Vintage Coach Photos & Chat

[whateve]

I only have the Chicago hangtag. Looking forward to getting more of them!

Ha! Yes I get it about the joining! But I do like joined blankets because of the portability so I usually have one going in a to go bag so I have a project to take along with me, and the stripey grow as you go type are left at home once they get too large to fit in a tote bag.

I like the designs from Attic 24, require just the right amount of concentration without becoming frustrating. And then there’s the times I just want completely mindless, repetitive, soothing crochet and that’s when I do the giant granny square blanket pattern.

Yarn is one of my several vices, I just love really nice yarn. I figure if I’m gonna spend many hours making a blanket or socks for myself it’s going to be cashmere or merino. Unfortunately yarn doesn’t have the resale value that bags, jewelry and art do so I gotta use it up!

Maybe we should make little granny square bag charms?

Yarn is a vice for me too! I keep buying more even though I have boxes that need to be used up. I learned to use quality a long time ago. There is nothing worse than putting in countless hours making something and then to have it pill.

I used to be a lot better at everything. Years ago I made lots of cute animals, what is called amigurumi, but they seem too complicated for me to make now. I think they would have made great bag charms.

 

[Lake Effect]

Does anyone know what Grabutan leather is ? The Japanese sellers have been using that term lately.

Pardon Our Interruption...

aarrgh I keep loosing this thread

Weird. I found this single reference in a Japanese article that’s either AI or auto-translated or both (as indicated by faintly hilarious title)… https://fashion-trend.net/en/2021/0...port-regardless-of-sex-beyond-the-generation/

Maybe an mis-word has been picked up to try to sell as a reference to the earliest Coach leathers? Just theorizing…

The first thing that popped into my head was, are they attempting ‘glove tanned’ ??

P.S. don’t mind me popping in with all kinds of late posts. Had to take some time off.

 

[Lake Effect]

Part 2 of NYC Classic Pouch (9170) color bingo….

AFTER

Bath water bleed was orange. Fresh from bath she was completely Dark Chocolate brown.

She’s had a lukewarm blue Dawn bath with gentle scrub and around 8 coats of CPR with buffing in between some. Nothing else. Though I plan to Black Rock or Renapur. I started CPR (😂) when fully blotted but still quite damp-wet bc she was soooo dry and completely covered in deep scuffs — much worse than visible in before pics.

IRL, leather is now a beautiful dark brown with red undertones, though the ruff looks cooler brown. I think outside too warm to be Mocha…

I was convinced she’s mahogany (which I think is beautiful and underrated!) and this bag did come in that color. Buuut, she’s NYC, the switch to “Made in USA” happened in 1988, maybe ‘89, after Miami opened and the first Mahogany I can find in catalogs was Holiday ‘88. So not impossible but really threading the needle. Classic Pouch came in all ten original 80s catalog colors… 1981 colors attached below for reference…the hangtag is from a different bag, in BT…

Curious to hear views!!

ETA: Last pic is hanging between Black and Saddle.

I do what you have done and try and estimate when it was made first and then narrow down in the catalogs. I lean toward Mocha. You’ll know BT. I have BT all the way from NYC to the late-ish 90’s. It’s surpringly consistent.
Eta and the Pouch looks fabulous!

 

[Lake Effect]

🤯

Used Sky Blue Coach Purse

shopgoodwill.com

What a shame! It's fake!

Okay, prices are still insane and the fakes are as bad as ever.

 

[Lake Effect]

Any help for this color question? Is this British tan? or something else? The bag style: 9853. Originally came in Black, British Tan, Burgundy, Forest Green, Mahogany, Navy, Red, Tabac.

View attachment 6107571

I lean towards tabac only because I was disappointed that after dunking and conditioning a Plaza that I thought was BT. It just didn’t have that rich warm glow my other BT bags did. It was only after discussion over Tabac trim on the spectator bags from whateve that the lightbulb went off in my head.
The discussion goes on!

 

[Lake Effect]

This must be contributing to why I can’t seem to find any vintage coach bags at reasonable prices these days…

My sister recently found a NYC Basic Bag in Mocha in amazing condition for $25 at thrift shop by her on Long Island. I told her to savor that cause God knows when that will happen again!

 

[Lake Effect]

I’m wondering if this rings a bell for anyone… I just ordered a 2006 65th Ali with Legacy lining from eBay, which @whateve graciously authenticated (thank you again!). I’ve been looking for one. It’s for myself, got a nice discount from the seller and a good price. I don’t plan to be precious with it. I can’t wait to work on the verdigris and patina. But it has a quirk. The label and zipper pull are white — not brown — which I kinda love. I’ve scanned dozens of these bags online now and I can’t find a single other white label. Has anyone seen this before? Any insights?

Same with my Slim Legacy tote!

 

[Tilis]

The first thing that popped into my head was, are they attempting ‘glove tanned’ ??

P.S. don’t mind me popping in with all kinds of late posts. Had to take some time off.

Wow !!! I had not thought about THAT, lol, but actually it makes perfect sense

 

[squeakyrose]

Same with my Slim Legacy tote!

That is so interesting! I wonder why….

 

[squeakyrose]

I do what you have done and try and estimate when it was made first and then narrow down in the catalogs. I lean toward Mocha. You’ll know BT. I have BT all the way from NYC to the late-ish 90’s. It’s surpringly consistent.
Eta and the Pouch looks fabulous!

I know you’re our BT expert. 😁 So it’s really interesting to hear that it’s actually pretty consistent through the years. It’s always hard to tell from photos and especially photos of photos of the vintage colors. Thanks!

 

[squeakyrose]

Deleted to fix quotes!

 

[squeakyrose]

The first thing that popped into my head was, are they attempting ‘glove tanned’ ??

Wow !!! I had not thought about THAT, lol, but actually it makes perfect sense

Yes it does! …and baseball glove (referring back to Cahn’s inspiration for the original Coach bag leather?) in Japanese is ‘guru-bu’… not exact ofc but the actual pronunciation in Japanese is interestingly close if we’re thinking mistransliteration….

ETA: Yes it does! …and baseball glove (ie Cahn’s inspiration for the original Coach bag leather) in Japanese is ‘guru-bu’… not exact ofc but the actual pronunciation in Japanese is interestingly close if we’re thinking mistransliteration…. still messed up the multiple quotes but gave it my best shot 😆

 

[Lake Effect]

I know you’re our BT expert. 😁 So it’s really interesting to hear that it’s actually pretty consistent through the years. It’s always hard to tell from photos and especially photos of photos of the vintage colors. Thanks!

Haha I prefer resident aficionado over expert but thank you! I have a super distressed NYC City bag that is a bit darker from all the conditioning, but the rest all are quite consistent.

 

[squeakyrose]

I think the staples are so not Coach like, the joints are covered still they shouldnt’t cut the corners like that.

The straps of pulley left and right jointed at middle, there is a slide leather cover to hide the joints, if you happen to move the cover to the side, surprise, this is what you will see…
ETA: not my photo, it was from a past EBay listing.
View attachment 5219277

Hi all — I’m reviving this old thread to share my remorse with those who will understand. Recently I passed up an opportunity to buy for less than the cost of a New York cocktail what I now realize was a Pulley… because I assumed due to the staples that it must be a laughably bad fake. Afterwards I thought it was so weird that I’d just do a quick search here in the forum. And I think I shed a tear. 🥹 I can’t stop thinking about it so I figured posting will help me get over that and just be on the look out for the next one! I still think those staples are so bizarre and (as LunaSilver also remarked) unCoachlike!!

 

[squeakyrose]

Hi all — I’m reviving this old thread to share my remorse with those who will understand. Recently I passed up an opportunity to buy for less than the cost of a New York cocktail what I now realize was a Pulley… because I assumed due to the staples that it must be a laughably bad fake. Afterwards I thought it was so weird that I’d just do a quick search here in the forum. And I think I shed a tear. 🥹 I can’t stop thinking about it so I figured posting will help me get over that and just be on the look out for the next one! I still think those staples are so bizarre and (as LunaSilver also remarked) unCoachlike!!

Thank you all for your empathy. 😞 It’s the One That Got Away. At least I can be sure I’ll always know a Pulley when I see one!