I knew it was time to take the plunge and finally purchase the coveted handbag when I found myself taking every opportunity during my morning and afternoon breaks at work, to hungrily eye photos of Chanel Classic Flap handbags posted by its owners on Instagram. I was envious of how carefree and chic the girls looked with the gold metal and leather chain casually hanging on the crook of their arms. I loved how some of the girls even dared to accessorize their Chanel Classic Flap handbags with a pair of beat up Converse sneakers, the ultimate declaration of what high-low fashion really is.
When I walked into the San Francisco Chanel boutique for the umpteenth time, the sales girls weren't surprised to see me. The handbag is such a major investment piece that I wanted to make sure this wasn't just an impulse buy, so I wrote out a pros and cons list. Buying a second-hand handbag was out of the question and I preferred to save and pay the full retail price with the piece of mind in knowing it was authentic and flawless upon inspection. I did my research and decided on the black caviar in the small size. Back in February of this year, the San Francisco Chanel boutique didn't have the size in small and the sales associate wasn't sure when they'd get them in because there was a possibility of the size small being phased out due to the fact that there wasn't that much of a major size difference between the size small and medium, and asked if I was interested in the medium size instead. I sniffed and said no thank you, I was on a tight budget and I wasn't about to blow a few hundred dollars more just for an inch of extra space.
The Neiman Marcus store was on the next block and luckily the Chanel boutique had the size in small. I've owned the handbag for over 6 months now and truthfully, I very rarely use it except for special occasions and wasn't meant to be used as an every day purse. The purse holds special meaning for me because it was my reward after finally landing a better job after seven long years of job hunting and the endless interviews and thousands of online resume submissions that went along with it (for those of you who are still in that boat, hang in there. Persistence pays off, so don't give up!) As far as what you can fit into it...not much. What I normally can fit into the purse is my iphone and an LV wallet that's about 8" x 4." On the purse forums I was reading about quality issues and when I brought this up to the sales associate she said most of it is due to people overloading their purse and being rough with it.
When I was doing my research one of the common concerns I've read is how you're going to be perceived by others when carrying this bag. For me there's a time and a place for it. It's not something that I'd carry to a family birthday picnic or any informal setting for that matter and I wouldn't be caught dead carrying this purse to work either. I try not to worry about what others think and I figure most people speculate that it's a fake anyway and think nothing of it.
Using common sense, this isn't a handbag you should be carrying to a hip but rundown part of the town and just casually sling on the back of your chair. I've read too many stories of their Chanel classic flaps being stolen even in the most elegant of cafes in Paris, the Cafe de Flore.
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