New Black Bag Chronicles

If you've been reading le blog, you'll know that I've been in the market to replace my everyday black bag. (Peep that blog post HERE)

Up until now, I hadn't seen anything that I really really LOVED...and I say "loved" with my fists clenched under my chin with my eyes squeezed shut while doing a little wiggly dance. You know what I mean. All the bags I posted in my previous blog posts were basically placeholders because I was so apathetic about them.

Until I went to Miami and went into Dior and tried on this gorgeous piece of artwork called the Diorama (ps that hardware looks gold but in reality it's actually in between gold and silver. They call it champagne) :

So many things about this bag I love so much.

1. The leather is grained calfskin which makes it SUPER durable. Everyday wear is not going to effect this leather.

2. It can be work THREE ways. First, is on the shoulder by my hip, second is cross body and lastly, on the shoulder under my arm, as you can double up the chain.

3. It's a flap bag which means it's easy to get into.

But, alas, this bag retail, is out of my price range. It's $3450 if you're too lazy to google (no joke it went up $150 bucks from when I was in Miami a few weeks ago). So of course, I've been stalking it on pre owned sites. But wouldn't you know, there's just not many out there in the black grained calfskin + champagne hardware. I guess it's pretty exclusive because you can only buy it in the Dior boutiques and pre owned online. So for now, I'm basically waiting around to get a notification from the pre-owned sites that someone has one for sale.

And oh listen to this! *slams hand on table* I was emailed a notification for the purse in the exact colorway I wanted (black grained calfskin and champagne hardware), I immediately clicked on the notification email within seconds of receiving it (I happened to be in my email at the time so it was no joke, IMMEDIATE) and in the mere seconds it took to get redirected to the site, it was sold. THAT'S how much people want this sucker.

So of course, waitin' around has got me lookin' around.

And then I started to realize that a big part of the draw of this bag is the:

• ability to wear it three ways

• durability

• dimensions (it's the perfect size for what I need as an everyday bag)

• mix of silver hardware and leather (my Chanel quilted mini is black lambskin and gold hardware so I don't want something similar to it, hence my choice of silver)

The more ways I can wear it, the more use I get out of it, the better cost per wear (no for real, that's a thing) and the better I feel about dropping serious money on a bag.

So I started looking at the Gucci Dionysus (I KNOW, I know, I said I didn't want a trendy It bag BUT I liked the look of it in black calfskin leather I was willing to eat my words. And I liked that it doesn't have the GG logo all over it):

But then, I realized by looking at the picture of the model...

• the chain is too short to wear it cross body, therefore I can only wear it one way: on my shoulder with is resting by my waist

• It's bigger and most likely heavier than I want for everyday

The small Dionysus in black I thought I liked because you can wear it three ways, (below, on the right) but the dimensions were way too close to my Chanel Mini (below, left).

That third bag on the bottom is the Fendi Kan in the small size. Again, wearable three ways, great leather, silver hardware, but too similar in shape to my quilted mini:

So, back to the drawing board.

THEN. Then. *holds fist to mouth and closes eyes* I saw this Saint Laurent bag that seems to be pretty new because I haven't really seen it online or *on* anyone and none of the pre owned sites have more than 1 or 2 of them. I did some googling and it looks like it came out January 2017(I know, I KNOW- I said I didn't love the YSL logo but I'm willing to overlook that because this bag is more available and affordable than the Diorama and...it's fucking beautiful):

Like, are you kidding me:

You wanna talk about sturdy leather? That embossed croc print might as well be steel. I mean, unless I'm parkouring around town with this thing on, I have a feeling that this will hold up well for the next couple/few years so that when I sell it, I'll make most of my money back (which will go towards my next bag.) So to recap: great leather, check. Wearable three ways, check. Flap bag design which is easy to get into, check. More affordable than the Diorama, check. Gorgeous? Checkkkkkkkk.

So why haven't I clicked purchase online (since it's sold on multiple sites)? I wanna try it on in store first to feel the weight, see the quality of the leather in person, put all my stuff in that I need to carry to make sure it fits, blah blah. So that's my mission in the next few weekends. I'll keep you posted on IG stories (@itsactuallyundrayuh)

And then: Was just doing some googling and look at what I found on Saks:

The logo isn't as prominent because it's black metal (which is like) and the chain is darker (which I'm not sure I like) ALSO I can use amex points towards this purchase. Fack. I'm torn.

I would be remiss in finishing this post without mentioning the OG version of both the Diorama and the Sunset- the iconic Chanel Boy. Chanel was the first (that I've seen at least) to have the chain strap that could be worn three ways. In the size and color I want, the Boy Bag runs $4700 retail and quite honestly, not much less pre owned. (You know I actually read somewhere that investing in Hermes and Chanel is safer than investing in gold? I totally believe it.)

Here's the Boy I would get if I money didn't matter:

And she's $4495 on fashionphile.com. Like, that's only a couple hundred bucks less than retail- what's the point of saving a couple hundred bucks when you're dropping almost 5 G's on a purse. Get the retail experience: the receipt from the store, the original box with receipt, the Chanel Camelia, the *everything* of buying a designer purse in person in the boutique. (Plus you can get way more money back when you sell it if your bag comes with all that stuff.)

So anyway, there you have it. The Diorama and the Sunset are two bags that I have my eye on that I'm for *real* in love with this time.

I mean, do you feel me with these options or what?!