OT: wassup with women and their bags man?? raphmeister takes on the Chanel 2.55

to folks in the know, the 2 most classic iconic ladies bags out there would be the Hermès Birkin bag [its pronounced air-mez dAR-ling... some folks pronounce it her-mees similar sounding to herpes... but thats if u're talking about the greek messenger god... if talkin bout french horse harness and bridle maker turned ultra haut de gamme luxury brand, than air-mez or air-mess would be the better way about it... Birkin after its designer Jane Birkin] and the Chanel flap-style bags which have more or less all been labelled as 2.55 [be it the 2.55 Original, Re-issue or the Classic]... a lot of nice bags try, these succeed... at what exactly raph? being kickass my friend... being kickass ;) classic... iconic... always in fashion... timeless... are some of the words oft thrown around for these bags... and rightly so...

lets focus on chanel for now. she's one classy lady and i dare say in her younger years, quite the looker... vavavavoom ;) kiddin

the 2.55 original is a lean and mean bag... it was designed by Coco in Feb 1955 hence the 2.55 tag as she wanted to have her hands free when carryin the flap style bag and its got design cues from her time at boarding school (caretaker's key carrying chains for the strap, her school uniform etc) and other nice little touches (hidden compartments for love letters, money storage flap pouch thingie)... its vintage-y and has a biker chic charm and must have been a very bold statement at the time but this lady was not one to shy from those... it has a rectangular 'mademoiselle' lock, called as such as coco never was married (by choice)... came in both leather or metal chain straps...

the 2.55 was updated in a reissue in Feb 2005 by Karl Lagerfield and it also sports the rectangular lock but only comes with all metal chain strap. the 2.55s reissues also only come in vintage distressed calfskin...

A 2.55 reissue... absolutely mean lookin... chains and leathers... grrrrr... very grrr....

the 2.55 next to the Classic...

the one that a lot of folks label together as a 2.55 which has a lot of the dna of the 2.55 but is more an evolution of it is the Classic range which was introduced by Karl Lagerfield in the early 1980s. the interlocking Cs lock was introduced by him to the line. the chain in the original is updated with the leather interwoven into the hardware for the strap...

the interlocking Cs on the front signifies its a Classic

example of a white in caviar leather (made of stingray skin)... which has been processed to be tougher and textured..

black in lambskin... soft supple and comfy with its distinctive quilt design (note more care has to be taken with the lambskins as they can scratch and have indentations etc but its one of their top material grades)

the valentines day edition for eg is based off the Classic range with the addition of charms on the strap and lacks a flap inside... the coral colored one in the 2010 limited edition... [note here: all limited editions for bags are false limiteds as i believe they will never ever run out of the materials they make the bag from or the colors to make them whatever color they want... so its all marketing hype to the extreme for limited editions in bags UNLIKE some watches ;) read this about false limited in watches too]

i do like em lucky charms though... they're cute :) "They're always after me lucky charms...[Dr. Evil and Frau Farbissina laugh] What? Why does everyone always laugh when I say that? They are after me lucky charms!" ~ Paddy O'Brien in Austin Powers

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as noted the classic retains the dna of the original 2.55...

the chain with the difference of the leather interwoven into the hardware...

the burgundy lining for the color of the uniform in the convent she grew up... The Aubazine School... theres a zippered flap as well where its rumored she kept her love letters...

all 2.55s though, be it original re-issue or classic, are truly timeless classics and all women who carry them, ladies wif taste & class ;) [mostly... ;)]

apologies to watch lovers for the short interlude lookin at some/most ladies' passion BUT there is relevance to watch lovers who have wives who bemoan their husband's huge expenditures on their fave timepieces... as noted in the post below, its good to make the Mrs happy with nice gifts... bags are noted as one of the items your lady may appreciate (other than ice, watches wif ice etc)... so do note that this is a good buy for the Mrs if you piss her off with another BIG watch purchase... sharing what i've learnt in a short span and hope u enjoyed the post.

cheers, raph

PS. never buy fakes, replicas, lookalikes/hommages etc as straight to loserville you go... sorry but dats the truth...

PPS. luxury fashion houses, jewellery houses, companies that specialise in one area of the luxury universe don't make that great watches for their price points. hermès, chanel, lv, prada, tiffany and co, piaget, harry winston (except for the opus), montblanc, ralph lauren etc do try and constantly will try...but do consider watches from real watch houses before you buy their watches. if nothing appeals to you from a real watch house like Patek Philippe or Audemars Piguet or Vacheron Constantin or Lange & Sohne or Independent Watchmakers etc vs the Chanel J12 then go for it :)

probably the only exception to this is Cartier... they do have some cred in the horlogerie space... CPCP in the past and a strong team developing innovations now...