A Cautionary Tale

Finding authentic designer things while thrifting is very rare. It’s easy to spot a fake but convince yourself that it’s the real deal because you want it to be. You get a shiver down the spine. The hairs on your arm stand on end. You start planning the blog post you’re going to write about your amazing hunting skills, only to get your treasure home, look at in the light and discover that it was a fake all along.

I’ve trained myself to be less gullible when it comes the second hand knock offs. Plus with all the world’s knowledge packed into my self phone, I can always search for authentication on the internet while standing in the aisle of a thrift shop. But that doesn’t mean I still don’t get delulu. Take this Sonia Rykiel bag. It was priced at $4.99. I googled it. I found listed on a resale site priced at $130. I quickly took it to the self-checkout thinking I was getting away with the greatest heist ever.

The problem is that in my excitement to verify authenticity, I did not examine the condition of this cute little drawstring purse. For instance, originally it was meant to have handles. I thought maybe it was a slightly different, handle less variation. On my bus ride home, I took a little peek inside. I could the little stubs of the original handles.

When I got home and had an even closer look, I discovered a long slash in the bottom of the bag.

So my advice to all thrifters, take your time and examine any piece you’re buying. And don’t spend too much money on any object unless you know you can fix it up or you are planning on keeping it for yourself.