FASHION - Buying My Second Chanel Bag & Why I Sold my First.

A Chanel bag was always my dream bag, since I was 11 years old. I had dreamt about owning a Chanel Classic Flap bag, gold hardware, Caviar leather. If you haven't seen my pervious blog post (click here), I actually purchased my dream Chanel bag in Paris in 2016.

I had turned 21 in January (I celebrated for 6 months, I'm one of those people) and I knew we were going to Paris, and we were going to Paris for me to buy my first Chanel bag (and see Paris obv) that I had wanted for 10 years. I did buy my dream bag. Caviar Leather, Gold Hardware, Maxi Classic Flap. I know a Maxi isn't the most popular classic flap choice, but before I went to Paris I had been to the Chanel boutique in Manchester and looked at the different leathers, they showed me the Jumbo (one of the most popular sizes) I tried the bag on and honestly I wasn't blown away, which is very disappointing when your about to spend thousands on a handbag. I had seen a few people with a maxi and when I saw it it made my heart skip. When I got to the very busy boutique in Paris I tried on a Jumbo & a Maxi and again it was the Maxi that stole my heart, so that's the bag I bought. I was obsessed with that bag and it was such an amazing experience buying my first Chanel bag in Paris (a very fast one, Chanel on Avenue Montaigne was VERY busy). But after I had only used the bag a handful of times I realised it was too big for my new style, I was once into big handbags and now I had veered off to smaller handbags. 
I don't regret buying that bag, because like I said that was my dream bag and it made my heart flutter which is exactly what you want when your spending that much on a bag. So I made the decision to sell it (an experience which I found very long and difficult). I now know the size of bag I love and use, I never actually needed a big bag, I don't carry that much! I sold my first Chanel bag knowing that with the money I wanted to repurchase another Chanel bag in a size I knew I would get use out of. These bags are crazy amounts of money. I know people don't like to talk about prices but I will. My maxi classic flap was £4100 in 2016 and it currently retails for £5200 (2019). I put my Chanel bag up for sale before the most recent price increase and I wanted to sell it for the price of the medium classic flap which at the time was £3990. Then the price increase happened and the medium was then priced at £4300. I ended up selling my maxi for £3800, which meant putting £500 towards getting my new one. With the prices of these bags, I think if I were ever to purchase another Chanel bag I would probably turn to the pre loved market, because like I said it's crazy money, but for my first I did want to buy it brand new. 
I have now purchased my second Chanel bag, which I decided on the Medium Classic Flap bag still with gold hardware, but I decided to change leather and go for lambskin. I did lots of research and I also compared the two leathers in store and the minuet I saw the two leathers side by side I loved the look of the lambskin (in the medium, I do prefer the Maxi & Jumbo in Caviar). I do look after all of my bags, but I am still nervous about lambskin being so soft and delicate, but so many people say its not as delicate as it seems.    

I had never really considered the Medium classic flap bag ever, it was either the Jumbo or the Maxi. Im not someone who thinks you can only use a small bag for the evening, I've taken my medium Givenchy Antigona out in the evening plenty of times. I just didn't want one that was too big, because I realised that the bag I was reaching for the most out of my collection was my Celine Nano Luggage and I had been loving it for the day time and evenings! Then I saw some of my favourite fashion bloggers/instagrammers Chanel bags and they were all the medium classic flap and I thought it was the perfect size. I am really in love with my new bag! The leather is so soft and it just instantly makes any outfit look chic. On my Maxi I did absolutely love the caviar leather, and I did love the look of the whole bag, it was absolutely gorgeous. I was actually shocked at myself when I decided I wanted Lambskin because I never thought I would want a Lambskin bag.  
The Maxi is 23cm in height, 10cm depth and 33cm in width. The Medium is 16cm in height, 7cm depth and 26 in width. Then there is the Jumbo (Large) which is 19.5cm in height, 10cm depth and 30cm in width. There is also a Small which I tried on, which is 14.5cm in height, 6cm depth and 23cm in width. 
My Maxi was my 4th designer handbag, behind my medium Givenchy Antigona, my Louis Vuitton Neverfull MM then I purchased the Givenchy Clutch as I didn't have an evening bag. As you can see with the bags I had bought before my Chanel bag, I was very into larger bags. Out of those above I only use my LV Neverfull, its my everyday bag which I use for work. I don't use my Antigona anymore, again because its now too big for what I look for in a bag, even though I absolutely love that bag and I would love it in the size down. What I'm getting at is that peoples style changes and its ok to buy something and the realise its not what you actually want now. 
If your considering purchasing a Chanel bag I would say make sure you try them on before you make the decision. They are a lot of money and you want to get it right first time because you don't want to loose out on money like I did. 
Is a Chanel bag on your luxury Wishlist? If so, what size, leather and colour? Leave a comment! 
I can't wait to start using my new bag! 
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