Screw the new bags- oldies anyone?!?

Here are pretty good comparison pics depicting the difference in leather between 04 marron and 07 mahogany.
 

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Can't agree with you, babybean :nogood:. Granted, I'm a huge fan of the old leather and colors and have a robust collection of 04s and 05s thats I love dearly. I still prefer black from 03-05 to anything later. I've also noticed that much of the old leather seems so evenly and perfectly dyed, as though they came that way from red, blue, pink, and green goats (yes, I still believe they're goat and don't entirely buy the story about the whole thing being one gigantic typo).

But F/W 07 is my favorite Bal season of all time, both in terms of the leather quality and overall hit factor of the colors. Cinnamon, Sienna, Steel, Violet, Jaune, Ivory, Pine, Vert Fonce, Tomato. My goodness!! There is no other season that's gotten under my skin as thoroughly as F/W 07. And the leather has been consistently off the charts yummy and seriously drool inducing. I prefer Jaune to 04 Marigold, Violet to Eggplant, Cinnamon to 05 Chocolate, Steel to 04 or 05 Grays, and Vert Fonce to 05 Olive.

But I do admit that 04 Turq blows any of the newer blues out of the water :yes:. sunspark, hand it over!
 
But I do admit that 04 Turq blows any of the newer blues out of the water :yes:. sunspark, hand it over!

I agree, that bag is just TDF gorgeous. Sunspark your collection is fabulous! Like almost everyone else I disagree that ALL newer bags are disappointing. I have many from '07 that are fabulous. My Sandstone, Rouge VIF and Mastic rival any '04 or '05 bag. My f/w '06 white is super soft and smooshy. It all depends on waiting until you find that one yummy bag, no matter what the year is.

Babybean post pictures of your older collection. I would love to see them. Pictures of bags are always appreciated on here.
 
Can't agree with you, babybean :nogood:.

But F/W 07 is my favorite Bal season of all time, both in terms of the leather quality and overall hit factor of the colors. Cinnamon, Sienna, Steel, Violet, Jaune, Ivory, Pine, Vert Fonce, Tomato. My goodness!! There is no other season that's gotten under my skin as thoroughly as F/W 07. And the leather has been consistently off the charts yummy and seriously drool inducing. quote]

Couldn't agree more. I've had bags from 05 to 07, and I have to say 07 IMHO has been the best.:girlsigh:
 
I had an interesting conversation with an SA in Barneys NYC today. I went in and there were all of these darker colored bags there weren't there last week. But I knew they weren't S/S 08 bags, and they didn't even look like F/W 07 bags. I asked him what the colors were, and he said Camel and another brown, (can't remember). He said that he just got them in, they are "re-issues"? When they ordered from Balenciaga, they asked for more colors and they sent them.

What I didn't think to ask was were they just older bags that they found in a warehouse somewhere or are they 2007 or 2008 bags just in older colors? I will go back and check out the tags when I get a chance.

Has anyone else ever heard this? He is a "Bal Specialist" and I've known him for a while, I don't think he'd lie, why would he?
 
Yeah, when the early bags were good, they were GOOD! But I have seen so much variation in leathers that I wouldn't rule out any year. I had a magenta 05 that was so thin and crinkly it couldn't hold a candle to even the 08 bags. I've also seen 01 or 02 flat brass bags that were thin and marbly. There were good and bad with almost every season but I do agree that even the best of 07 can't compete with the best of 05!
 
I see the appeal now in both. I personally though have to say that I prefer older leathers because they just have that older vintagey feel and look to them that I love.

This 05 black weekender that I had illustrates exactly what I mean by that old vintage leather look and draping:

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but I now have a couple of 07's with GGH and I have to say that the sandstone (pic below) is a good enough compromise for me and based on seeing a couple of women in NY with 07's that look like they've been worn to death; the glaze eventually wears off, the leather stretches out and the bag's leather actually assumes an older look which I quite liked.

Mine still has that glaze or new sheen but with wear, that will come off and it will be interesting to see how it looks but I think there's a place for both new and old now based on the 07's that I've seen with a nice leather (not all, but a enough):

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but I now have a couple of 07's with GGH and I have to say that the sandstone is a good enough compromise for me and based on seeing a couple of women in NY with 07's that look like they've been worn to death; the glaze eventually wears off, the leather stretches out and the bag's leather actually assumes an older look which I quite liked.

I agree:tup:
IMO, the leather of GH seems to be thicker than RH, it might be because the hardware is heavier so, it need a thicker leather to make its durable.
Here is my Broke-in Black 07 GGH
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I am not particular when it comes to leathers, but I am picky about colours. I have to agree with the OP that 04-05 have some of the best colours! I love the 04 Marigold, Rose and Eggplant, in particular – the 07 Jaune and Violet do not come close to those shades, and I have seen nothing that even vaguely resembles 04 Rose.

From 05, I love Rouge Theatre, Caramel and Teal. I was hoping some of the neutral shades from 07 would be close to Caramel, but ended up still buying 05 Caramel, because there is nothing like it!

I have paid crazy premiums over retail to get those 04-05 colours, especially during 06 to early 07, and it still makes me wince when I see the same bags going for much less in the past few months. But I am just not excited about the new colours anymore :sad: