Some say that happiness comes from within, but my happiness, in this instance, was wrapped up in a new handbag, a Givenchy Antigona – to be precise, and all its purple goat’s skin glory.
With five days of new-bag-joy under my arm, which saw me strutting like Beyonce through the streets of Sydney, I headed off to meet a friend for post-mad-week-at-work Friday night drinks.
Like a couple of grown ups, we quibbled over whether to drink the Australian or Turkish chardonnay as I placed my bag on the seat next to me, deciding that beautiful bag deserved at least the seat, since a plinth was unavailable.
A couple of wines and a lot of laughs later, disaster struck. Like a slow-mo scene in a Bruce Willis movie, our waitress poured, in a ridiculous accident, oil and balsamic vinegar all over my bag. The viscous liquid began burrowing its way through the grains of the leather, through the zip and embedding itself, for a new life of luxury in places oil and balsamic vinegar should never be seen.
Needless to say after the restaurateur suggested soda water, water, a wet cloth and a dry cloth and nothing improving the situation, I consumed a bottle of wine and continued to rub at the stain dramatically. My heart sank – it was actually getting worse.
I did what any semi-drunk heart-broken woman would do – I searched Google for a solution. I found articles about corn flour, which sounded legitimate, until I did as suggested and created, what appeared to be, a scene from Narcos. Thankfully, in my second round of Google searches I found Bagsamoré .
Bagsamoré , based in Redfern in Sydney, specialises in returning luxury bags back to their former, just purchased, glory – a service that many bag lovers will no doubt find invaluable. Using the beautifully simple and highly functional website I sent a series of panicked messages to a woman I know now as Freya (who was very patient with me and gave me great comfort that this was, in fact, an easy fix).
Having worked in the UK for years doing the same thing, Freya began Bagsamoré 18 months ago. Now, Freya receives bags from all around the country and is able to solve any number of designer dramas. Freya fixes leather handles, faded colour, cleans canvas, fixes metal clasps, re-dyes, touches up and generally makes bags look exactly like the day you bought them. Using specially imported leather paint, Freya matches colour perfectly.
Other companies doing similar things either charged four times more or weren’t sure if they would get the result I wanted. Freya was a calming balm to a panicked new bag lady and took care of the whole thing with ease in just two weeks.
Bagsamoré is on Instagram showcasing before and after photos that are nothing short of miraculous. This is the perfect place to give old designer bags, once stuffed at the back of the closet, a new lease on life.
Quotes organised through the site. Bag drops by appointment. Australia Post and couriers can be organised through Bagsamoré.
