I did it guys! I finally acquired one of my dream bags!!! I can’t believe that she’s finally mine at long last, and my heart literally swoons every time I think about her. All of my friends can attest that this bag was all that I could talk about for the last year or two and I’m sure that they’re just as happy as I am that I finally have one of my collection so that I can finally stop mulling over it to them haha. But she’s here, and after using her for the past several months, I felt that I had a solid enough grasp of the bag and my experience with her that I was able to finally put together a comprehensive review.
If you’ve watched one of my Designer Handbag Reviews on YouTube, then you’ll know that I like to really go in hard on my designer pieces to dissect whether or not they’re worthwhile of your time and money. I’ve definitely made several regrettable purchases in the past, but I’m happy to say that this bag is not one of them. So if you’ve had your eye on this vintage design for awhile now and are hesitant to take the plunge, I would highly recommend giving this video a watch. Hopefully it can help you to make your final decision. Make sure to grab a snack or a drink though, because the video is long, but I go through the entire process of purchasing a vintage online, getting it shipped via overseas, and my experience with the bag itself!
I’ll provide a quick summary here on the blog as to my reasoning as to why I selected this specific size, colour, and material, but I do go further in depth on the video if you’d like more details. I’ve been dreaming of this bag for a few years now ever since I first laid eyes on it, and it didn’t help when I found out that it was a discontinued vintage that was difficult to get ahold of. Although the bag itself isn’t necessarily considered “rare” the fact that it was no longer in production and easy to get ahold of in store made me want it even more. I don’t know why, but I just have this affinity towards vintage Chanel pieces that I don’t quite get from their new collections.
Anyways, long story short, because this specific bag style was discontinued by the brand, I knew that any bag that I purchased would never be in pristine condition or new. There was always going to be some form of wear-and-tear to it (even those that have been maintained to perfection have lost a bit of the puffiness in their quilting), and I would have to settle with knowing that any bag that I purchased wouldn’t look pristine—which I’m fine with. But price fluctuates with quality, and although this bag is a vintage, you can find some on the market at relatively cheap price points in comparison to other Chanel bags.
The price tag of this bag does typically come with a caveat though—the condition that it’s in. I’ve seen this bag on the market priced at $2.5K with folds, scratches, tarnished hardware, and complete lack of structure, to bags on the market priced at $7K with extremely puffy quilting, rebuffed leather, and pristine hardware. I knew that I would most likely have to shell out a bit more if I wanted a bag that was in decent condition. Spoiler alert, I ended up paying around $5K CAD for mine (duties and customs fees not included), and she is by no means perfect, but I still love her!
Also knowing that every bag is a vintage means that it has already aged, and will continue to age with use. I knew that over time, even with the utmost of care, any bag that I brought home would eventually slowly loose its shape the more that I used it. Which is why I landed on the small size as opposed to the medium, and in the black finish as opposed to another colour. My main goal for this bag was to be able to alternate it between my other smaller everyday bag.
My typical everyday bag (Gucci Soho Disco) has gone through the ringer and is definitely showing a lot of wear and tear, and I wanted a new bag to alternate between—don’t worry, I won’t be wearing my Diana into wet weather conditions because the lambskin would definitely not be able to handle it. While this particular bag won’t be able to replace my current everyday bag completely as a workhorse bag, I was confident that the combination that I was after would withstand most things that I would put it through in everyday use.
I also chose black, because I wanted to comfortable while using the bag without worrying about stains. The first Chanel bag that I ever purchased was a beige patent leather and to this day I regret that colour choice because every stain is like a beacon. The next decision was the material, which I chose lambskin, and this was primarily a financial decision, because I would ultimately choose caviar whenever possible since it’s significantly more durable of a leather. However Chanel didn’t release as many caviar Dianas as they did the lambskin ones, so those ones are a bit more rare and will run you an extra $2-3K per bag compared to its lambskin counterpart.
And because I went with a lambskin finish (which is extremely delicate and prone to scratches, creases, and stretching), I opted for the small size as opposed to a medium. After comparing many images of the bags online, I noticed that most small Dianas tended to maintain their structural integrity and shape over time significantly better than the medium ones did. Knowing the risk of a lambskin medium bag sagging and collapsing on itself over time, it didn’t feel like a worthwhile investment for me to purchase a bag only to know that it would collapse in the future—but that’s a discussion for later, as I do intend to purchase the medium size eventually, but in the caviar finish).
After spending ages researching various resellers online (I flitted back and forth between The Real Real, Rebag, Fashionphile, and some other ones) I actually ended up purchasing mine from @mygrandfathersthings through Instagram! While it may sound a little bit sketchy to most, I actually much preferred my experience there over the other websites. Not only is she a Diana specialist (she primarily sources and resells Dianas, but includes other designs from time to time), but you get the opportunity to interact with her directly. Given that she lives in Hong Kong and has a completely opposite schedule to mine, she was always still quick to respond and to send through any images of the bag that I wanted in addition to the ones that she shared. My whole purchasing process with her was itself a process though, so I won’t bore you with the minute details, but if you are interested, make sure to watch the full video on YouTube where I dive in to the experience and whether or not I would recommend purchasing through her. Spoiler Alert: I do!
And that’s how I wound up with my small black lambskin Diana! Is she perfect? Absolutely not, but do I still love her? 100%. Even though she may have previously belonged to someone else, for some strange reason, it still feels like she’s always been and will forever be mine. So if you’re waiting for a sign to buy this bag, this is it! Do it!
