I love finding little treasures, like this 1950s minaudière by Kigu.
It was marketed as a Kigu Compact of Character Party Case and I just love imagining the glamorous ladies that would sashay out and about with these fabulous little gold boxes. It has a mirror, powder compact, lipstick and space for cigarettes - all of the 1950s essentials!
This one is new and unused, and available on my Etsy shop.
Sadie xx
Hello my lovelies, it is me talking about handbags (again!) - one of my favourite subjects, after jewellery and shoes of course. And maybe food…haha.
So as you may know, last year I decided to put myself on a shopping ban.
This was for several reasons - one being that I have way too many things - I joke on Instagram about being a hoarder and maybe I really am! I look after all of my many many many things and so never really get rid of them because they’re sentimental to me, and still have plenty of life left in them. So this was one main reason for the shopping ban.
Another big reason is my growing awareness of the impact of fast fashion (something my fantastic friend and sustainable fashion designer / educator Jennifer Whitty first opened my eyes to):
of buying something on impulse that you don’t really need, and how wasteful it is then buying something else to replace it the following week / month / year.
of the impact this disposable culture is having on our environment.
there are many more reasons I’ve worked hard to not buy “fast fashion” and disposable items, and encouraged others to consider their buying behaviour too - but that would take up a whole blog entry in itself, so I’ll save it for another time.
You may be asking - what the heck has this got to do with buying a Chanel bag in Paris?! Good question :D
So last year, with my shopping ban, I began saving up all of the money I’d have spent on little, splurgy, unnecessary purchases to put towards one bigger purchase of something that to me, was more exciting, satisfying and important than those smaller, instantly-gratifying purchases. Something I’d use again and again for years to come, not just a handful of times and then put it in a cupboard or a charity shop. And so I began saving for a new Chanel handbag.
Once I had a goal, I began saving harder and started to see the money build up. As you may also know, I’ve been selling some of my clothes on depop and eBay - well this money also went into the Chanel pot and by December I was ready for my new baby!
The pink mini Chanel I had my eye on
I wanted to buy a coral or a baby pink mini Chanel bag, which were colours that Chanel released in its 2018 / 2019 collections. You can’t buy from Chanel online so I was going to have to travel to London to buy my new bag.
The thing with Chanel bags is that they don’t always have the styles, sizes and colours in stock - and so you could make your way to the store to find that the bag you wanted was not available. They don’t reserve the bags for you either (maybe they do if you’re a valued customer, but I’m certainly not one of those!).
Anyway before I could consider venturing to London to try and buy my new bag, the impromptu New Years Eve in Paris trip happened, and so where better to try and buy my bag!
So when I was in Paris I Googled where the boutiques were, which one was closest to my hotel, and it turned out that it was the famous Rue de Cambon flagship Chanel store - well that seemed like a good enough place to shop :-)
Online reviews of Chanel Rue de Cambon were mixed - some people reported snobby staff and lack of stock. Others raved about how helpful the sales assistants were. So I woke up at 6.30am to wash my hair especially - it’s not every day one buys a Chanel bag in Paris! Though the hairdryer in the hotel was one of those vacuum-looking ones that leaves your hair looking like a cloud of frizz, so I needn't have bothered. And with Chris in tow, I walked an hour through the beautiful streets of Paris to Rue de Cambon.
The Rue de Cambon building site - we thought this was the current Chanel store closed for refurbishment. It was HUGE.
When we arrived at Rue de Cambon we were gobsmacked - there was a massive Chanel construction site, all boarded up, and it looked like the store was closed for refurbishment! *Sad face*!
I knew there were several other Chanel boutiques in Paris, so we decided to find a cafe, have a cup of tea, and then walk to the next nearest one. However, as we continued down Rue de Cambon, I saw a little sign, and a doorman outside of the actual Chanel store! It was still there! Luckily we hadn’t turned around and walked back the way we came, as we’d have missed it completely!
And so we entered Chanel. I was approached by three sales assistants who each were very polite, wished me good morning and showed me towards the bag department. It was about 11am by now and I’d read online that you should go early so that there’s more chance of your bag being available. I was told that there were three people in front of me, and would I mind waiting? Of course not. I’m here for the bags, baby :-)
While waiting I looked at the bags in the counter displays. Most bags are kept behind sliding wooden cupboard doors and I was thrilled to see that there were some pink mini Chanel flap bags hidden inside when the door was opened for another customer. YAY.
Soon it was my turn to be served and I was shown the mini flap bags available. They come in square and rectangular shapes and personally I prefer the square shape (which is also slightly cheaper than the rectangle) - although the sales assistant told me that the rectangular shape is more sought after.
The orange square, the coral rectangle, the pink square + my first Chanel bag, Yorkie :-)
Pink and orange peeping at me while I drank my tea
They had the pink square (in quilted rather than chevron pattern), along with a coral rectangular shaped bag. I knew I wanted the pink one - yippeeeee.
But then I asked what other colours they had in stock and was shown the latest season’s ‘orange’ colour. It was a bright orange-red and extremely vibrant and attractive, but not what I’d gone in to buy.
However, the more I looked at it, the more I liked it. I felt it was more grown up than pink, and was certainly more striking. Hmm. Chris of course preferred the orange, but I didn’t want to rush my decision, having planned for six months to buy the pink!
We were offered a tea (me) and coffee (Chris) so I could take some time to consider my choice (no champagne was offered - and I’d been ready to accept this time, haha!!). While I sat drinking my green tea my two little bags were positioned in the cupboard waiting for me to decide which one was coming home with me.
And I surprised myself by choosing the orange! (You know how much I love pink!) So the orange bag was wrapped up in the exclusive white Rue de Cambon packaging and off we went together, new bag and I (oh, and Chris, too).
I now find I have to match my lipstick to my bag ;-)
My experience of the Parisian store was very good. The sales assistant did escort me to the door with my bag, which was a bit awkward because I’d wanted to look around the store a bit more, and it was like a Mr Bean sketch, where I kept thinking she was handing me the bag, would go to accept it, and she held onto it - CRINGE :p
It was another week before I used my new bag and I’m happy with my grown up choice.
I’m still saving my non-spendings but there’s no Chanel planned for the foreseeable future, I’m happy enjoying the ones I have :-)
Sadie xx
PS. You can read about me buying my first Chanel bag in New York here.
Hi peeps, here’s a not-so-little story about buying my first Chanel bag five years ago this week!
I’d dreamed of, and actually attempted, buying a Chanel bag for several years before I actually bought it. I love the style of the bags, the classic, timeless shape, the fact they don’t lose their value, and the fact that in my opinion, they make every outfit look better :D Anyway, as much as I dreamt of buying one, I had never spent that kind of money on anything before, and the thought of it made me feel sick!
After lots of consideration, I came up with a plan. Being naive at the time, I had read online that the bag I wanted cost £1000 (sooo much money for a bag!!), and I decided to save my “extra earnings” until I had enough for The Bag. Define extra earnings? Well I was living in New Zealand and working full-time at Massey University, and in my spare time making and selling Shh by Sadie jewels. It didn't take long before I had saved my £1000 for my “baby” which is how I referred to The Bag, and probably still do! :D
So, I had enough “extra earnings” for my bag! While back in the UK on a visit home, I took the bus from Wales to London to stay with my sister and buy THE Bag. Alllll the way to London I honestly felt sick about spending so much money on a bag. I kept thinking I could buy a lesser-expensive designer bag and have TWO! Or other things I could spend the money on - none of which I needed or wanted as much as THE Bag. My sister kindly rang around the Chanel boutiques in London to ask whether they had the bag in stock, doing so in a faux-posh-granny voice that had me in STITCHES on the bed beside her. “Do you know what, I’ve found myself in London with some spare time, and thought I’d pop along to your store and have a little rummage”. The store in Harrods said they had one in stock, but to hurry as they couldn’t guarantee it would be there much longer (they apparently sell like very expensive hot cakes!).
And so sister and I dash across to London to the Chanel boutique in Harrods. We wait patiently to be seen, and am in luck - the bag is still there! Jumbo, double flap, black caviar leather with gold hardware. Yes. I touch it and (still feeling sick) ask the price - £1800! Oh! I hadn’t anticipated that!! Stupid Sadie not doing proper research (at that time Chanel did not list prices on its website and so I’d read prices from bag forums, humpf.)
I literally nearly collapse and hand the bag back to the assistant. She shows me some of the seasonal bags, which are far closer to my budget, and which my sister and I do really like, but nope, I liked the classic Chanel because it is, well classic, and I can wear it forever :D
So I leave Harrods feeling sick but also slightly relieved, because I’d been so hesitant to part with my £1000 for “just a bag” anyway.
Fast forward six months or so, and I am still thinking about The Bag. I’ve saved more of my extra earnings, and have decided that maybe I will just get it because it is something I have dreamt of for so long. Even if I did buy a lesser-expensive (I couldn’t bring myself to write ‘cheaper’ because nothing about paying £1000+ for a bag to me is cheap!) Chanel bag, or another designer bag, I would still want The Bag. And truthfully, I worked very hard to earn my extra earnings and The Bag is like a symbol of all of that effort, and a reward to myself. I don’t smoke, buy magazines, don’t have my hair done often, eyelashes, facials, spray tans, false nails - things that people regularly spend money on, and so all of this was my argument to myself anyway :D
My then boyfriend, now husband, Chris and I visit Hong Kong 12 months after the first attempt (there was no Chanel stockist in NZ when we lived there - I’m not sure if there is now - and so I couldn't buy The Bag there). I’ll perhaps tell you about my trip to Kong Kong another time, but to sum it up, I couldn’t manage with the humidity and ended up wearing the loosest, baggiest clothes I had with me - my hair was scraped into a bun on my head, and there was no point in wearing makeup because it sweated off as soon as I left the air conditioned hotel. I had a sweat moustache for the whole three days. Just not a climate I managed well in!! Anyway, we are at the airport, me dressed like I don’t know what, (and there’s no way I want to try and find a photo of (if one exists!)), and I pluck up my courage to enter the Chanel store. I ask the assistant for the bag - get pointedly looked up and down, and told “no” they do not have The Bag.
To be fair, I looked such a mess I couldn’t blame them for looking me up and down, but it was still extremely rude, and I left bag-less.
This is just a quick one! We visited Sydney, entered the store and checked out the price. It was £1000 MORE than buying the exact same bag in the UK. So we left.
I’ll keep this one quick, too. Chris was in London for business, I managed to persuade him to ring the stores and ask if The Bag was in stock. Yes it was! On his way to the airport from London he managed to get his taxi driver to pull over on Oxford Street (or some busy main London street) while he left his suitcase in the taxi and ran into Chanel to ‘quickly’ buy The Bag. The Bag was there, he got it packed up, all ready to go - and his New Zealand bank card wouldn’t go through with the transaction (maybe it felt sick, too, haha). He said they tried it multiple times, and in the end he had to go because the taxi was waiting and he needed to get to the airport. I cried when he rang me and told me.
And so now it is December 2013. I am in New York with Chris on a holiday there half-way home from New Zealand to Wales for Christmas. The price of The Bag is now £2750 because the longer you leave it, the more the flipping price goes up - if only I’d bought it in London that first time!!
I’ve made the decision, and we go to the Chanel boutique on a wonderfully snowy day. We go in, and YES they have The Bag in stock! The sales assistant offers us a glass of champagne. I’m so nervous and sick about spending this money on this flipping bag that I decline, almost wanting to get the whole thing over as quickly as possible. I pay for The Bag on two bank cards - one NZ and one UK - because I don’t want Chris’ London bank card fiasco to happen to me!! And the cards work. The Bag is mine. We are going for a whole day walking in the snow in Central Park and so I ask if I can collect The Bag later. The assistant says of course.
Later I collect The Bag and it has its own little waterproof cover for its paper bag underneath. It is wrapped beautifully. I take it back to the hotel and open it. It is my new best friend (not joking, haha), and my dad suggests I call it Yorkie because I finally bought it in New York. (No fancy photos of ‘the opening’ of the bag, just ones snapped on my iPhone to send to my parents in Wales!)
I don’t use The Bag for another two days because I am frightened someone will steal it off me (LOL). The first outing it has is to an AMAZING Greek restaurant in NYC.
I’ve now had Yorkie for five years, and it is still my prized possession. It never sits on the floor, it stays neatly in its dust cover when it is not being used. It is what I grab when the fire alarm goes off and we have to stand outside our apartment in our PJs at 2am in the morning.
I don’t save Yorkie for special occasions, because I didn’t pay £2750 for a bag to sit in my wardrobe 90% of the year, though I obviously don’t use it every day.
So after that very long-winded tale, do I think Chanel bags are worth the price? Of course not. But I am glad I finally bought The Bag and love it too much to feel guilty about it :-)
Sadie xx
Just a note - I know Chanel bags, designer bags - things like these are not everyone’s cup of tea. This is my opinion and an honest account of how and why I bought my bag.
Luxe British designer brand Yuzefi is highly sought after for its meticulously handcrafted leather work and simple elegant style.
A personal favourite of mine is the pink Asher leather box bag - available at Browns. With a choice of two straps the bag is as versatile as it is beautiful.
The pastel pink would look gorgeous with washed out blue denim and a simple white tee. Definitely on my wish list!
Sadie x
It's no secret that I love pink, I love handbags, and so it's surely no shock that I've been drooling over these beautifully pink Furla bags recently. There are so many different shades of pink that I'm having a hard time choosing a favourite!
Bags, like jewellery and shoes, are one of my favourite ways of expressing my personality, adding fun and colour to an outfit. I don't think I'll ever have too many bags!
I have several mini bags and at first I found it difficult to get used to squeezing my belongings into them, but now I've got the knack of only taking the actual essentials, it's surprising how much you can actually fit in a mini bag!
Here are some of my fave pink Furla bags (including minis) - which do you prefer?
Sadie x
