Vintage Celine - When The Classics Come Back

Today I was perusing the editor's picks for best Spring accessories on ELLE.com
and look what I found

The classic calfskin brown box bag by Celine for $3400 at Barneys New York

wow...$3400

I'm glad that I still have virtually the same bag that I purchased at the Celine boutique in Paris

in the mid 1980s. (My bag has the Celine logo on the clasp and a shorter strap)

(I actually bought 3 Celine bags on that trip and happily I still have them all)

I doubt that I paid as much as $340 for that bag then...and I got the VAT back.

Will carry it this Spring?  Probably not.

But it makes me happy just to know that I'm so thrifty that I'm chic because I kept this and several other nice bags from my former life as a trophy wife.

Trophy wife or not....as David pointed out in his comment that Celine was the poor girl's Hermes and he was absolutely correct.  So I shall amend my description to having been a trophy wife married to a thrifty Swiss banker!

Vintage Value Venture - Getting Red-y For Fall

A little Fall Fantasy Fashion

Givenchy Couture Red Suit from AntiqueDress.com $865

Manolo Blahnik Red Patent Shoes from Rodeo Drive Resale $229

Vintage Elizabeth Arden Red Alligator Bag from Vintage Skins $2475

Gold Dome Earrings from Beladora.com $1350

(note, the earrings are similar to the buttons on the jacket)

22 Karat Gold Chain Necklace from Beladora.com $3950

Yeah, it's a great look....but where would I wear it?

Vintage Value Venture - Blue and Gold - Summer Colors Westwood Style

Catherine Malandrino Blue Summer Dress at Rodeo Drive Resale

Vintage Hammered Gold Doorknocker Earrings from Beladora2.com

Vintage Handbags from Decadestwo at Haute Look

Light blue and gold...a little touch of the local look... for less.

Savvy Shopping - Some Like It Haute

Prada Bag on Weekend Sale at HauteLook.com

Hautelook.com offers limited time only sales like this one with couture handbags from the uber high end vintage boutique, Decades Two. I'm not sure if I would shop on a website that has a clock ticking down the minutes but I think it is a brilliant marketing move by HauteLook to create a sense of urgency...particulalry as items sell while you're looking...it's an impulse shopper's paradise (or hell).

But how reasonable are the prices, I just don't know. It this used handbag worth $1700? Is 35% off the original retail price a good deal?