Fendi and Chanel

I had a *great* op shopping trip a couple of weeks ago, with my 'big' girl, Miss N.  She was cursing me at every turn, with me grabbing amazing finds the second we'd walk into the stores.  In the one trip I found -   a reasonably current (and apparently never used) Tupperware colander (the double one that locks together), a brand new Lorna Jane top (with the built in support), brand new Colorado leather bag (tags still on it), a vintage Fendi bag and a vintage Chanel scarf.  *None* of these items cost more than $5 each.  Now, as with all designer items, there are plenty of knock-offs out there, but I suspect that the Fendi is probably real.  Which is awesome, of course :P  The Chanel scarf, I also think may be real.  Here is why....

The Fendi has a *lot* of wear - it's clearly quite old.....yet is still in remarkably sturdy condition.  All of the hardware has the logo/name engraved, it's spelled correctly, even font and not crooked.

 As you can see, there's a Fendi zipper pull, and the handle of the bag, front clasp and part around the zip are leather.  The outer material is firm and heavyweight and the lining (always a bit of a giveaway on fakes) is heavyweight black satin.  Very lush.

 See the Fendi symbol underneath the zip, and the heavyweight lining that is also in the zippered section?  Yep, pretty good indication of the real deal.  All of the stitching on the bag is lovely, even and neat - the thread is contrast on the leather parts only, almost entirely blending in on other parts (as it should be).

 This is the front outer - note that when the flap is closed, the pattern lines up?

 The underneath of the front clasp - Fendi and Made in Italy, engraved.  The only thing that I think is slightly suspect is that the screws should be flat head rather than philips - though this bag is pre-serial number, so perhaps not.

All in all - it's either a genuine vintage find, or a *very* good fake ;)

Now, the Chanel scarf.  It's very difficult to know for sure, with scarves (with some exceptions, such as vintage Pucci, which have some obvious things to look for).  However, I believe this one might be real, for the following reasons.

It's not over the top, or garish - quite subdued and stylish.  Not totally covered in the Chanel symbol, as a lot of the obvious fakes are.  It has that very distinctive 'little old lady' smell lol.  As though it's been sitting in a cupboard for a very long time.  There are other signs of age, a couple of marks in the fabric, a little damage in one edge.  It has a quite lovely 'raw' edge (looks like a mini fringe), no ugly machine stitching like most of the cheap fakes tend to have.  The feel is nice, it's not silk twill, possibly rayon.  Almost impossible to know for certain, but at $3.00, I'm not really all that concerned ;)