Why fake it?

Many women have been faced with this dilemma before: to fake or not to fake? Get your mind out of the gutter, I'm talking about handbags! I have to admit, I've faked it. How was I to know that the "Kate Spade" bag I bought off the street wasn't authentic? That was many years ago. I'm older and wiser now. So imagine how excited I was to find an AUTHENTIC vintage Gucci bag for dirt cheap! 

I wanted to share, so below I've listed the 3 easy steps I used to determine that this little beauty was the real deal.

Step 1: Look at it. Easy enough, right?

At this point, you see the Gucci monogram and signature stripe. Your heart skips a beat. Things are looking good. Let's get closer...

Step 2: Get in there.
Is the bag in good shape? It's normal to see some signs of wear and tear, especially with a vintage bag. However, excessive wear either means the bag was used a lot and is not worth much in it's current condition OR that it's a poor quality fake. Either way, it's not something you want to waste time with. Remember my "Kate Spade" bag? At one point the strap broke and the label started to peel off. I started to get suspicious...

If you look closely at the above photo there are a few scuff marks on the bottom left corner of leather trim. Other than that, all clear...

Stitching

Check out that stitching! A high quality bag will have immaculate, uniform stitches. Also, look at the hardware. This bag has the iconic double-Gs stamped on the buckle and strap connectors. A manufacturer of fakes usually doesn't get involved with the special details.

Step 3: Really get in there!

Next look at the label. Designers often use different label designs and they change over the years. As I've said before, Vintage Fashion Guild's Label Resource is fantastic.

Gucci Label

Now the label is one thing, they can be faked. If you can find a serial number, then you're pretty much guaranteed that you've got the real thing. I looked underneath the label and boom! Hello serial number! 

Serial Number

Thrilling, yes, but the excitement didn't end there, look what else I found:

Zipper pull

It even had the zipper pull! After my deduction, I concluded that this is a real Gucci from the 80s. How did I know it was from the 80s, you ask? I just did a little online search and it was evident that this bag hailed from the decade of big hair and even bigger shoulder pads. 

I hope this was helpful and please let me know if you have any questions! I have one: what do you think of fakes and have you faked it before?

Chester appreciates authenticity