The Bag That Got Away (No Longer)

I have few fashion regrets overall- though of the few, two notably involve a Louis Vuitton Speedy 30. My very first designer bag purchase (in the classic Monogram, of course), I made the mistake first in the early 2000's - 2001, to be exact - of missing out on the Stephen Sprouse-designed graffiti styles released as part of a limited edition collection.

In all fairness, in 2001, I was a young college student, cocktailing in New York - and accordingly, that would have been a pretty hefty expenditure. But I've never forgotten the bag, and have often lamented that it's the bag that got away.

Until yesterday, that is, when while vintage shopping on the Lower East Side with Sarah, we stumbled upon the beauty above at Pilgrim -a perfectly preserved and authentic (of course!) Speedy 30 from the "original" Stephen Sprouse collection (you may remember that Marc Jacobs again riffed on these in 2008 with neon editions, boasting smaller graffiti). While I had been in the market for a vintage Chanel yesterday (oops), I knew that I'd forever regret passing up on the opportunity to snag this bag - particularly given how rarely it surfaces at online auction and how trepidacious I am about authenticity when buying designer online.

If you're in the market for pristine vintage, particularly Chanel, visit Pilgrim NYC at 70 Orchard Street (and if you're in the market for the same vintage Speedy 30, I did surface this one online at Yoogi's Closet for $1,195)