I'm interested in the Willis bag. I've liked that bag for at least 12 years & have finally decided to bite the bullet & invest in a classic. I can remember black, navy , & british tan but was wondering if any other long time 'Coachies' can remember the original colors? I can remember seeing fakes of the classics, believe it or not, & don't want to get duped! TIA!
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Classic Coach Willis
- Thread starter jenniferelaine
- Start date
There are plenty of fake Willises, so be sure to have whatever you're interested in authenticated over at the Coach Shopping forum. As for colors, it all depends on the year. At various times there have been red, mahogany, light gray, taupe, camel, hunter green, olive green and others. Some were only available for a year or less.
^^ Yes, thats what I'm wanting -a classic from the 90s (funny to be calling the 90s classic! LOL). I think that bag first came on my radar around 98, 99 -I started working a retail job & all my coworkers had 'classic' Coaches. Out of all of them, I just fell in LOVE with the Willis. Of course, I was B-R-O-K-E & could only dream & by the time I had the $$ I'd moved on, but that bag always comes back to me.
Thanks for the info! The one I have my eye on is hunter green. It *seemed* like it should've been an original color at some point, but since I wasn't into greens back then, I probably wouldn't have paid it much attention!
The Hunter Green was mostly available in the mid-1990s. Mine is from 1996. At one time or another I've owned Willises in British Tan, Navy, Hunter, Cherry Red (you HAVE to get a red one!), Mahogany, Taupe, Gray, Federal Blue (like a light denim color) and Aubergine.
The last 2 were used in 2005 for the Chinese-made Willises, but the leather isn't quite up to Coach's 1990s standards - but the colors are gorgeous.
Bunny, I remember that listing - I was tempted by that one too.
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Thanks Hyacinth, I was pissed by the appearance (and seller has sold other things with stains since...) but after a good bath in the sink she's almost as good as new, save the color loss on the corners!
Yep, I have a purple Station Bag from 1993 that's waiting for a bath and conditioning. Same situation, and it also looked a lot better in the pics.
How can anyone own an expensive leather bag for so long and never lift a finger to take care of the leather? Sheesh!
Yeah, I'm definitely aiming for the mid-late 90s one. I remember buying my mom a Legacy Zip in early 2000 & the leather is just incredible. Nothing like my all-leather Coach I bought in Jan. Its nice; just not the Coach leather I remember. I've carried signature for a while & was REALLY surprised when I went back to leather. Hence, why I'm looking for vintage...
I bet Gray & Aubergine were something....
My 2 coworkers had Willis' in Navy & then my other coworker had the Janice's Legacy in this funky orange/earthtone color. Didn't care for the color, but could NOT stop feeling the leather!
Hyacinth you are making me drool! I have a Willis in what I think is British Tan, but I would love it in a few more colors too. I had not heard about Aubergine until today.
Coach also did Aubergine on the City Bag in 2005. Once in a great while you'll spot one on the Bay but they're hard to find. They may have done the Willis in Camel too, some of the light tan ones seem too light to be British Tan although there's been some variations in the B.Tan shades over the years.
So speaking of odd color Willis, (or we were 2 years ago)
I took a picture of this one with my BT Post Pouch because I think it's in the ball park for age and the creeds are identical. The Number on the Post Pouch is: 0062-325
I assume this makes the Willis about '93ish? I did compare hardware, measurements, etc., with my previously authenticated Willis, and it's all the same. (but please let me know if you see anything wrong with it!) I'm just curious if anyone has colors for any bags from 93 or so, I'm curious what the name for this color would be. The other camel bags I have are quite a bit newer, and quite a bit yellower, this is more of a "natural" leather color. I have only put one coat of Leather CPR on it because I didn't want to darken it before I took pix. It's in excellent shape, it might be a little dry but not too bad, the color is probably pretty true.
Anyway, I could be way off on my guesses for ages & colors of these bags, but they have enough similarities it seemed a good way to compare.
Here are some more pix:
I took a picture of this one with my BT Post Pouch because I think it's in the ball park for age and the creeds are identical. The Number on the Post Pouch is: 0062-325
I assume this makes the Willis about '93ish? I did compare hardware, measurements, etc., with my previously authenticated Willis, and it's all the same. (but please let me know if you see anything wrong with it!) I'm just curious if anyone has colors for any bags from 93 or so, I'm curious what the name for this color would be. The other camel bags I have are quite a bit newer, and quite a bit yellower, this is more of a "natural" leather color. I have only put one coat of Leather CPR on it because I didn't want to darken it before I took pix. It's in excellent shape, it might be a little dry but not too bad, the color is probably pretty true.
Anyway, I could be way off on my guesses for ages & colors of these bags, but they have enough similarities it seemed a good way to compare.
Here are some more pix: