Designer Handbag Bible

I recently compared the monogram canvas of a fake and a real Louis Vuitton bag here. Now I will compare the hardware here.

Before I compare two bags side by side I know the major difference between a fake and a real is the hardware. I bought a replica denim monogram pleaty a few years ago. After a few use, the golden clasp in front was scratched. The golden paint was faded. I never buy a replica thereafter.

I passed on my tips to my friend. She is very smart so she bought Neverfull. Neverfull has the fewest hardware among all Louis Vuitton bags. Louis Vuitton charge a lot for its hardware. A large Neverfull GM is just 450 Euro, this can explain hardware is expensive in LV bags.

Here is a photo of a fake and a real LV stud.

Did you see the difference? The authentic hardware is of very light golden color. The fake hardware is of a more golden color. It is very hard to tell authenticity by looking at just Louis Vuitton studs, because they are quite small, it is hard to notice any scratch.

This Neverfull has no hardware except for the small Louis Vuitton studs. Its design made it hard to be spotted. I will compare another replica with more hardware the next time..

Tags: Louis Vuitton by Lucy
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I recently bought a Monogram Canvas Palermo PM from a Louis Vuitton boutique in Paris. My friend has a Monogram canvas neverfull PM replica. So I put the replica and the authentic together to take some comparison photos.

The one on the left is a so-called 10 star replica. The one on the right is authentic.

From the first photo, the real LV monogram is larger and the color of monogram is more yellowish.

One more close-up. Honestly from this photo, the logos look almost the same. If you really need to tell the difference, then maybe the real one (right) has the more yellowish monogram.

It is hard to tell its authenticity by looking at its monogram canvas. But it is true that the real LV’s canvas is very soft. The canvas on the replica is more stiff.

I will compare the hardware and stitching in coming posts.

Related posts: Louis Vuitton Monogram Canvas Replica Vs Authentic Part II

Tags: Louis Vuitton by Lucy
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It is Dior Gaucho bag again! I cannot believe I bought two Dior gaucho bags!

This denim canvas Gaucho bag was bought at a Dior boutique in the designer outlet in Bicester Village, Oxford, Britain. The retail price for this bag is £700. And this is listed for £350, half price in that Dior boutique. I guess nobody can resist this kind of temptation.

After I bought this, I started regreting. The reason being is because this is a canvas bag, not a leather bag! As I said in the post of Fendi Zucca Spy Bag canvas bags are hard to manage. They are too soft. I put my car key in the bag, you can tell from outside.

check the side photo here, it cannot stand itself:

Although I really like Gaucho bags, I finally sold this bag via eBay. I sold it for only £150 / $300! A fake gaucho bag can sell better than this.

Before I sold this bag on eBay I did try to sell it via different second-hand designer handbag stores in Rome and Hongkong (these two cities have the most used designer handbag stores). None of them offered me a price more than $200!

The experts told me this Dior Gaucho bag is the typical IT bag. When it is hot, everyone will pay more to own it. When it is out, nobody wants it even if the price is much lower than before!

I don’t know even buying a purse needs some kind of business knowledge. If you buy a classic timeless bag, you can always resell it at a high price even if it is used. If yo buy a shooting-star-type purse, you will end up losing a lot of money if you resell it!

A guide in buying an authentic Dior bag:

1st, check the dust bag. Most fake bags look very authentic, but their dust bags are made of poor quality cloth! Also many people know what a real bag looks like because they can check it from department stores or boutiques, but they don’t know what a dust bag looks like. You won’t be shown the dust bag until you buy the bag.

2nd, credit card receipt! Nowadays some sellers can make fake boutique receipts with Dior / Chloe / Hermes / Louis Vuitton watermark on it! But they cannot fake a credit card receipt! Whenever you buy a real bag from stores you will get a store receipt and a credit card receipt. They usually will be linked by a staple.

In most cases it is the accessories that sellout themselves.

Tags: Christian Dior by Lucy
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Fendi Spy Bag is the second IT bag if the first one is Balenciaga motorcycle bag. Everyone was talking about spy bag then. Nowadays spy bag is a bit outdated but its special design still made it the most fashionable Fendi bag alive.

When Fendi spy first came to market I bought a zucca canvas spy. I was impressed by its quality. I have Gucci and Dior bags in canvas, but none of them can compete this zucca canvas spy. Usually canvas is very soft. Whatever you put in a canvas bag you can see it outside. This zucca spy is made of strong canvas, it is not as sloughy as other canvas bags.

The other thing I like about this bag is its tortugar handles. It looks like the turtle shell, which made it very precious.

Oslen sisters has one zucca spy bag.

Paris Hilton has a zucca nappa spy bag.

The early zucca spy replica has the authentic-look tortugar handles. But grainy-look cowhide instead of nappa was used on the early version, such as this:

A later version is made of nappa. But the handles are changed to a brighter color, which is very fake!

A very wrong version is zucca spy bags with braided handles. Fendi made zucca spy bags with tortugar handles and all nappa spy bags with braided handles.

Tags: Fendi by Lucy
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I saw this Mulberry Patchwork Bayswater Bag half price for £395 from the designer outlet in Bicester Village Oxford.

Most Mulberry bags including the emmy bags in the Mulberry store of Bicester Village are half price!!!! You can buy it via phone and they will send it to you via special delivery. I will never buy a Mulberry bag from high street again!

Tags: Mulberry by Lucy
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Mulberry Bayswater bag is like an easy version of Hermes Birkin bag.

Kate Moss has a black Mulberry Bayswater Bag.

here is a fake:

an authentic one from Neiman Marcus

I had thought the difference between a fake Mulberry bag and a real one is the hardware. The fake Mulberry bag’s hardware is brass, kind of dirty and with scratches. The real Mulberry’s hardware is more polish. But after I inspected a few real Mulberry bags in the airport (everytime when I travel I will check Mulberry bags in airport) I found some real hardware also have the dirty look.

The real big difference is still its leather. Real Mulberry Bayswater’s leather is thin and has a serious vintage look. It looks like it has been used for a few months! Most fake Mulberry bags have thicker grainy-look leather, that is the typical leather from any fake designer handbags!

Tags: Mulberry by Lucy
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