So, for my first ever designer purchase, I went all out. After all, it’s “go big or go home”, am I right?
I had been saying for some time that my favourite designer brand was Chanel, but never thought I would have been lucky enough to get my hands on one due to the hefty price tag.
Just under a month after my 22nd birthday, I treated myself to what could only have been described as my dream bag. November 2nd, 2019 was the day I bought her after setting my eyes on her just a couple of months prior.
My Chanel experience
November 2nd, 2019. A very, very early start; 2:30am wake-up for a 4:30am train from Newcastle to London. After next to no sleep at all, my friends and I boarded the train and set off on our 3-or-so hour journey, arriving into King’s Cross at the ugly hour of 8 am.
It was my friend, Alex’s, wonderful idea to stop off and get some breakfast at a posh restaurant next to the station, where I got a few measly rashers of bacon and one croissant! Yay! After trying to fill myself up on as much overpriced bacon and pastry as possible, we then headed off to Westfield shopping centre where we browsed for a couple of hours (mainly Bershka). Then, before heading off to Chanel we had a wander ’round Covent Garden and the vicinity.
Now for the good part…
At 2 pm we made our stop at the Chanel Boutique on New Bond Street, where I was approached by a sales assistant asking if I was interested in making a purchase. Finally, the day had come where I could say “YES” instead of “no thank you, just browsing”. He took my name and email address as there was a short waiting list in the store and told me to just have a browse around while waiting to be seen.
After roughly 15 minutes of browsing the ground and upper floor’s in Chanel, it was finally my turn! The same man approached me and asked what he could help me with, so I gave him the item “Reference” number, shown on the Chanel website. He started typing on his tablet to see if the product was in stock and he looked at me and said, “this product isn’t in stock, but we have it in some different sizes” and my heart…dropped. I had all the emotions in that second to break down and cry, but I held it in and asked what other sizes he had.
Oops! Silly me! The bag I had been viewing on the Chanel website was in fact the “medium” bag (I thought it was the “small”) so he pulled out the “Chanel Flap Bag with Top Handle (Iridescent Grained Calfskin Silver-Tone Metal) in small” and it was everything I had been hoping for and more. He let me hold it and try it on to make sure I found no faults. But honestly, as soon as I saw him take that bag out of the drawer, I knew she was mine. So one thing I have learned; always check the dimensions to save yourself from a mini heart attack. Don’t be me.
I asked how much the bag was just to double-check and he said “£2,920”. Want to know a lil secret? The bag I had been viewing online was £3,150. SCORE!
I then confirmed that I wanted to make my purchase and I was asked if I had ever shopped with Chanel before, to which I replied that I had not and was handed a form to fill out with my contact details on.
While I was writing out my information on the form given to me, they were busy packaging up my bag. Next thing I knew, it was time to pay! I walked into this dark back-room with a woman facing me behind her desk, it all seemed very serious. I was asked some questions and then given the card reader…and even though I knew I had the money in my account, I still got butterflies in my stomach in case my card decided to decline on me for some unknown reason. Luckily, it was accepted! I made my first Chanel purchase! I grabbed my bag from the table and left the very dark back-room to reunite with my friends!
Of course, when we left the building it started chucking it down with rain and even though she was all boxed up, I didn’t even want the box or black bag it comes in to get wet! I spent the rest of my day making sure the box/bag didn’t get beaten up by walls and people rushing past.
What would I add to my Chanel experience?
Even though I paid almost £3,000 on one item, I didn’t feel like I got the extraordinary “experience” that people talk and rave about – where was the Champagne? Or maybe they thought I was too young, but it wouldn’t have hurt to have asked. I did, however, feel the experience of going into the backroom to pay made up for it! That was pretty cool.
Her name?
I call her Elsa!
Thanks for reading!
I will be doing another post more in-depth about the bag itself. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments!
