Thankful for the Chanel of yesteryears

[Lola24]

In light of all of the ongoing significant price increases I find myself slightly depressed at the fact that walking into the store to buy a brand new "full size" Chanel bag is just not exciting to me to consider anymore. I glance at them but I don't even allow for room to consider a purchase because I can't justify the price anymore. I'll look at and consider purchasing SLG's, shoes, cosmetics, accessories etc. But I just can't swallow the on average 5K plus price tag for most new bags. Could I swing it without going into debt if wanted it, sure, but do I want to is the question and the answer is just NO . So with that today I'm pulling some of my flap bags out to check/air out, condition, make sure are being stored nicely in their cabinets etc. and I decided to take a group shot of a Chanel investment of "yesteryears". This is not my entire collection, and actually only two were purchased brand new. I own 8 additional Chanel bags all purchased new and multiple SLG's etc... but these are the bags I pulled out to clean today which lead me to add up what I paid for them, ( I keep a list) when I came up with a total of $5,000 I was kind of in shock considering I can't get one bag for that anymore (well a WOC for a little more that half that). It also made me feel very thankful for what I have and very happy I put the effort into procuring these when I did and taking care of them as I have. The 227 reissue was actually a project bag, it grew up in a humid area (and still lives in one) but the original owners didn't care for her, the leather interior was completely destroyed, so I cleaned it all up and put an insert in, the outer leather is still amazing and it's a great work horse of a bag, while of course the re-sale isn't there it looks amazing to me still and is very useful.. Anyway, I'm sure there are many more of us out there who have a great Chanel collection without the investment that is required today and I appreciated realizing that. I found myself very thankful for what I have from the past, rather than upset by the fact that I likely will not allow myself to go for another one at the new price tags...

 

[ChanelCanuck]

In light of all of the ongoing significant price increases I find myself slightly depressed at the fact that walking into the store to buy a brand new "full size" Chanel bag is just not exciting to me to consider anymore. I glance at them but I don't even allow for room to consider a purchase because I can't justify the price anymore. I'll look at and consider purchasing SLG's, shoes, cosmetics, accessories etc. But I just can't swallow the on average 5K plus price tag for most new bags. Could I swing it without going into debt if wanted it, sure, but do I want to is the question and the answer is just NO . So with that today I'm pulling some of my flap bags out to check/air out, condition, make sure are being stored nicely in their cabinets etc. and I decided to take a group shot of a Chanel investment of "yesteryears". This is not my entire collection, and actually only two were purchased brand new. I own 8 additional Chanel bags all purchased new and multiple SLG's etc... but these are the bags I pulled out to clean today which lead me to add up what I paid for them, ( I keep a list) when I came up with a total of $5,000 I was kind of in shock considering I can't get one bag for that anymore (well a WOC for a little more that half that). It also made me feel very thankful for what I have and very happy I put the effort into procuring these when I did and taking care of them as I have. The 227 reissue was actually a project bag, it grew up in a humid area (and still lives in one) but the original owners didn't care for her, the leather interior was completely destroyed, so I cleaned it all up and put an insert in, the outer leather is still amazing and it's a great work horse of a bag, while of course the re-sale isn't there it looks amazing to me still and is very useful.. Anyway, I'm sure there are many more of us out there who have a great Chanel collection without the investment that is required today and I appreciated realizing that. I found myself very thankful for what I have from the past, rather than upset by the fact that I likely will not allow myself to go for another one at the new price tags...

Whoa, congrats on those! $5k for those five bags? You'd be hardpressed to get both CFs for that! I think I've officially obtained classic design purse peace with my Chanel collection and I'll likely not be buying anymore classics in boutique anymore. Will be waiting for seasonals to go onto the pre-loved market to keep on collecting!

 

[Venessa84]

I would love to see your whole collection! The pieces you posted are classic beauties and I’d be happy with this collection. You did a great job with your Chanel collection.

 

[Lola24]

Thank you! My other 4 favorites in my collection are my white PST, dark brown PST, my very first Chanel piece/a pink caviar chain pouchette and then my orange patent flap clutch with chain (which is one of the best bags and I'm SO sorry I didn't grab a basic caviar one at the time they were around too, what a great size, fits more than a medium flap and super versatile). Then I round out with a few clutches and tote bag from the short lived travel line which has been very useful over the years... I have wanted a medium caviar flap in a great saturated color like turquoise from a few seasons or so back and a square mini caviar flap in beige but I could never bite the bullet on the price tags these days considering all the bags I have and the fact that I am in Hawaii where a lot of my collection aside from SLG's actually gets neglected in lieu of my vast collection of hello kitty tote bags lol! I'd maybe bite on a turquoise WOC, but with the giant phones of today I find that I barely use the WOC I already have and instead reach for the east west or the vintage square flap so why spend close to 3 k on another WOC... keep debating on that one though.

I know a lot of people talk about jumping over to Hermes due to price increases and I agree they are two different animals, not everyone will just jump over as the pricing becomes more closely aligned.... but since I appreciate both very much I feel if I wind up in a 6 K and over price range at this point I'm going to go Hermes, never mind the fact that some Hermes bags I adore are still under 5k like the garden party, evelyn, herbag, and the newer Kelly to go. I barely buy bags anymore, but last year I got an Evelyne TPM, such a small simple bag, but less than 2 k and wow the color I got, I have gotten so many compliments on that little bag, and heard so many people comment on it when I wear it.... I own 2 hermes bags and multiple accessories, the quality is truly impeccable and something I'm interested in attaining more of if I can.