my appearance including a make up battle in the morning and my hair acting up, I actually was happy with myself the whole day. Everything fell into place. I realized that I had driven myself crazy for perfection while being there and in the moment was all that counted.
I even didn't give a damn about getting my heel stuck in the cobble stones. ( Already repaired it.) Much younger and lots more stylish girls had trouble walking, too or had dress malfunctions. Nobody was laughed about. Everybody had a good time.

 

[Claudia Herzog]

Once upon a time, a co-worker said while shaking her head wryly at me, "Oh Claudia. It takes a certain kind of person to wear rhinestones on the special occasion of 'it's Tuesday.'" I don't ever want to wait for a special occasion to enjoy my bling, and I have to wear all my sparklies during the daytime because I've never been a nightlife sort of person. Thus I carried this purple metallic Massaccesi Phoebe to my place of religious practice this weekend.

 

[whateve]

Thank you! My daughter had a lovely registry office wedding. It was rainy and cold, but she and her husband had such a happy glow to them, that the weather didn't matter at all.

I wore my " cooler weather option" which I was glad I had prepared.
View attachment 6177607

The bag of the day didn't fulfil the May challenge: black, not a spring colour...

View attachment 6177608

I didn't want to get my pony Dior Diva bag and shoes all wet and muddy, so I opted for the black Diva and D&G heels.

You look gorgeous!

 

[cowgirlsboots]

Once upon a time, a co-worker said while shaking her head wryly at me, "Oh Claudia. It takes a certain kind of person to wear rhinestones on the special occasion of 'it's Tuesday.'" I don't ever want to wait for a special occasion to enjoy my bling, and I have to wear all my sparklies during the daytime because I've never been a nightlife sort of person. Thus I carried this purple metallic Massaccesi Phoebe to my place of religious practice this weekend.

I love your attitude! The sparkly bag is gorgeous!

 

[whateve]

Apart from my new H casmere, these are my latest vintage additions

Hermès Twillaine sweater (I resisted buying the blue too !!!)
Gucci 1970s (Stivali da equitazione)
Two Cartier (blue-purple 1990s and pink jacquard is probably 1980s)

That's it now. I'm off to sell a few more unloved/unworn rings this week - coz I think I overdid vintage spending this month. In many ways I think my scarves are like jewellery - but 'jewellery' I wear.

View attachment 6177444View attachment 6177445View attachment 6177446

When I first got married, we lived in Saudi Arabia and were there when they opened the first Gucci store in Riyadh. All the women at our compound were invited to the grand opening and they gave each of us a boot scarf. This was 1983.

The blouse is gorgeous! I love the Cartier scarves too.

 

[whateve]

I looked after my Mother, whilst my Father went out yesterday, to give him a break, and next Wednesday is his birthday-he wants to go to a smart restaurant , so we are going somewhere nice to celebrate, sadly obviously my Mother can’t attend.

My hysteroscopy is booked for next Friday-I’m not looking forward to That!

I’ve done a little bit of shopping, nothing as nice as @papertiger

I’ve bought Sacai collab sneakers, and Skims pink striped cotton poplin camisole and boxer pyjamas

I’ve also been seeing my admirer..

I hope your medical procedure has good results and you won't need surgery.

 

[whateve]

Once upon a time, a co-worker said while shaking her head wryly at me, "Oh Claudia. It takes a certain kind of person to wear rhinestones on the special occasion of 'it's Tuesday.'" I don't ever want to wait for a special occasion to enjoy my bling, and I have to wear all my sparklies during the daytime because I've never been a nightlife sort of person. Thus I carried this purple metallic Massaccesi Phoebe to my place of religious practice this weekend.

I'm offended for you about that co-worker. You should have told her that you feel sorry for her that she isn't that sort of person. I'm not a nightlife person either and I love sparkly things, so I enjoy them during the day.

 

[whateve]

Pre-loved v new

As you know I like both, but there are bags, particularly structured, that are hardy as their very vintage counterparts will testify if looked after correctly but somehow many people just trash their bags.

Hermes are often kept well because they were always expensive and venerated but other designer bags seem to be treated really thoughtlessly. I don't mind a little tiny 'flaw' but I deal with seeing past abuse. Some Gucci BTHs look sat on, some Dior LD look bowed from overstuffing. These handbags are not supposed to carry laptops and bottles of water and dogs.

I think it comes from past bag trauma -drama. Once upon a time I lent my small 'Biscotti' Gucci Horse-bit chain shoulder bag to a friend and it came back with a water mark along the bottom. The bag's not even big enough to hold a mini water bottle. She kept it for much longer than the even she asked to borrow it for. I literally went to collect it unannounced after getting repeated brush-offs and rescheduling. When she handed it to me back it was in the dust bag, she didn't even mention the damage to me, and when I inspected it and pointed it out, she said it was already like that. Later, I showed her a picture I took the day before she borrowed it, and she said "I hope we're not going to fall out about this". The leather is a pressed leather so there is nothing that would ever repair it. We have never spoken again. This was not a poor woman, and she had plenty of other bags. I would never lend a bag again. Gift, yes, lend, never.

Inspect everything when you but new or preloved. I have rejected scratched brand new bags (Selfridges/Harrods) to be told "it's that kind of leather" or "It's just surface" by SAs. Even my very expensive Georg Jensen ring had unexplained deep scratches on the underside of the shank - I only found out when I went to get it engraved (what caused it, a complete mystery).

In my work I have seen far too many pen and lipstick and goodness knows what marks inside, scratches and stretches, claw marks, brick-scrapings, paint marks, nail varnish, over-painting and using black biro to cover scuffs... Always be careful, there are usually reasons most people sell their bags.

It makes me so sad that your friend was so careless with your purse and then lied about it!

I'm not super talented in designing like @cowgirlsboots but once when my daughter was a teenager, I designed and made a dress for her. I was very proud of it. I was accomplished at sewing but had never made my own pattern before. My daughter loaned it to a friend, who didn't give it back. My daughter asked for it many times. I don't remember how much time it took but when we got it back, it was torn.

 

[papertiger]

When I first got married, we lived in Saudi Arabia and were there when they opened the first Gucci store in Riyadh. All the women at our compound were invited to the grand opening and they gave each of us a boot scarf. This was 1983.

The blouse is gorgeous! I love the Cartier scarves too.

Wow, that's amazing, thank you sharing that story! Do you still have the scarf?

I know Jackie O wore hers very often (different colour). Frida reissued them for Cruise around 2006/7

Jackie O 1976


Gucci Cruise '00s



Thank you for the vote of confidence on the blouse. I wasn't brave enough to wear it today to the supermarket (I have to go by the beach with hundreds of people for bank holiday weekend.

I saw the pink Cartier last time and thought it too much my mother's colour. Then I regretted leaving it. I found the perfect vintage maxi skirt to wear with it.

 

[papertiger]

Once upon a time, a co-worker said while shaking her head wryly at me, "Oh Claudia. It takes a certain kind of person to wear rhinestones on the special occasion of 'it's Tuesday.'" I don't ever want to wait for a special occasion to enjoy my bling, and I have to wear all my sparklies during the daytime because I've never been a nightlife sort of person. Thus I carried this purple metallic Massaccesi Phoebe to my place of religious practice this weekend.

Sparkle away!