Tuesday 1 March 2011

A Slightly Unlikely Bag Affair with Longchamp

Almost three years ago, an officemate who was sent to Florence for a business meeting came back to Seoul excited to show off the bag he bought for his sister. It was a Lonchamp Paris shopping bag in navy blue. Not to be a snoot, but I kind of wrinkled at the thought of him buying a tote made of what was obviously polyvinyl fiber for a whooping one hundred Euros.

Fast forward to 2010, and Longchamp Paris, at least in Pinas, is the current rage in bags. And in typical Pinoy fashion, what usually costs about 100 USD in Seoul (and this is not from Duty Free Shops but the regular Longchamp store in Seoul’s Lotte Department Store) is priced at 7k in Pinas. Is it just me, or do retailers in Pinas intentionally jack up their prices to make their items more “high-end” thus more desirable? ( Another case in point, a friend bought an LV wallet in Greenbelt during his vacation. When he came back to Seoul, we checked the price at the local LV shop, and we were surprised that the wallet was actually 3k pesos cheaper in Seoul !)

Anyway, on my recent trip home to Pinas, I had to purchase a few LC bags for some clients (Apparently, what I sold for about 5.7k in Pinas was 9k in a Department Store in Manila). And the God of Bags and Sneakery played a trick on me, a decidedly non-fan of LC.

I saw the bag and I know I had to buy it.


There is no model written at the back though. It just says “ Modele Depose” so I don’t actually know the exact model , but it’s a medium, long handle LC with fabric (thick canvass?) material. It’s pretty neutral-looking with its stripes, which is fine by me as I use it both for work and play.I like how it looks small when the sides are folded but it's big enough to be my trusty shopping bag on weekends .



Not a bad deal for a $130.00 bag.


And though I still don’t particularly like LC’s regular mono-colored shopping bags ( I find them overpriced considering they’re made of PVC material), come May, on my way back to Pinas for a short break, I am now sure I’d make time for a short detour to the Longchamp DFS for my LC fix ;-)

11 comments:

  1. Love it, I share your opinion "( I find them overpriced considering they’re made PVC material)", thats why when my wife bought one of those "Special Edition" LC's I didn't raise too much of a stink. LOL! Do I sound gay for commenting on my wifes choice of bags? OMG.

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  2. Hahaha! No, it's actually sweet that you care about your wife's choice of bags! ;-)

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  3. so much like the bag! i wonder wala pako nakita nyan sa rustan's? or maybe they have in DF.. Love the bag!!

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  4. Haha Roxy good find no? Bought it (and all LC requests) from LC's shop at Incheon Duty Free. I dropped by din sa DF Sa Fiesta Mall to check the LCs haha. Wala rin dun! So happy nga to get it hehe!

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  5. Thanks tinapay! I love it too! ;-) Am looking forward to another search for the perfect LC bag for me come May haha~

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  6. hi,are there a lot of selection of Longchamp bags at Lotte dept store? planning to do some LC shopping while i'm there for a vacation next month. do they sell authentic LCs there? thanks :)

    btw,love your bag! - i believe it's called a Coup De Pinceau. Saw that at SFO LC boutique last yr. Lovely!

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  7. Hi Marian! Yep there's a lot of bags there and they also have the latest collections na :-) Uy walang fake dito na LCs sis, haha ang mga bata dito naka LP na nga eh. Meron mangilan ngilan na Made in China sa Lotte Dept. pero they tell you na it's made in China so alam mo rin. Though to be honest, it's better to buy sa LC sa DFS :-)

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  8. thanks for your reply! :) on the side, how come mas okay bumili sa dfs? cheaper ba compared to lotte or better variety? :)

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  9. Marian, Yes at all points above haha!

    a. It's at least 20% cheaper than the retail prices at Lotte

    b. They have hard to find back-issues of LCs

    c. Lahat ng models sa spring collection mas complete sa DFS

    Anyhoo there's actually a better way to buy LCs haha, still sa Lotte, but email me at joeanne@thelittlecoolshop.com when you're here na and kung may time samahan kita magbuy sa Lotte Myeongdong. They issue kasi Lotte member's card = discount. haha!

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  10. wow! that's great! i hope to meet you then (sayang ang discount) hahaha! mahal pala sa Lotte dept store :) are they like our rustans?

    would be good to meet a new friend :) thanks so much for the generosity, sis!

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