And what made me so sure about the authenticity of black bag I’d picked up the month before in Atlanta? The tag was likely sliced because, back in the 1990s, Dooney cut the serial numbers off bags it deemed to have even minor imperfections. This is what I call a slow build to madness.I know how often Chanel items are faked. Most Dooney’s have zippers from Italian brand “RIRI.” The black bag had no sewn-in tag with a serial number, which the blogs told me was not good. In an emailed statement, Chanel shared that “The price adjustments only regard Chanel’s iconic handbags, 11.12 and 2.55, as well as Boy, Gabrielle, Chanel 19 bags and certain small leather goods. The waist strap is crafted thin and ladylike. So why all the inconsistencies to what I found on purse forums? It’s a lot of knowledge to amass.Retail, Tourism and Workplace Culture ReporterWhen I first felt my mom’s wallet’s hefty soft leather, I thought this has to be real. Seemingly, there were not enough true experts to manage the massive inventory the RealReal was receiving as it gained popularity.“The Chanel embossing is correct and the leather is consistent with ‘caviar’ leather,” she wrote. Explore the Handbags Spring-Summer 2020 Collection on the CHANEL website, and explore the latest silhouettes and styles that mark the creative vision of CHANEL. Although the “YKK” zipper wasn’t as common, it was used in the bag I found. Sometimes I take it out to use as a clutch for weddings. But that’s not uncommon with vintage items.We were on the hunt for a “Made in Italy” or “Made in France” stamp, though she admitted with the age of the wallet it could have rubbed off.Turns out I am the owner of some inbetweenie Frankenstein wallet, which seems like the perfectly appropriate, not totally satisfying end to this exhausting journey.“It’s difficult to teach this stuff,” Sadowsky told me over the phone. It’s not that they were wrong — it’s just that there are so many variables.In scanning every centimeter of the wallet to find clues, I discovered in a tiny engraving on the snap enclosure, the words “Juen Bang.” A snap manufacturer, Sadowsky informed me, Chanel has never used.But my obsession to find out if my thrifted bags were real bled into finally getting to the bottom of the Chanel wallet. Some, she paid hundreds of dollars to obtain. But it didn’t seem like a total fake, either. She spent years learning the trade from a former veteran Dooney employee.By the time I drove home, I was convinced I wasted my money. “There’s only a couple that almost fooled me. Some RealReal authenticators, according to those reports, were more trained in writing copy about fashion than they were in verifying designer goods. The new Velvet Pearl Crush line is made available in a mini clutch and box with chain. I could tell they were both real leather, but that isn’t always enough.Sadowsky told me there are two likely scenarios: the wallet either had its hardware replaced in an effort to refurbish it, or the original wallet was stripped for parts. The Chanel Metiers D’Art Pre-Fall 2020 Small Leather Goods Collection brings in a variety of designs with chain straps. Keep up with PurseBlog by signing up for our newsletter.This collection was far more demure than what we’ve come to expect from runway shows and the over-the-top settings and themes Lagerfeld seamlessly presented season after season. A bag that will surely be coveted was a top handle bag that has classic nods to the house along with a metal bar a-top. That means someone could have purposely removed the authentic Chanel logo zipper-pulls to use on a fake bag to help it pass as real.It’s normal for an authenticator to only be a true expert in one, or maybe a few, designer brands — not all of them. When I first felt my mom’s wallet’s hefty soft leather, I thought this has to be real. And while I almost felt like this collection was a tad bland, it was also pretty. As for the green bag? The clothes were nods to the house in every way and the collection was less of an over-the-top-look-at-me event and more of a very Parisian delight. Except, my mother was more the Mickey-Mouse-overalls type than the $900-luxury-wallet type. The bags were pretty, but they were, dare I say it, a bit boring.