Louis Vuitton Speedy

When we talk about the Louis Vuitton women’s handbags, it deserves to mention the classic Louis Vuitton Speedy bag that has been a best seller for 40 years. Formerly known as Express, Speedy was inspired from the rapid development of modern transportation and the rich inspiration the fast pace of life attitude brought about.

Afterwards, Express had been replaced by Speedy. In 1965, on the request of Audrey Hepburn, Louis Vuitton has customized a Speedy bag sized at 25 cm. Since then, Louis Vuitton has launched a wide range of Speedy bags of varied sizes for different functions. Unlike any other Louis Vuitton bags, the original intention of the design is to market the Speedy as a practical bag. Therefore, the most notable feature of Speedy is that it can be arbitrarily folded. However, no matter what kind of occasions Audrey attended, traveling or out, even having a drink of tea outside, she got used to carrying a Louis Vuitton Speedy with her, which made the bag stand out from many. As it has become a good symbol to best interpret elegance, women fall in love with this Speedy traveling bag. No matter what they are going to do, they all tend to hold a certain kind of Speedy which they regard essential. Customers can select their favorite matching style among hundreds of colors that are printed on the classic Monogram Speedy or Louis Vuitton Keepall as well as their favorite initials. When Speedy encountered Marc Jacobs, on one had questioned that Marc Jacobs was a downright genius. His whim often infuses incredible vitality to Louis Vuitton handbags. This classic Speedy bag is of course of truth. In the Louis Vuitton 2009 Spring/Summer, Marc Jacobs even added the graffiti elements to the Speedy and what’s more, he even dyed the Speedy into fluorescent green color. But still, it had still been sought after by a number of super stars just like Madonna.

Louis Vuitton Speedy is the favor of all ages that is proud of its elegant charm of appearance, the stable popularity and the basic styles of many Louis Vuitton entering level handbags. 1930 was a meaningful year since it was the year when the firstLouis Vuitton Speedy was born. Its fashionable and simple style immediately drew the attention of the vast majority of modern people. More and more people loved it, which suffice it to be successfully transformed into an everyday handbag. The oversized space of Louis Vuitton Speedy just adapted to the fast-paced approach to life. It was once called the moving storage box in which women can fit all their dreams.

Louis Vuitton Speedy features four sizes, namely Speedy 25, Speedy 30, Speedy 35 and Speedy 40. In general, Louis Vuitton Speedy 30 features the size that is most suitable for daily use. While Speedy 35 and Speedy 40 are more like traveling bags, theLouis Vuitton Speedy 25 is the very bag that Audrey Hepburn required Henri-Louis Vuitton to customize for her in 1965.

In general, Louis Vuitton Speedy 30 handbag can already meet the daily needs. Speedy 25 is a bit small, while the Speedy 35 and Speedy 40 are closer to traveling bags. If you want to invest a classic Louis Vuitton Speedy for long-term use, then you had better select the Speedy 30. The size of Speedy 30 is just all right. Furthermore, the capacity and portability are quite high. It is the best choice of gifts for girlfriends. It is the signature dishes of the luxury brand. Cause it is unbelievably popular, many Louis Vuitton stores often encounter the suitation of out of stock. Of course, if you want to have a unique Speedy, there are many limited edition items available for you to choose, for example the Louis Vuitton Cherry bag that Louis Vuitton and Takashi Murakami cooperated and launched in 2005. Besides, the fluorescent graffiti items introduced this year is definitely the perfect combination of fashion and classic. In general, the price of Louis Vuitton Speedy is $900 to $1,000.

Official website : http://www.louisvuitton.com/

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The Ultimate Fashion Status Symbol Hermès Kelly

Whilst a decade of “It” bags have the come and gone with Baguettes, Paddingtons, Indys, Spys,and Stams, there remains a few historic handbags which will be forever in fashion. Two of which belong to the luxury label Hermès, with their world famous and exclusive Birkin and Kelly bags. 

The Hermès Kelly Bag takes its name from movie star Grace Kelly, the former Princess Grace of Monaco. Along with its sister the Birkin, the Kelly bag enjoys a cult status.

The handbag first appeared in the 1930s but was thrust into the fashion limelight in 1956, when Princess Grace used a black crocodile Hermès bags to shield her pregnant stomach from the prying eyes of the paparazzi. Photographs of her hiding her tummy with the now-famous bag, were beamed all over the world, and made it onto the cover of Life magazine. Given her status as a fashion maven, Grace Kelly’s Hermès bag fast became a sought-after symbol of elegance and was consequently renamed after her by the high-fashion house Hermès.

Although other Hollywood stars carried this iconic bag, (such as Ingrid Bergman and Marlene Dietrich) none had the same impact as Grace Kelly. The Kelly bag now enjoys a cult status and is a modern day moviestar in its own right, featuring in recent TV and Hollywood movies such as Sex and the City and Le Divorce. Together, with its sister, the Birkin, they have become two of the most famous designer bags of all time. Victoria Beckham is one of the modern day celebrities famous for her Hermès Birkin and Kelly collection.

Prices for a modern day Kelly begin from approximately £20,000 but the bag has has a waiting list of around 3 years. Each bag offers a classic 2-straped trapezium-shaped frame with 4 studs acting as feet, so the bag can easily be placed on the ground.

Kelly bags come in 5 different sizes and are usually made from crocodile, alligator, ostrich-skin or plain leather. According to Miller’s guide, they are identifiable by their distinctive metal-tipped clasp, which can be closed with a tiny padlock. Swathed in leather, the clasp’s hidden key often dangles from the handle.

In Anna Johnson’s Handbags, The Power of the Purse, Johnson points out that a 1956 Hermès Alligator Bag took 2 alligators to make a Kelly, with the exotic skin culled from the reptiles’ jowls and the belly.

Johnson details the finer points of the making of a Kelly bag; the fact that it takes a single craftsman around 18 hours to produce one of these beauties.

Once the hand-cut skins (selected by personal customer order) have arrived, they are laid out, resembling a mini-dress and the lining or the bag is hand-sewn in. The base of the bag is then created, using waxed linen thread and a tough double-saddle stitch, where perforations are painstakingly made into the leather. The following step is the creation of the handle and then the front flap is stitched and added to the body of the bag. The clasp and the four feet at the base of the Kelly are then fitted and the famous padlock added.

The inside of a Kelly bag is as beautifully and as painstakingly made as the outside, an honored tenet of Hermès, according to Pendersen. The bags seams are smoothed, dyed and waxed.

Interestingly, the penultimate finishing touch involves the Kelly being ironed, to get the wrinkles out the skin. The very last touch is to christen the bag with the famous Hermès Paris logo, and another Kelly bag is born.

One of the most memorable, recent Kelly bags is the early ‘90s Hermès Silk Scarf Kelly, a beautiful design of silk florals, based around the famous scarf. In the year 2000, to celebrate the Millennium, heir of Hermès, Jean-Louis Dumas, added a touch of humor to a limited edition Kelly (named Quelle Idole aka Kelly Doll) by transforming the Kelly into a doll; with a face, and arms and feet sprouting from the body of the bag.

Nowadays, according to Miller’s Handbags — a Collector’s Guide , vintage examples of the Hermès Kelly change hands for large amounts of money. An early 1960s crocodile Kelly, for example, would be expected to fetch anything from $3,000 – $6,000 at a top auction house.

Read about Hermès Birkin

Official website : http://www.hermes.com/

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Fendi Baguette

The Fendi Baguette is one of the original It bags. In the late ’90s the bag got a big promo in every fashionista’s favorite television show, Sex and the City. The infamous Carrie Bradshaw and company toted the Baguette every waking chance they go, and Carrie’s own closet boasted several, which she would tote to meetings, lunches, and beyond.

In the past 10 years, Fendi introduced a total of over 1,000 models Baguette, global sales of more than 800,000. Each Baguette is compact works of art, from the uniqueness of awesome. Available in the Baguette bag tenth anniversary, in order to highlight the color of the Baguette’s important, Silvia Venturini Fendi carefully designed Baguette tenth anniversary of the series, presents 10 solid handbag section.

White Canvas Baguette, material for the painting canvas, so that the master stretch of the imagination, create a personal version of yourself Baguette. For the potential of art inspired by the ladies, this special edition of the casing Baguette printed graffiti chic and colorful patterns.

Simple, generous, elegant, casual, giving a feeling of such return, the brand’s design to human nature into the basic, practical and is the foundation, people are caring. Handbag is a woman with an indispensable and important clothing accessories, known as women’s second items of clothing.

Official website : http://www.fendi.com

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How to Spot a Fake Chloé Paddington

Do you know 90 – 95 % of the Chloé Paddington handbags selling over internet are fakes? And people are buying them up like crazy!

Just because a seller offers “100% guarantee” does not mean they are genuine Chloé Paddington.

Just because a seller provides a receipt does not mean the bag is a genuine Chloé Paddington. Some sellers buy both – one real and one fake – and then sell the fake with the real bags receipt to pay for their real one.

Here are some pointers to look for when buying a Chloe Paddington bag :

• If sellers say it is a “Factory Second”, it is a fake. There is no such thing as a Factory Second. A “Power Seller” does not guarantee the genuineness. “Power Seller” simply means they sell a lot on market and selling a lot has nothing to do with authenticity.

• Colour of the metal, rivets, key and lock should be of the same colour. On most of the authentic bags, it is a dark antique brushed brass color. The fake ones have a brighter brushed brass colour or a darker lock and shiny brass rivets.

• The stitching on an authentic bag is a thicker nylon stitch.

• The handles have an extra peice of leather around the top of the strap, the seam should be pointed outward on an authentic.

• Ivory bags have the edges done in brown, not ivory.

• If the Chloe tag does not have the color on it or the correct name for that color it, it is a fake.

• If the 2 stickers are on the inside of the Chloe Tag – it is a fake. Chloe puts one on the inside and the one with the color on the back of the circular Chloe tag.

• Where the handles attach, they should be rounded, not squared off.

• Authentic Chloé Paddington have silver zippers. Depending on the year, some have metal teeth, some have plastic. Some zippers are marked YKK, some are not. A cause for concern would be a brass colored zipper or one marked with a company other than YKK.

• The rivets by the handles, the seams should go through the center of these, not off to the side. The same with the little round peices of leather the rivets are attached to, they must be pretty much centered too.

• The lock and stamp of Chloe on the top of the lock is small on an authentic, about 1/8″. Lay the lock on the table, with Chloe stamp up. How does the key hole look? Is it right side up or upsidedown? If it is upside down, it is a fake. See the below picture that shows the Chloe on the lock is right side up and the keyhole is upside down – this is a fake one.

If you are still in doubt compare the bag to one online at Chloe.com or net-a-porter. Still unsure, make sure the seller will pay the shipping cost if it is identified as a fake. Otherwise, take to a store where real ones are sold and look at every little detail.

Chloé Paddington costs a lot of money but a lot of people are loosing money buying fakes, protect yourself.

The pictures below are of a 100% authentic Chloé Paddington bag. Note the metal color, size of the Chloe on the front of the lock, how the key hole is right side up when the lock is and the stitching.

This bag is a Chloé Paddington Front Pocket satchel, a different style from the regular Chloé Paddington bag. On the handle where it attaches to the bag this one has rivets, a regular Paddington does not have these rivets.

Official website : http://www.chloe.com

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Chanel 2.55

The 2.55 handbag bears that particular name simply because it was originally issued in February 1955.

In the 1920s, Coco Chanel became tired of having to carry her handbags in her arms and decided to design a handbag that freed up her hands. Inspired by the straps found on soldiers’ bags she added thin straps and introduced the resulting design to the market in 1929.

After her successful comeback to the fashion industry in 1954, Chanel decided to update her handbag, for the modern women. The resulting design was called 2.55 after the date of creation, February 1955.

Her features have all a piece of tale to tell. From the inside out :

The bag has a number of features:

• The lining’s burgundy colour represents the colour of the uniforms at the convent where she grew up. Coco herself placed in all black bags is a playful nod towards her old uniform at Aubazine School in the South of France.
• There is a zippered compartment at the inside of the front flap. That is where Chanel is rumoured to have stored her love letters in her original bag.
• The backside has a back outside flap for storage of money.
• Chanel recognising that the modern women needed to have their hands free while attending social functions designed a double chain shoulder strap, something common in downmarket products, but rare in luxury circles at the time. The chains were attached by leather-threaded chain inserted though eyelets. The caretakers of the convert she grew up at hold the keys at their waist dangling from the same type of chains as the 2.55 shoulder strap chains.
• The bag originally came with a front lock called “the Mademoiselle Lock” (in reference to Coco Chanel never marrying). Since the 1980s, versions can also be supplied with a lock in the shape of a double CC logo. These called “Classic Flaps”.
• The bag has a quilted diamond or herringbone pattern on the exterior. Using a running stitch, this gives the bag shape and volume. The pattern is believed to have been inspired by several sources: by jockeys’ riding coats, the stained-glass windows of the abbey at Aubazine, as well as by the cushions in Chanel’s Paris apartment.

Since its introduction, there have been several variations of the original design including different colour leather/fabric combinations, metal and interwoven leather straps and the lock, mademoiselle vs. interlocking CC.

Chanel released an exact copy of the original 2.55 in February 2005 in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the creation of the original. Though the name “Reissue 2.55” should apply only to those commemorative handbags it is now commonly used now as a name for all the handbags resembling the original 2.55.

Karl Lagerfeld who took over Chanel in 1983 reissued the 2.55 in February 2005. His version is the exactly the one designed by Coco Chanel back in 1955.

The Reissue was made in commemoration to the 50th anniversary of the original 2.55 and the name “Reissue 2.55” should apply only to those commemorative handbags.

Instead, it’s commonly used now as a name for all the handbags resembling the original 2.55. As for those with CC interlocking, they’re called Classic Flaps.