A Coach Handbag Story

This is the story of why I so disliked Coach handbags, and how over 30 years later I've had a complete turnaround.

It goes back to High School, in the mid 70s. Ever see "Mean Girls"? Those were the girls that had Coach bags, only most weren't rich, just duped their parents into buying them so they could be one of the crowd. I was always a rebel and never understood that scene, I wanted to be me and I took a lot of shit for it, but didn't care (especially now when I look back at all I've accomplished and done; "I blow my nose in your general direction!"). I recall sitting at lunch one day and they all had their handbags on the table and thinking "how do they know which handbag belongs to each of them?" So I equated Coach bags, Fair Isle sweaters, and cheerleading skirts with that crowd; needless to say never wearing any of it -- to this day (though I can appreciate a beautiful Fair Isle sweater, I could never bring myself to wear one.)

Enough of that, we've all been through school crap and triumphed over it, leaving the dross behind.

Back then for many a Coach bag was something special, they lasted forever (as the vintage ones have proven), were like a rite of passage; something you got when you got your first big job, or graduated college. While they weren't high end, they were quality you could count on. They just didn't appeal to me, they seemed too commonplace & plain. They were the realm of my sister, quite the opposite of me when it comes to style (except she's not a "mean girl"). Then came those horrid logos, giant "C's" on canvas. They all looked dirty right away, and you could see the fabric starting to fray. Not the original quality handbags and quite hideous for a logo handbag. (I'm not anti-logo, I started collecting Gucci's decades back that date to the 60s and still look tremendously fab, but we're talking different quality, plus Gucci was always known for their logo.)

This is typical of the original style. There was also a pouch looking one, and a smaller one, plus a large tote style. They've all held up and still sell well as they were so well made. Google image.

Early on in our marriage (about 22 years ago) we visited my husbands family in St. Louis. I found amazing thrift shops there and was starting to pick up things here & there for my first foray into becoming a professional flea market vendor. I spotted a gorgeous chartreuse 60s handbag the likes of which I had never seen. But then read the label. Coach. Ugh. I came so close to leaving it but the colour and style had me hooked so I bit the bullet and purchased it. I recall at the time it wasn't cheap, maybe $10 which being such a cheapo when it comes to vintage felt like it was a lot in those days (in St Louis especially where prices are always way less than NY it was actually expensive). It wasn't until doing research (the old fashioned way -- remember libraries? they still exist, use them!) to see what I should price it at that I noticed the "Bonnie Cashin" for Coach label, then found out it was highly collectible, even over 20 years ago. I had already decided I couldn't part with it, it was too  gorgeous and I just didn't care at that point that it was produced by Coach. Its still in my collection and I've gotten tremendous use out of it; in spite of its age it still looks as if just purchased!

Looks yellow, but its chartreuse, as you'll see in the other pictures. This is my vintage Bonnie Cashin. I searched pages and pages of google images and eBay and found similar but not a single one exactly the same. Almost all were a tote style, while this is a regular smaller handbag with hard handles, the rest had soft leather handles.

Origina label.

All the Bonnie Cashin for Coach handbags have some kind of striped lining.

Even the outside pocket with "kiss" lock has the striped lining.

I became quite good at spotting Bonnie Cashin for Coach handbags, and many passed through my flea market stall and retail store. The last one I sold was about 8 years ago when I still had the shop. I told the buyer I wasn't sure it was a genuine Bonnie Cashin, but she had quite a few and was sure. I even said if she found out it wasn't real I'd refund her money (quite a pretty penny at the time for a fold over wallet with a "kiss" lock -- didn't really want to sell it, so put a crazy price on it!) I never offered cash refunds, but felt if it wasn't the real thing I didn't want to rip her off. She never returned it, only popped in so often to see if I had found any more & say how she loved the one she purchased. I recently saw the exact bag selling on eBay for $399.99 and that was the cheapest one (I can't image someone actually laying out that kind of cash for essentially a wallet -- high-end designer wallets go for that kind of money & if you hit a sale you can get them 60% off or more at an Outlet.) I've still never found another like mine, and with all the use I've gotten out of it I'm definitely glad I didn't cave in and sell!

Fast forward to last summer/ early autumn. Somehow I wound up on Coach's website and couldn't believe what I saw. No logos. They had come out with what they called the "Legacy" or "Classic" collection. Back to basic shapes, and the colours were fantastic; fuchsia, lemon yellow, orange, red, and the color I was dying for was emerald (the green queen strikes again!) in addition to basic brown and black. Only I forgot about them until recently when asked what I wanted for mother's day. Then realised that was the Fall/ Winter collection and gone off the site.

That's when the lightbulb went off and I remembered the outlet at Woodbury Common (one of the biggest designer outlets probably anywhere.) If it was off the site, chances were pretty good that whatever was left was there... and we got there the day after they got in some of the "Legacy" pieces! We saw one Emerald bag, more like an overnight bag it was so huge, but it was kind of dark and not at all like the bright emerald colour the pics on the site showed. But oh, the fuchsia was calling my name! For as much as I love pink (most shades, some bore me) this one really spoke to me. I loved that they used the same leather as the original handbags but made them lighter (the originals were incredibly heavy), and switched the brass to silver with a very discreet "Coach" written at the top unlike the Coach logo handbags emblazoned with the giant "C" everywhere. Plus it was 50% off an already good price for a mid-range well-made leather handbag. Three compartments, middle one zipped for security, two pouches for phones and whatnot on both the front and back compartment, and an inner zip pocket in the first compartment. I'm in love. All I need to do is have "feet" added to the bottom which help to keep the edges from getting beat up (you can barely make out the "feet" on the first pic of my vintage handbag). I do wish I had gotten the wristlet, it would help to keep my handbag organized and is big enough for an evening bag. Perhaps next visit.

Here is my early Mother's Day gift, look it matches the secretary! Very sleek, but holds a ton, just what I need, as I'm always carrying around too much with me no matter how hard I try to clear out! Sorry no inside pics, I'm a pack rat when it comes to what I have to carry around!

I did get one more mothers day gift... turquoise and pink wedge creepers! Tired of gloomy days and late (if ever) spring, they immediately sparked my shoe lust. Comfy and colourful, I adore them!

My crazy coloured new wedge creepers, LOVE the colours and they match my bag!

I feel a need to thank Coach for bringing us the "Legacy" collection, a great everyday collection that is fab casually, and can be dressed up as well. If they hadn't I would probably still have that bad taste left in my mouth from over 30 years ago! I will keep my eye on the collection in hopes of more great styles. If you like my style, they seemed to have discontinued it for Spring/ Summer and is only available at the Outlets, so if you live near one do check it out. They will even fill out a form for the style and colour you're looking for and call you when it arrives. (You can even call and ask for specific styles at the Outlets, they're very helpful and will put things aside. Mine is called the "Ashley Hobo", oo the orange and lemon yellow were yummy too!)

I've also discovered they have a Coach outlet online (not fakes), it takes a few days or so to get your invite, but right now they have a Mother's Day sale so things are going fast, not even sure if they have anything left, but sign up for future sales; link here. And do keep your eyes on the coach.com site for new releases, I'm sure you'll be as surprised as I was!

So there you have my Coach story with a happy ending!

XXX
Jet (now dubbed "The Governor" due to this wonky eye, for those who don't know, a reference to "The Walking Dead")

Blue Coupe, Heaps of Fun Not to be Missed!

Tonight the planets aligned, Gwensday was able to sleepover at a friends home, and we were able to have a night out. A glorious night out minus child, even though she usually comes with us to gigs it was nice to be out on our own, oo it was like a date!

We went to the Cutting Room (first time I was there was for the very talented Stacy Lomman's fashion show, her collection was of course divine, as they always are!) and its quite a fun venue, very rock n' roll. They now serve food, which I've had the chance to sample a few months ago when some friends from the UK were staying a few doors down at a hotel. Yummy and reasonable.

The fantastic Stratocaster (at least I think they are all Strats) chandler in the main room by the bar. I think I need this...

The ceiling above our seats. The Cutting Room is quite beautiful, great food too!

Blue Coupe is made up of members from Blue Oyster Cult and the Alice Cooper band. They play a mixture of both bands hits, and some original music and have a new album coming out "Million Miles More" available for pre-order here. Alice Cooper sings on one track which should make for an interesting mix of music.

Blue Coupe

Blue Coupe

The inimitable Tish and Snooky Bellomo, always a joy to watch perform. I don't think they couldn't be a more of a joy on or off stage!

Oh look a smiling husband, 'tis a rare thing to be found in the wild! And I'm not grimacing as usual, though that wonky right eye is still swollen and bugging me. Oh I can't wait until I can wear contacts again!



Dennis Dunaway in a classic rock n' roll pose. Classic says it all!

Dennis Dunaway's glam bass has a hypnotizing effect on me!

See, hypnotized. I fear Gwensday may want me to customize her bass after seeing this!

 It was a lovely night filled with great friends and great music! They will be performing in Poughkeepsie on Friday, 3 May at Shadows on the Hudson, not positive, but this may be the CD release party, so extra fun! I'm hoping to bring Gwensday, providing I can drive (still having probs because of my bum eye) so maybe I'll see some of you there? Come say hi!

XXX
Jet

Patti Smith's Advice to the Young

I saw this on Disneyrollergirl's site and had to re post. Something I think is important for not only the young, but some of us that are older and get brought down by life's "roller coaster ride". Please feel free to re post, there is some wise advice there that I certainly can relate to, especially having been on the scene at the time.

Patti Smith: Advice to the young from Louisiana Channel on Vimeo.

I felt like adding one of my fav songs... always makes me a bit melancholy, and I don't know why. There's some great old CBGB footage of her singing this, but such poor quality so a chose a newer one.



PS sorry for the repeat to those who saw my posting already on FB, but I wanted this to get more exposure.

XXX
Jet

Two Weeks of Hell (ish) with a Silver Lining

Just before Easter my email accounts disappeared out of Apple Mail, and I've yet to restore them. (Any ideas? They're all gmail accounts.) Which really bites as it was so easy to go from one account to the other and find what I needed to respond to, delete, etc. Okay so computer glitch. I can live with opening a browser and reading email that way, so not a major disaster.

Then my phone went. People could hear me, but I couldn't hear them unless I put them on speaker. At least Apple replaced it, so one less problem to worry about as the worst was yet to come.

 Remember when I said how thrilled I was that I could finally wear contacts? Last week I managed to scratch my cornea, apparently quite badly. I've been at the doctor every day for a week, and if it doesn't heal, off I go to another specialist. I'm terrified. So if you have a spare prayer I sure could use it!

Another set-back happened just before Easter, but I prefer not to talk about that and just pray for the best. (And let it be soon!)

I must say my husband has been taking such good care of me, I don't know if I could do it myself -- I have to use various drops every hour and get a 3-hour break during the night. So we're exhausted as well. Even Gwensday was the best nurse when my husband had something he couldn't get out of, and made sure I got those drops, even asking if I wanted food or drink (I can barely eat, I think its more depression over this whole thing rather than anything physical -- hey I can stand to lose a couple of pounds before bikini season!) I love my family so much, they're the best!

Enough of the negative, on to the positive...

A few weeks ago on FB I posted two pieces of furniture my great-grandfather made. My cousin was trying to clear out my aunt's apartment (she's had to be put in a nursing home) and I sobbed loudly (waking everyone in the house!) thinking it would go just anywhere. So even though I've no room, I took both pieces. I'll make room, selling pieces that don't mean anything to me! Here they are before paining and polishing.

There is some interesting history that goes back to Naples, Italy around the time of the Industrial Revolution, another reason I couldn't bear to see the furniture go just anywhere. My great-great grandfather worked for King Umberto in the castle, carving and creating furniture. The king's son and my great-grandfather were best friends. I had heard that this particular king was known for bestowing titles on those he favoured. So he made my great-great grandfather a Count. My great-grandfather gave up his title to become an American citizen, had he not, the title would have been passed down through each generation, making me a Countessa! (When I had my indie lingerie line I named it "The Countess" in homage.) I always knew I should be royalty! Heehee!

Here comes the freaky part... When I was reading "Infinite Variety" about the Marchesa Luisa Casati, I found out her family was also given their title by King Umberto! Kind of freaked me out, so I had to put the book away for awhile. (Especially when I realised my great uncle was named after the king.)

My great-great grandfather's work is still in the castle (and church too I believe) so one day I will go and see part of my family history. For now, I am happy to have these beautiful pieces, and swear I will write it in my will that they can't go to anyone outside the family (like the lease on the property on the other Italian side, that my grandmother got talked into selling for a pittance to a distant cousin, still in the family though. Grr. We could be spending our summers in Italy overlooking the sea!)

The secretary was in bad need of a paint job, and while I usually shudder at people who paint over old pieces, I could tell the wood underneath wouldn't be worth stripping. So the first colour that popped into my head was fuchsia (hey, why not go wild?) Then as I was painting it I kept thinking that if I painted the interior Tiffany Blue (like our bathroom) it would remind me of Marie Antoinette, and all those beautiful silks, not to mention macarons! So that's what I did, and as I was painting the interior it occurred to me that my great aunt (my great grandfather's daughter) was named Antoinette (and was born just down the street from my first shop locale on MacDougal St in Greenwich Village.) Then I realised this belonged to Antoinette's sister, my other great aunt who was born just a few blocks from my shop's second locale, also in Greenwich Village. So while I felt a bit odd painting over, I also felt I instinctively did the right thing. Like my family was giving me the okay. Besides, both Italian sides (who oddly both settled in Greenwich Village when they first came to the US) were artists, and as artists I know they would understand my decision as well as my vision.

The secretary's original state.

First coat of fuchsia!

Second (and final) coat of fuchsia, and Tiffany blue inside.

Inside the drop down desk. I've yet to line the little drawers or the drawers below. And as you can see from the other pics, I've still got some touching up to do. But I can probably put it in place by the end of the week!

The interior of the upper part. Instead of painting the underside of the shelves I used some fairytale themed scrap booking paper. Very magical looking if you happen to look up!

Close up of the hand carved legs. I sort of sponged silver over them as well as the hardware afraid that I wouldn't get hardware I'd love, or that it wouldn't get put back in properly after all these years in place. I also added some silver to the top finial. (yes I know I missed spots, I did it on purpose, wanting to leave some character.)

The chest of drawers original state.

The chest of drawers, fairly well shined up -- was running out of wood oil!

Interior of the chest of drawers. The top drops down, doesn't pull out like the drawers below. That little shadowbox to the left was also my aunt's. I have so many little things taking up space in our china cabinet, so it will get an overhaul and become a showpiece.

I was also gifted a little gnome figurine with an artist's palette and paintbrush at the ready, and one of my aunts faux fur coats that somehow fit (that side of the family were not teeny, they were mostly tall & willowy) so my cousin thought it had to go to me. I love having pieces belonging to family members, it always makes me think of happy times with them. I also came home with a few other tidbits like some cobalt blue pyrex custard cups & a few other decorative pieces. My husband found something quite interesting while dropping some pieces at the Goodwill, but I shan't speak of that now as it may have opened a hornet's nest. Perhaps when we know more I can write about it as its very interesting.

My little artistic gnome!

My aunt's faux fur, its actually a bit lighter in colour & fits a dream!

Before Easter when Gwensday was on holiday she and I had a fun day having lunch with a treasured friend, then heading out to LIC to visit Manic Panic HQ and pick out new colours. They keep coming out with more and more, and have now got a "Manic Mixer/Pastel-izer" to make the colour pastel. I was told only Chris Benz and myself had it thus far! Can't wait to play, just been nervous since I can't see out of my right eye too well and eyeglasses get in the way! Tish and Snooky totally ROCK, and I'm so proud of the empire they've created!

Our new Manic Panic colours! On bottom l to r, Cleo Rose, New Rose, Mystic Heather (for Gwensday) and on top is the Pastel-izer. The pinks are much more vibrant, as is the Mystic Heather. If you'd like to see the true colour go to the MP website; http://www.manicpanic.com

Manic Mixer/Pastel-izer, Cleo Rose, New Rose, Mystic Heather. (On top of the bathroom tissue box, so classy!)

Having pieces of my family history, the love and care of my family and friends was really the silver lining to these trying past few weeks. However, today at my doctor appointment, I got good news! She said it looks much better than Saturday when she saw me last, I can cut down on one of the drops so we can get a whole 4 hours sleep straight through, and was very hopeful it was healing nicely. Last night on Facebook, feeling sorry for myself, I asked for your prayers and positive energy if you could spare some, then today the good news -- I don't believe in coincidences. I have the love of my family and friends to thank for all the prayers and good vibes -- I can't thank you enough, as I know the power of prayer and positive energy and know you all had a hand in this! Please accept my humble thanks. One bad thing is that she didn't think I should wear contacts again, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it as there may even be another type I can use that don't disintegrate or disappear so easily (seriously, I can see I've got it out to the white of my eye, then it disappears!) The weird thing is that I could see better with contacts than I can with eyeglasses, weird eh?

The sun shone brightly today and it was 70 degrees! I noticed a few bunches of crocus and the leaves of my tulips and daffodils are up too. So maybe spring has finally arrived? I hope so!

Have I missed anything fun? If it takes me awhile to get back to you --you know its still the Gmail import to Apple Mail driving me crazy!

Linking up to Lakota's Taa Daa Tuesday: http://faithhopeandcharityshopping.blogspot.com

XXX
Jet

Ramones on Don Kirschner's Rock Concert

A little (well long) something for the weekend, for all of you Ramones lovers ...

For those of you too young to have seen the Ramones live, this is the closest representation I've found thus far of what it was like to be at a Ramones show. You were just blasted with song after song, no time to take a breath between dancing your ass off and having the time of your life! Its a bit long, so watch when you're bored, you'll be bopping around in no time!

This had to have been filmed a bit later, as I recall seeing them in the early CBGB days, they would just stop and start fighting over something on stage, then get back to it. Pretty funny actually!

BTW, this was filmed for Don Kirchner's Rock Concert, a series of concerts every week where he would introduce new acts, as well as feature more established bands. Happy times watching and developing a taste for the varied music of the 70s before I was too young to hit the clubs (okay I started sneaking in very early, so we're talking real young.) We got exposed to so much fantastic music, definitely helping to shape my snobbish (I prefer highly honed) musical tastes today!

Thursday we were in the city for a lovely late lunch with a dear friend and then went out to Manic Panic HQ to stock up on hair dye. More pink for me to play with, a lovely new shade called "Cleo Rose" (who is actually someone we know (a total character who was in the entrtainmnt biz in the 60s.) Manic Panic now makes a new one called Manic Mixer/Pastel-izer, so you can make any of their colours into pastel shades. I was told the designer Chris Benz and I are the first to have it in our grubby little hands, so of course I will be playing with it this weekend! While there, I noticed this fantastic poster of Joey that since I was planning on posting this piece this weekend, thought you would njoy as well!

Joey, we still love and miss you, RIP XXX

Happy Easter/ Passover/ Ostara to all my lovelies!
XXX
Suzanne

The Thrift Store Came Through!

Well it came through this time, maybe they got too many complaints about the outrageous pricing? Although I still found shit clothing labeled as "designer" with prices to match, and old, chipped and crackled dishes priced outrageously. But we managed to ferret out some great stuff, first time in ages.

First up a stack of books, some for each of us, all between 50c & 99c, can't beat that. Especially as Gwensday found a book she can use for High School next year (advanced algebra -- ew I barely made it through regular algebra! Thank goodness she has her Dad's brain for numbers!) Can you guess which one is mine? Muahaha!

Hint: Mine is the second one from top, looks like a wickedly fun trashy novel composed of three stories by three different authors.

And now for Gwensday's picks...

New belt, unused.

Some CD's (No we don't censor her music or reading, she's always been independent and just as long as we discuss everything is much better than parents that monitor and deny -- they'll only go behind your back.)

Funky sneaks that zip on the side, brand new. She plans to draw all over them.

And this is what happened...

She wasted no time, the next morning she came down dressed and wearing these customized sneaks. She calls the red one the "murderous" sneaker because she accidentally got red paint on it, then just went for it. I told her the only thing you can murder with that is a cockroach! Now all her friends want her to paint theirs, I told her get a biz going!

Sjej

I found this one for her and she loved it!

She pans to use this more like an over-shirt/ jacket.

And now for my choices...

Not vintage, but a warm wool cardigan with the beading intact is fine with me.

Lightweight merino wool Breton style top. Love the pink!

I think Vix was infiltrating my brain when I came across this beauty. Fits perfect and will be nice and cool in summer. You can't see the sparkles sewn in, typical Indian dress with a riot of colour. Hey it'll go with whatever hair colour I have!

Another lightweight wool top. Its not black and white, its pink and brown, closer to the second pic.

I got rid of one of these years ago and was always sorry I did. Its a maxi denim dress. Fab in summer, or layered in winter.

Love the wash, looks almost new.

New slippers. They must have been rejects, never worn. I don't care,  I go through this type rather quickly (me bad, I'll wear them outside to sit on the porch!) so $3 is fine for me.

Lastly something I found for my husband. I call it his "cholo" shirt!

Who could resist those skulls?

Wild right? Its enormous, but will be good for tossing over a swimsuit or when you just want something lose and not sticking to your skin! (if the warmth ever comes to NY!)

Lastly, our niece was searching for a prom dress on a very limited budget. She's in St. Louis and I told her to try for vintage, but its expensive there. So I got her size, colour and style preference and, well this was the very first dress I laid my hands on!

The gown.

Sexy back!

Closeup of the front.

Closeup of the back.

She had wanted red or cobalt blue, halter or strapless, and when  I sent pics she loved it but was afraid of size. She was also worried about it being clingy, but this is heavier satin so it will skim instead of cling. I said it's our treat, if it fits and you love it, great. Otherwise maybe another friend would like it. She was so cute, didn't want us to spend money if it wouldn't work, but I put it to her like this "It was less than any tee shirt you've ever purchased. So try it." Might need minor alterations but they shouldn't cost much, and she'll definitely be the only beauty with this dress! It will also look beautiful with her hair and eyes. So I hope it works for her!

Oh one last little gadget. Can you guess what it is?

Its a knife and scissors sharpener! Very sharp and perfect since my utility sheers are always going dull. Not back for a buck!

Well that's it for this week. We had a busy weekend, on Sunday we went to pick up furniture that my great grandfather made. They have a rich history and deserve a post all their own, which I'll do later in the week.

Linking up with Lakota's Taa Daa Tuesday: http://faithhopeandcharityshopping.blogspot.comhttp://faithhopeandcharityshopping.blogspot.com

XXX
Jet