The sales girl at Chanel took way more pictures of my Jumbo than I did.
Never in my life had I looked at a bag of mine and shrieked in absolute horror. Where do I even begin? I could start with having left my Chanel Jumbo in its Coco Mademoiselle-illustrated dustbag on my soft bedroom stool for over a month (and therefore not realising if this had happened way before today). I could also start with the pile of clean laundry that’s begging to be ironed, sitting on my couch beside my bag, after a weekend of F1 revelry. Or I could just backtrack and talk about the moment I bought it some years ago (oh wait, actually I already did).
But none of that matters now. Not now when I’m taking a quick glance at this treasure and see some glaringly obvious dark blue spots on its otherwise flawless chain strap. I don’t think I’ve ever opened my eyes – and mouth – this wide before, and the last time I held my breath for this long was when we were kids and competing to see who could stay underwater the longest. The fact is this, that my beloved Chanel Jumbo is now completely destroyed.
I immediately put a hold on every other thing I had planned that day, and made sure to bring it to the professional bag cleaner at once. Who would have thought, that the lady at the counter would suggest I bring it to Chanel and have them change the strap entirely? Well, who knew Chanel even did that?
So to Chanel I went. I didn’t even bother pretending to be interested in any of the display pieces and just went straight to the nicest looking staff member, who was also available. And just like everyone else who had seen this bag after me, she reacted as if I was showing her a baby suffering from a terrible rash. She did try her best to be nice, as all Chanel sales reps are, and asked if I could wait on the tweed couch while she took it back to have some documentation done and receipt printed for me.
She re-emerged about what seemed like 20 minutes later, during which I saw two different girls come in and try the same pair of fall-winter pre-collection boots. She showed me the photographs that were just taken of my bag, both inside and out, and a receipt that stated any defects that my bag already had from wear and tear. Just to tell you, I now understand my bag a bit more, like how it has the kind of minute scratches on the inside, and where to find that serial number which all authentic Chanel bags have.
I know, I should have been more in tune with the whole knowing my bag’s serial number and keeping the authenticity card somewhere safe. But I bought it at THE Rue Cambon store. And because nothing can be more authentic than that whole experience, plus I’m never planning to sell my bag because it means something significant to me, as long as Chanel recognises its own bag, it’s good enough for me.
Anyhow, at this point, my bag is now in the hands of the trusty Chanel store at Ngee Ann City, Singapore. It might be a 1 month wait, if I’m lucky. If the chain is out of stock and has to be shipped in from France, it could be a 3 to 6-month wait. It’s all right. Take it as if I’m paying $350 for proper storage of my bag while I busy myself with making more YouTube videos (check out my channel here) and getting more gorgeous pieces done for TROUVEE.CO.
So while I wait it out, could you show me a picture of your own Chanel for me to admire? If you blogged about it, you can leave the link to your blog entry below. You can also tag me on Instagram (@RoxanneSaynac)if you post about your bag. It’s just been a day and I’m already missing mine.
Breathe,
Roxanne