Coach Rehab and Rescue Club

[MaraudingMagpie]

@whateve
After lots of hemming and hawing, I decided to go for the green Mitchell with the oddly too-wide D-rings. I had regretted not getting it before and wanted to avoid another round of regret. I felt a surge of happiness unwrapping her today, so good decision, I think! No import tax on this one either, I'm starting to get suspicious. Maybe I'll get an angry letter from the German equivalent of the IRS in a couple months.
The D-rings don't seem to pose a problem. The leather is thick and everything feels tight and structurally sound.
Here's my first contribution to 'stuff I found in my vintage Coach bag', a wad of giftwrapping paper with glittery gold dots. I don't think it was meant as stuffing as it is too little to have a cushioning effect. Entirely unremarkable if not for the fact that every inch of the inside of my new old bag is now covered in gold glitter, lol.

 

[MaraudingMagpie]

Got my court today...its neither red nor brown...wondering if its burgandy.
Will take a picture in the morning when the light is better and see what the experts say.

Sounds pretty!

 

[houseof999]

Straps and hangtags, why do people remove them and lose them?!

It's one of my peeves. The most annoying one is when they alter the strap by cutting!

 

[Minchanka]

I store my bags in dustbags and if I don't' want to wear the strap I just leave it in the dustbag so it is there waiting, along with the tissue stuffing, when I put the bag away.

Me too. But I used to work as a cleaning lady, so I have some idea of what an “average” woman’s closet looks like. It’s a rare one that does not have a mystery pile somewhere within it... that’s where the orphaned straps, belts, etc go.

 

[MrsGAM]

Finished my Large Daypack! The bag was seriously squished on arrival, but otherwise in good condition. Just needed a bath, reshaping, and conditioning.


The listing said this was black, but now that it’s dry, I am suspecting Dark Grey (which is a color I found in one of my late 90s or early 2000s catalogs). Comparison shot with my black Quincy:

Size comparison with my Mahogany Daypack:

Edit to add this was made in 2000. Also adding a picture from the 2001 Holiday catalog that shows Dark Grey (the Willis).

 

[MaraudingMagpie]

My little gold bar is all finished and ready to say hi! At least her body is, the strap is a different story.
The bag was extremely dry and hiding it well under patina. See how glossy the back of the bag looks in the listing photo - no product, just patina. I think it was high time someone rescued her, another couple of months would probably have finished her off.
After her dunk, she got a gazillion coats of CPR which gave her a bit of a tan camouflage appearance that changed with every coat. As a final step, I sat my metal tin of Elephant leather preserver in the sun to soften it and basically ladled a whole glob of it onto the bag and buffed that in. Its primary job as per the label is to prevent cracking. This step made a huge difference in evening out the color and taking her a step closer to butteriness.
You can still see the ghost of the outlines of her stains, but I'm very pleased with the outcome, this is exactly the aesthetic I had in mind for her. You see she's a vintage bag but one that has been properly cared for.

The strap is another story. It cracked on me after the dunk. I debated filling the cracks with liquid leather, but don't think that would have been a permanent solution. I also debated salvaging the clips and making a colorful paracord macramé strap myself. In the end, I decided that I love the double spaghetti strap and want to have it professionally saved.
Today I took the strap to a saddlery run by a dad and his daughter. The daughter is an apprentice bag maker and will have a bunch of exams over the next weeks that are a priority, so it might take a loooong time before I can carry her. In the meantime, here's some before and afters, plus bonus color comparison with Miss BT Manor. First two befores are from seller.

 

[katev]

Finished my Large Daypack! The bag was seriously squished on arrival, but otherwise in good condition. Just needed a bath, reshaping, and conditioning.
View attachment 4746122
View attachment 4746123
The listing said this was black, but now that it’s dry, I am suspecting Dark Grey (which is a color I found in one of my late 90s or early 2000s catalogs). Comparison shot with my black Quincy:
View attachment 4746126
Size comparison with my Mahogany Daypack:
View attachment 4746129
Edit to add this was made in 2000. Also adding a picture from the 2001 Holiday catalog that shows Dark Grey (the Willis).
View attachment 4746141

Beautiful, and thank you for the comparison shots with the small Daypack, it's very helpful.

 

[katev]

My little gold bar is all finished and ready to say hi! At least her body is, the strap is a different story.
The bag was extremely dry and hiding it well under patina. See how glossy the back of the bag looks in the listing photo - no product, just patina. I think it was high time someone rescued her, another couple of months would probably have finished her off.
After her dunk, she got a gazillion coats of CPR which gave her a bit of a tan camouflage appearance that changed with every coat. As a final step, I sat my metal tin of Elephant leather preserver in the sun to soften it and basically ladled a whole glob of it onto the bag and buffed that in. Its primary job as per the label is to prevent cracking. This step made a huge difference in evening out the color and taking her a step closer to butteriness.
You can still see the ghost of the outlines of her stains, but I'm very pleased with the outcome, this is exactly the aesthetic I had in mind for her. You see she's a vintage bag but one that has been properly cared for.

The strap is another story. It cracked on me after the dunk. I debated filling the cracks with liquid leather, but don't think that would have been a permanent solution. I also debated salvaging the clips and making a colorful paracord macramé strap myself. In the end, I decided that I love the double spaghetti strap and want to have it professionally saved.
Today I took the strap to a saddlery run by a dad and his daughter. The daughter is an apprentice bag maker and will have a bunch of exams over the next weeks that are a priority, so it might take a loooong time before I can carry her. In the meantime, here's some before and afters, plus bonus color comparison with Miss BT Manor. First two befores are from seller.

The bag looks gorgeous and I think you were wise to take the strap to a professional; I look forward to seeing the results!

 

[aerinha]

My little gold bar is all finished and ready to say hi! At least her body is, the strap is a different story.
The bag was extremely dry and hiding it well under patina. See how glossy the back of the bag looks in the listing photo - no product, just patina. I think it was high time someone rescued her, another couple of months would probably have finished her off.
After her dunk, she got a gazillion coats of CPR which gave her a bit of a tan camouflage appearance that changed with every coat. As a final step, I sat my metal tin of Elephant leather preserver in the sun to soften it and basically ladled a whole glob of it onto the bag and buffed that in. Its primary job as per the label is to prevent cracking. This step made a huge difference in evening out the color and taking her a step closer to butteriness.
You can still see the ghost of the outlines of her stains, but I'm very pleased with the outcome, this is exactly the aesthetic I had in mind for her. You see she's a vintage bag but one that has been properly cared for.

The strap is another story. It cracked on me after the dunk. I debated filling the cracks with liquid leather, but don't think that would have been a permanent solution. I also debated salvaging the clips and making a colorful paracord macramé strap myself. In the end, I decided that I love the double spaghetti strap and want to have it professionally saved.
Today I took the strap to a saddlery run by a dad and his daughter. The daughter is an apprentice bag maker and will have a bunch of exams over the next weeks that are a priority, so it might take a loooong time before I can carry her. In the meantime, here's some before and afters, plus bonus color comparison with Miss BT Manor. First two befores are from seller.

That came out beautifully

 

[MaraudingMagpie]

The bag looks gorgeous and I think you were wise to take the strap to a professional; I look forward to seeing the results!

That came out beautifully

Thanks! I'm already impatient to get the strap back two hours in, it's going to be a long wait. I'll definitely post repair pics. I told the lady that I'm not aiming for cosmetic perfection but rather for structurally sound and safe for load-bearing.

The idea is to glue a flexible piece of lambskin around the area with the small multiple cracks and sew it together so the seam doesn't run through the strap, but next to it. Basically creating a tight tube around one of the spaghettis to patch up and reinforce the troubled area, glued in place so it doesn't slide. I hope I'm making sense, lol.

 

[MrsGAM]

The missing strap is what's holding me back also; it's a shame.

The seller just lowered the price and you can get $3.99 shipping if you buy in the next 6 hours! Not getting it myself unless she goes down another 20+ dollars.

 

[Coachaddict4020]

I used a q-tip with Brasso on the verdigris crusted zipper of a marketing tote I sold a few months ago. I put a plastic sandwich baggie under the zippper to protect the leather and scrubbed away with the q-tip. It worked really well!

I tried chipping away at it and using a tooth brush but it just wasn’t budging. I had some brasso so I tried that and it really just melted right off! Unbelievable how well the brasso worked. Thank you so much for your response!!

 

[Narnanz]

My little gold bar is all finished and ready to say hi! At least her body is, the strap is a different story.
The bag was extremely dry and hiding it well under patina. See how glossy the back of the bag looks in the listing photo - no product, just patina. I think it was high time someone rescued her, another couple of months would probably have finished her off.
After her dunk, she got a gazillion coats of CPR which gave her a bit of a tan camouflage appearance that changed with every coat. As a final step, I sat my metal tin of Elephant leather preserver in the sun to soften it and basically ladled a whole glob of it onto the bag and buffed that in. Its primary job as per the label is to prevent cracking. This step made a huge difference in evening out the color and taking her a step closer to butteriness.
You can still see the ghost of the outlines of her stains, but I'm very pleased with the outcome, this is exactly the aesthetic I had in mind for her. You see she's a vintage bag but one that has been properly cared for.

The strap is another story. It cracked on me after the dunk. I debated filling the cracks with liquid leather, but don't think that would have been a permanent solution. I also debated salvaging the clips and making a colorful paracord macramé strap myself. In the end, I decided that I love the double spaghetti strap and want to have it professionally saved.
Today I took the strap to a saddlery run by a dad and his daughter. The daughter is an apprentice bag maker and will have a bunch of exams over the next weeks that are a priority, so it might take a loooong time before I can carry her. In the meantime, here's some before and afters, plus bonus color comparison with Miss BT Manor. First two befores are from seller.

That colour is warm and inviting...shre looks great.

 

[MPA28]

My daughter ordered it from the Bath and Body Works website. They have some cute ones when you can catch them in stock. We stalk that page everyday hoping to catch some hand sanitizer lol. So far early mornings seem to be best.

Thanks so much...looks like I'll be doing some stalking myself !

 

[Coachaddict4020]

I can see a hangtag getting lost, if you catch the chain on something and snap it, but I never get how you lose a strap on a style that needs it.

Sometimes if the bag is thrifted, the strap will be missing because someone stumbled upon the bag and decided to take the strap but leave the bag. Its a head scratcher for sure though, I always store my straps inside my bags