ShopBop continues to bring us a small, eclectic group of vintage handbags. What are we digging the most? The Chanel bags. Chanel vintage handbags show us that the brand is not only timeless but also that their designs continue to be relevant. The newest addition to the vintage collection at ShopBop is a Chanel Vinyl Bag which features signature chain straps with a clear vinyl body and interlocking black letter Cs at the front and back.

The reason this bag doesn’t do much for me is because I have never loved vinyl bags. If I wanted to own a vinyl bag, this could be it. I can picture pairing this bag with large oversized sunglasses and a casual outfit of jeans and a tee. In my mind it looks good. The other thing about a clear bag is to make sure whatever is showing through is not entirely awful. I would opt for oversized colorful pouches to be the innards which will show through with a little pop of color. Dimensions are 12.5″H x 16.5″L x 4.5″D. Buy through ShopBop for $2,860.

I’m having a vintage moment lately. Last weekend, I spent 3 hours on Friday afternoon looking for vintage art deco costume jewelry on eBay. I really want a 70s faux fur jacket. The Stephen Sprouse collection for Louis Vuitton won me over long ago. And then this morning, I was lucky enough to find the utterly charming Chanel Vintage Le Train Bag.

When there are so many bags that are weathered and treated to look old when they’re actually brand new, it’s refreshing to look at a beautiful bag that is actually a piece of fashion history. The train illustration on this coated-canvas tote is so adorable and utterly Parisian that it serves as a wonderful reminder of not only the brand’s inventiveness, but also its cultural significance.

I like this bag better than most anything I’ve seen from Lagerfeld & Co. lately, and I wish that more of the irreverent French influence found its way into bags like this today. I don’t know that I’d be willing to pay the asking price for this piece (particularly since it’s not leather), but if I had the extra money laying around, this would absolutely be at the top of my list. Buy through ShopBop for $2420.

Sighted tonight in the cold rain, New York City, 5th Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman. Even though it’s just a prop, it’s worth noticing.

How one could not notice it, is the question.

The problem with Chanel, though, is that for better or for worse, they have a lot of aesthetic history to consider when a new collection is designed, and Lagerfeld usually chooses to acknowledge that history. What that means is that mostly, Chanel doesn’t innovate. They do something different here and there, and a lot of their bags are quite lovely, but rarely do we see them starting new bag trends.

I don’t know if that’s a positive or a negative – it just sort of is. If you like their aesthetic, then I’m sure you’re completely fine with what they do and how they do it. If you don’t, there are plenty of alternatives on which to spend your money. There are a few unexpected things in this accessories, but mostly it’s just the same bags we’ve seen with slightly frayed edges. I can totally understand if that’s what they want to send to retail, but I also can’t help but wish Lagerfeld & Co. would embrace the fantasy of the runway a little bit more in the accessories department.

                                            

Images via Style.com.

What I do like, however, is smiling. Models smiling. When was the last time that you saw model after model, looking reasonably happy and human, in a major fashion show. In the fashion show of Paris Fashion Week? And do my eyes deceive me, or was supermodel Sasha Pivovarova talking on a cell phone on the runway?

And is that hay? Did Karl Lagerfeld turn the Grand Palais into a barn?

Yes and yes.

Quite honestly, regardless of the clothes (which were reasonably fabulous, but not the best of the week. Like I said in a previous post, Alexander McQueen already won), Chanel’s show appeared to be the most joyful. At my college, we had a saying: our team may occasionally lose a football game, but we’ve never lost a party. And that’s exactly what Chanel did this week: they won the party. I mean, they even had a live band! With Lily Allen! Was there a keg? If there was a keg, I bet it was really nice beer.

                                                    

Images via Style.com.

When asked about one of the most classic handbags ever, Chanel comes to mind. The Chanel Classic Flap is synonymous with timeless. If you have the budget to splurge, this is a staple for your collection.

Chanel bags are also known for their high price tags. Many of us can not afford a nearly $3,000 bag. If you are looking for an option for a Chanel look for less, Urban Outfitters has an option.

Everything about the Deena & Ozzy Tweed Chain Bag resembles the Chanel Extra Large Flap in Quilted Tweed. The price difference is a whopping $2,753. The Deena & Ozzy bag has a tonal herringbone tweed shell with quilt stitch detailing. The woven chain link strap is is also reminiscent of Chanel.

I like that stores try to give us a look for less, which is clearly what Urban Outfitters is trying to do. Though sometimes the resemblance is too close to the original for my liking. Chanel Extra Large Flap Bag in tweed costs $2,795 at Chanel boutiques. Deena & Ozzy bag is $42 via Urban Outfitters.

But via vintage powerhouse What Goes Around Comes Around, Shopbop is again bringing in some unbelievable vintage Chanel with which to fill our closets. And this beautiful, queenly, sophisticated Vintage Chanel Gold Bar Clutch is absolutely no exception. Now, besides the fact that it oozes 50’s glamour more than a sponge oozes water, the size is of particular note.

You see, this clutch is tiny. It’s miniscule, perfect for holding delicately in the palm of your hand. That unique tiny size for clutches is hard to come by this day and age, where massive envelope clutches are all the rage. See? The power of this clutch has even inspired me to rhyme, like a handbag blogger muse has touched me. But that’s quite beside the point. What is on topic? I really cannot think of any evening gown (or 50’s wasp waist dress, why not?) that this would not complement. Buy through Shopbop for $4,180.

We brought you information on the Chanel Coco Cocoon line featuring Lily Allen earlier this month. If you have a registered email address with Chanel, you can access the Chanel Coco Cocoon website and be the first to own a piece of the line.

Now we see more of this line, which includes handbags, travel bags, and small leather goods. Prices start around $400 in the small leather goods for a lambskin keycase and go up exponentially for the handbags and travel bags. The Chanel Coco Cocoon line offers nylon and lambskin on most of the bags which have a puffy finish, think fluffy down jacket for skiing. The line is a departure from classic expectations of the brand. But the casual finish and high ticket prices for the products, including the nylon, has this line a miss on our list.

Red Quilted Lambskin Key Case | $375

Grey Quilted Large Nylon Toiletry Case | $505

Black Quilted Lambskin Backpack | $2,575

Black Quilted Trolley (Nylon or Lambskin) | $2,700 – $4,125

Ivory Reversible Quilted Lambskin Medium Tote | $2,395

Quilted Lambskin Medium Zipped Tote | $2,375

More on the Coco Cocoon line here.

The fall/winter 2009/2010 collection from Chanel is now available in Chanel boutiques. Channeling the winter months, Chanel brings in heavy materials, tweed, and a splash of color with the perfect green and pink.

The leather shoulder strap on the green and pink tweed bags is a departure from the classic chain strap, yet I find myself wanting to see the tweed bag with a chain strap rather than smooth leather strap (like the last photo below). My pick for Fall/Winter is the Chanel Extra Large Tweed Flap with the chain shoulder strap. The tweed is reminiscent of Chanel classic suits as is the quilted finish and chain strap. There is also the classical flap with interlaced ribbons which continues to bring dimension to the bag while offering a horizontal pattern rather than the expected diagonal. To view the collection visit Chanel online.

Lily Allen is the face of the new handbag line, Chanel Coco Cocoon, which is set to debut in October of this year. The line brings a fun twist to Chanel handbags as the bags are reversible. And straying from the expected, the Coco Cocoon line sports puffy leather.

Lily Allen rocks the bags in the photos shot by Karl Lagerfeld. Only question is what the Chanel enthusiasts will think of this line.

Here is a first look from the video of the behind the scenes with Lilly Allen. What do you think?

Please continue tempting us with Vintage Chanel pieces. Despite the fact that we have placed ourselves on a self-inflicted shopping ban, our fingers are miraculously attempting to click on the add to cart button, though someone continues to beat us to it. Some other savvy shopper on the internet has fingers faster than ours and continues to out-click us to a glorious Vintage Chanel Bag.

We, along with many of our readers, would like to ask that you continue to replenish your Chanel collection on ShopBop. Even if we can not afford vintage Chanel bags, at least we can oogle them.

♥ The Purse Blog Team

   

Well ladies and gents, this is certainly a bit of a surprise. Just a few moments ago I pulled up Shopbop and I could barely believe what I was seeing – vintage Chanel bags for sale. If you are anything like me you probably are saying to yourself, “no friggin way”, because believe you me, that is exactly what I am still saying!

After a little more looking around I came to the conclusion that these bags are in fact genuine and without a doubt gorgeous. While we usually try and break posts down one bag at a time, I can’t help myself, I need to share all three bags with you. The three beauties that are available are: Vintage Chanel Caviar Jumbo CC Lock Bag for $3960, Vintage Chanel Single Chain Bag for $3190 and the Vintage Chanel Double Chain Tube Bag for $2750.

These bags come from vintage distributor What Goes Around Comes Around (WGACA). While the first two bags I’ve mentioned are already sold out, the Double Chain Tube Bag is still available. I am hoping that although these bags are almost all sold out if Shopbop will replenish. I certainly hope so!

Are you still in disbelief? I certainly am!

Today I find myself doing just that, obsessing over a bag that I will 99% certainly never own. The Chanel Classical Matte Alligator Bag features a flap CC closure and interlaced chain. The color is dreamy of this matte alligator skin and this bag truly is timeless. If you call the Chanel Classic Flap timeless this is timeless squared. Price tag is $26,600. When I spoke to a Chanel rep she said this bag was currently out of stock, but they may expect some to come in soon. I am left staring at the computer screen dreaming. More via Chanel online.

The heat wave is making its way across the US and everyone continuing to bring out their summer whites. A white hot Chanel summer is the most fashionable way to integrate white. From a white J12 Watch, to Limited Edition white nail polish, to the highly loved and respected Chanel 2.55 in white patent, Chanel is bringing you every white hot item your heart desires. A white 2.55 is a dream for me, but I am rocking a white Hermes Kelly Longue this summer.

There are few more joyous occasions in fashion than Paris Couture Week, although this year’s flamboyant celebration of clothing and artistry has been somewhat hampered by the depressed economy and the impending departure of one of the genre’s greatest voices, Christian Lacroix. The fact that he was able to put on a show at all is the big story of the week; suppliers and industry friends helped the designer piece together a last-minute collection and presentation for what could be his last couture show if his brand doesn’t find a backer quickly. It demonstrates an odd sort of collegiality among fashion industry workers that many on the outside looking in might overlook in the midst of so much glitz and fabulousness – it takes an army of people to make this happen for us a few times a year, and they work extremely long hours for really modest pay. That so many of them donated their time, skills and goods to Lacroix to put together what may be his final show is kind of touching, particularly in an industry known for ego and elitism. He’s not the only one to put on a show for fashion editors and couture customers this week, though – we’ve got a rundown of the best looks from the best shows, after the jump.

Christian Lacroix

Since this may be Lacroix’s last appearance, I thought it was only fitting that he went first. His collection was based mostly on fabrics and other materials that he already had in his atelier, which mostly resulted in looks far more restrained and widely understandable than average for the haute couture master. Perhaps the more accessible looks will help Lacroix’s label find investors; one can only hope. The bright spot of hope was the small collection’s final look – an intricate wedding dress worthy of the Virgin Mary rendered in stained glass. It was so thoroughly and classically Lacroix that it almost reasserted that the man intended to soldier on and make beautiful clothing.

Chanel

I suspect that I may have been the only one that felt this way, but I just wasn’t feeling the majority of Chanel’s collection. Sure, the 60+ look presentation was chock full of beautiful clothes; some of them were even breathtaking. And I know it’s a Chanel staple and part of the brand’s history, but I just don’t care to see more than a dozen versions of a wool skirt suit when I tune in to see Haute Couture. I want drama, I want a challenge, I want something I can’t wear to the office. As the presentation went on, things picked up nicely, but front-loading the suits made me feel like I had to wait quite a while before anything dramatic came along. And when it did, it was standard Chanel couture – lots of white, ivory, black and silver in looks that were thoroughly French and thoroughly intricate. Lace and beading abounded; I only wish that we could have skipped the suits and gone straight from the fabulous.

Valentino

I don’t associate Valentino with haute couture in the same way that I do Lacroix or Gaultier, but I was immensely impressed by their collection. It was full of enough black lace, darkly beautiful silk roses, and jet beading to choke a goth, but despite the somber palette, the mood of the show was surprisingly youthful. Lace mini dresses and black rose-themed cocktail attire are on my fantasy list of night-out options, and Valentino’s stable of master couturiers realizes those options masterfully, in a way that is both young and extravagant. It’s not groundbreaking, but it’s really pretty.

Christian Dior

Another couturier choosing to not reinvent the wheel for this season was John Galliano at Christian Dior. Which is not to say that it wasn’t totally sublime – oh, it definitely was. The collection was a throwback to New Look Dior, simultaneously intricate and deconstructed in its use of corsetry and underpinnings as important elements of each ensemble. The colors were vibrant and cheerful, contrasting beautifully with the ivory and black base garments. This collection was a reminder of what couture is all about – extravagance, intricacy of construction, and clothing that can legitimately considered an art form. From the brilliantly enormous hats to the masterfully tailored coats and corsets, no collection reminded me more that couture is a single piece of clothing made for a single customer.

Jean Paul Gaultier

Ahh, I saved the best for last. From Brigitte Bardot to Barbarella, Jean Paul Gaultier gave us a collection loosely based on the screen sirens of yesterday and today. And the clothes were full of film fantasy – alligator overalls, floor-length fur, mini dresses that appear to be made of liquid metal. Gaultier is a master of the outrageous and fantastic, and he makes the clothes that I wish I could wear, if I had an endless budget and the self-confidence necessary to pull off something like a sequin-covered sailor shirt. Anyone that can conceive of such amazing garments not only wins at couture week, but wins at life.

Chanel’s contribution to this idea is their Spring/Summer 2009 Essential Handbag. Modeled after the iconic shopping bags of their 31, Rue Cambon flagship location in Paris, the bags are produced in smooth calfskin in Chanel’s signature palette of black, white and pale pink. They come in three sizes – small for $1525, which is the only of the three available pale pink, medium for $2625, and large in $2995. From the information that we received from Chanel, it’s unclear whether the small is also available in white and black – if you’re interested, a call to your local boutique may be warranted.

On to the real question – do these bags achieve their design goals? My answer is a qualified yes – they are, after all, remarkably accurate leather reproductions. It’s certainly not an easy task to get a piece of leather that large to be that smooth and also have the crisp corners and creasing of a thick-paper shopping bag, and the bag accomplishes that quite well. In fact, from a distance, I probably wouldn’t realize that it wasn’t an actual shopping bag because the leather is very matte. I can’t tell from the pictures, but there are indications at the side gussets that it may also collapse like a shopping bag, which would be kind of a cool trick for storage, even if it would probably leave an unsightly crease in the leather. It also may have some kind of rigid structural surface over which the leather is stretched in order to create the extremely flat front and back panels, but only a hands-on inspection will tell.

    

Structurally and design-wise, I have no problem with the Chanel Essential bag, but I do have a problem with the timing of its release. In an economic climate where women shopping at Hermes have been said to be asking for plain white shopping bags in order to hide the perceived vulgarity of their luxury purchases, is a handbag that proudly announces, in bold block print, just how much money was spent on it a wise choice? Probably not. Logo bags have been losing popularity for more than a few seasons now, and this is probably the most obvious logo on the face of the planet. Krazypants Lagerfeld would not deign to have interest in how the other half lives, but handbags, second to only perfume and cosmetics, are essential to how a brand introduces itself to a larger audience. The potential market for a handbags is much larger than the audience for a ready-to-wear dress or even one of Chanel’s iconic boucle suits, and choosing a measure of vulgarity at this moment, even if it’s intentional vulgarity (which appears to be at least part of the point with this design), could potentially alienate customers. Spending $3000 on a handbags is impossible for an ever-increasing number of women, and the idea that you should spend that much on something that looks just like an item that is normally free may rub some people the wrong way.

Even at a dramatically different price point, this bag may have been a real hit. I could see my own reaction to it being slightly different if all the models were placed from, say, $1000 to $1500 (the bag is very, very simple, after all). In that price range, it would be a fitting introduction into the brand’s style for new or younger customers and a winking reference to their own branding. As it is, the bag’s release is just kind of baffling.

Image courtesy of Chanel via NYMag.com

Oh, Karl Lagerfeld. He’s crazypants. He’s also the creative force behind Chanel, although I’m sure you all were aware of that. As a result, all of the creative elements of Chanel’s branding are immensely, luxuriously over the top in ways that few other brands can touch (although Louis Vuitton also does an admirable job with Marc Jacobs at the helm), with advertising campaigns and catalogues often photographed by Lagerfeld himself. He is indeed the man behind the camera for Chanel’s Spring/Summer 2009 Accessories Catalogue, but to get a first look at the catalogue and find out more about Krazy Karl’s concept for the shoot, you’ll have to make the jump.

  

Yes, that is Jerry Hall. And she’s looking absolutely amazing at 52 years old, playing opposite the much-younger Baptiste Giabiconi in Lagerfeld’s interpretation of the 1920 French novel Cheri, written by Colette. In the novel, a years-long May-December romance is interrupted by the marriage of the younger man, after which he returns to his older lover for one night to receive her blessing and support to leave forever. Lagerfeld’s photographs appear to take place during that one last night, and they’re nothing short of gorgeous. Well, except for one; one photo is in full color and seems to convey a much different mood than the others. I can’t help but wonder if it was accidentally included in the electronic package that we received or if it actually appears in the non-electronic catalog. If it does, I think it would have been better left out, but who am I to question Karl Lagerfeld? No one, that’s who, and I’m sure he’d tell you that if you asked him. Actually, he’d probably just tell you that I’m demode.

  

  

Anyway, I digress. The handbags…sigh. Kind of a mixed, uh, bag (no pun intended). The hilights are easy to spot – a tulle-covered flap bag quilted with rows of sequins and another classic flap, this one set on its end and made into a north/south tote that plays with an onlooker’s senses of proportion and perception. They’re beautiful in vastly different ways, but both are a play on the classic Chanel aesthetic and make the observer think about form and function. The lowlights…similarly easy to spot. Handbags fashioned to look like shopping bags were boring a long time ago (Bloomingdale’s vinyl “brown bag” totes, anyone?), and I certainly don’t need to pay as much for one as these probably cost. Also, the whole idea seems kind of 2003 – logo bags have been steadily declining in popularity in favor of more subtle luxuries. “CHANEL” in big, bold letters is the antithesis of subtle. Take a look below and tell me what you think.