Vintage Chanel from Amélie Boutique

Amélie Boutique is a great online shop that offers a variety of clothing, jewellery bags and shoes and even three gorgeous vintage Chanel bags in pristine condition. I've seen some great Chanel bags from the online store Claire Inc., but never have I seen such quality in the leather. The bags they're selling certainly don't come with a second hand price tag, costing some thousand and a half British pounds each- it's not really what you expect from seeing the words 'vintage' and 'heriloom' but then again the condition is as new, the leather not cracked and the metal plated chain is still completely intact and not showing any signs of wear at all.

 

Beggars can't be choosers when it comes to the vintage market unless you have a lot of cash to mindlessly throw around, in which case you'll have your pick of the litter and get to afford the cream of the crop. There are quite a few lovely Chanel pieces that come online on eBay as well but nothing to this quality and standard.

 

I don't know who in their right mind wouldn't love to flash around a Chanel handbag and keep them cooped up in a wardrobe all day- bags this lovely were made to see the light of day and enjoy the sun! Still, for the person who did choose to hoard away their Chanel treasures, it leaves the people of the present to enjoy the lovely colour of this brilliant Chanel quilted hand bag and the plated gold metal chains without any wear at the corners. When I search around for vintage pieces from high end fashion houses such as Chanel, I'm usually trying to find bags and accessories that are more within my price range as opposed to browsing around their stores in person. You'd have no such luck with the same philosophical approach if you bought a vintage Chanel bag from Amélie Boutique.

 

One of the most gorgeous and my favourite structured bags from Chanel for its vintage design is the bucket bag you see before you with drawstring cord, a leather strap threaded with a gold chain and rich black tassels. This photograph shows off the texture of the leather and how it's survived the test of time with tender love and care and those gorgeous tassels. I think I'm a sucker for just about any vintage Chanel bag as long as it has some tassels attached to it. As well as the tassels of this bag sitting at the top are thick gold charms too with a quilted effect and the iconic double C logo of Chanel.

 

It's sort of been my dream bag hiding in the back of my subconscious for a number of years now but I'll probably never be one of those girls who walks around and everyone is dying to find out who she is. No- I'll be the girl sitting behind her computer screen feeling content for the next number of years as she passes her way through university and trying to transfer into Melbourne University and realise her childhood dreams which now seem impossible. At least for the time being I can go to the library and read copies of Vogue, books of cheesy romances as well as enjoy free wi-fi and indulge in glorious things I'll never be able to buy. If I were a Buddhist I would be the worst example and leading a life heavily influenced by objects and possession but fortunately I'm not that way religiously inclined.

No. 5

Etched into history and folklore comes the golden elixir and most famous perfume world wide, No. 5 by Coco Chanel. I had the opportunity to work as a spritzer girl last Summer promoting Chanel perfume and had to learn the ingredients of a lot of their perfumes as well as No. 5. It taught me that being in a job that's not stimulating and standing up the entire time will make my ribs feel like their being pried from my chest cavity, spraying perfume too much ruins nail polish and that you eventually get used to the smells in your environment and prevents you from no longer enjoying them.

Mademoiselle Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel was a women who was very superstitious and believed in lucky numbers and took inspiration from her French apartment into her perfume. For example, I was told that the stopper of the classic glass bottle for No. 5 took inspiration from the rectangular shape of the court yard outside her window but the glass bottle also took inspiration from toiletry bottles/ whiskey bottles from her lover. For added class and style, each bottle neck is tied off with a white ribbon and wax seal.

This lovely photo shoot contrasts the blue stripes on the straw with the yellow of the jumper, which both match respectively the blue wall and the yellow perfume No. 5- while I don't think it will kill you to try drinking perfume it's not something I would personally recommend. I haven't tried it myself but never have a known anyone to try it, the ingredients are May Rose as well as Jasmine, both originating from a place called Grasse in France. Of course it's only expected to use the finest ingredients and while both those flowers aren't poisonous I'm sure the mixture of alcohol with their absolute and distilled bodies can't taste as nice as it smells.

 

Wish I could own these lovely singlets- I would literally wear them every where I go and team them up with thin pants for comfort as well as flirty skirts and shorts. Too bad these types of designs seem to only live about in alternative markets and hide from the main stream likes of retailers and can't be found anywhere on the Internet.

The iconic bottle has been subjected to many new interpretations among the community on Tumblr such as this cosmic background edited into within the contents of the glass bottle. I've seen a few palmed off and I do like the new take on the bottle, one gets a little sick and bored with seeing the same amber coloured liquid in the bottle. That doesn't necessarily mean I prefer the counter part perfume No. 19 which was Mademoiselle's personal favourite. It has a 'fresh' smell which roughly translates to 'if you like grass and being reminded of hay fever try this one'.

Reinvented and renewed countless times, since the bottle's launch in 1921 it continues to be a firm source of revenue for the fashion house with sales exceeding $100 million a year and a bottle of this perfume, No. 5 is sold once every thirty seconds around the globe. It's success will never really be hampered by economic trends and as perfume is a popular gift at Christmas time I am sure 2011 was no exception to seeing bumper sales records.