A few months ago, I treated myself to Louis Vuitton Petit Noé bag. What a thrill! After moving into our new house three years ago, my entire salary pretty much went into making our house a cozy home.
This year, the purse strings finally loosened up and I bought myself a bag that I had been dreaming of for years: the Louis Vuitton Monogram Petit Noé (pronounce “no-ay”). I really liked this bag’s shape, as it is very in style right now, yet incredibly classic. Furthermore, this is one of Louis Vuitton’s (LV) oldest styles and it has an interesting history…and I’m a sucker for history.
The Louis Vuitton Petit Noe – A History Lesson
Noé was created in 1932, along with other Louis Vuitton icons – the Alma, the Keepall and the Speedy. The Noé was born due to the request of a champagne producer who needed a practical bag to carry bottles of champagne. The Noé was designed to literally be a “bucket-shaped bag” which could carry four upright bottles of champagne and a fifth upside down in the centre. The drawstring would secure the bottles from rattling around. The name of the bag, “Noé”, is in reference to a biblical hero who planted vines on the mountains of Ararat upon leaving Noah’s Ark after the Great Flood. Cool.
The original Noé was made of pale-coloured leather mimicking the colour of Champagne, but has since been made in many different types of fabric, including Damier Azur and beautiful Epi leather.
The New Louis Vuitton Petit Noe – Not What It Was “Cracked Up” To Be
At the beginning of this year, I ordered my beloved bag brand new from the Louis Vuitton website. I was sorely let down after the monogram canvas cracked after about a month of use. I quickly sent it back for a full refund. I was not about to exchange it for another for the fear of that happening again.
Since this was a big purchase, I did a lot of research on the bag including reading countless reviews on LV merchandise in general. There seemed to be an unsettling trend in all of the reviews – that today’s Louis Vuitton merchandise – specifically the Monogram line – just isn’t the same quality that it used to be. I read many sad stories of cracked canvas, popped stitches, broken handles, and cotton linings that were just not up to par. I also read that vintage Louis Vuitton bags used to be lined in leather! Who knew? When I read that, I immediately decided to buy vintage.
Fashionphile To The Rescue! Why Consignment Is Worth It
I checked out a few Petit Noés on eBay, but I’m never quite sure if the items are authentic our not. I perused http://www.malleries.com/, but they did not have any Petit Noés and then I scored my perfect little bag on Fashionphile. Fashionphile, an online consignment shop specializing in designer goods is particularly great as they provide detailed descriptions and many photographs for each item they sell on their site. They also have a ranking system for their merchandise’s condition: Fair, Good, Very Good and Excellent.
My bag was listed as “Good” condition. It was rated so due to a couple of black marks on its leather base and a water mark on the strap. Other than that, the bag looked brand new to me. I was thrilled. According to the date code, my bag was made in France (some LVs are made in Spain and the US) in August 2007.
The Pros and Cons – Fashionphile
I would say that the only downfall to ordering from Fashionphile is that the prices are in American dollars, and our poor Canadian dollar just doesn’t measure up. Also, if you are a first time international buyer, they require you to send a scanned copy of your credit card statement to their customer service department! I found this shocking and upsetting. I called their Customer Service to try to get out of sending this type of sensitive information out into the ether, but they would not budge. They claimed it was to protect themselves against fraudulent purchases and allowed me to black out all information on my statement except my name and the Fashionphile purchase itself.
Shipping was excellent at a mere $14.95 US. This is the third bag I have purchased from Fashionphile and I have yet to be disappointed with the quality of the bags. Overall, I would say my buying experience with them has been pretty good.
What designer bags are you after? Have any of you had any disappointing experiences with the quality of LV products? Let me know in the comments!
Also, if you are interested in an in-depth view of the bag, here is the YouTube video I filmed on it. Watch away!
xo,
*History lesson courtesy of www.ilvoelv.com
Dominique is a Canadian-based fashion and beauty influencer with a strong voice in Ottawa’s black community. Since launching her blog Style Domination in 2015, she has amassed a global fanbase. Dominique shares her life through beautiful imagery and compelling story-telling that speaks to her fans on a personal level. She’s been featured in The Guardian, Flare, The Kit and Cityline. She also hosts events for Dress for Success, the Gem Conference, and has been named a United Way Person 2 Know for the past three years.
I can’t believe your bag cracked!! So glad you returned it and got this one. Unacceptable LV! I’m dissapointed. Anyway- vintage is better bc it means your bag has even more stories to tell! Enjoy! Xoxo
QJ
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Jill, I felt sick to my stomach when the canvas cracked. I envisioned LV not wanting to refund that huge amount of money for whatever reason they could dream off. They were really good about it though. I agree – I love it when things can “tell a story”!! Some vintage items are so great. I once found a beautiful cameo in an antique store. The owner said it was super old, and was recovered from an old boat that was being restored. How cool is that? I wondered who it belonged to…why it was on the boat. So Titanic! LOL!
Mama’s bag is pretty 🙂
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Mama loves her bag – lol!
Lovely bag!
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Thank you, luv!! I’m really happy with it!
Hi Dom – I have nominated you for the Blogger Recognition Award – check it out here:
https://nosizetwo.wordpress.com/2015/10/29/blogger-recognition-award/
Luv N
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Thank you so much!! Wow!! xoxo
Love the bag and great vid too! ?
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Thanks Traci-Ann! Filming another today!
Eeeeek! But what about the Chanel bag???? Unless…!?
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Oh God, no. I wish. Thinking of either doing a “red lip” or “day makeup” tutorial, or a “What’s in My Bag” video. Don’t you worry your pretty little head – I’ll give you a heads up when I get the bag!!
All of those get my vote! 🙂
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Awesome!
Congratulations on your new bag. It’s lovely! I love hearing the history behind the bag shape. I had no idea. The bucket bag is so huge right now so it’s fun to know where the original design concept came from.
I have heard of Fashionpile but have only shopped The RealReal. Have you shopped there? They are an online luxury consignment shop. They have a lot of LV bags.
Lastly, the camera loves you! I think you will have your own television show one day if you want it. You are so well spoken and gorgeous!
http://laceandpearlsblog.com
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Haha! Thanks, Asa!! Wow – what a compliment! Thanks also for the information on The RealReal. I’ll check it out! I love Fashionphile, but our Canadian dollar has taken such a hit that the prices have become prohibitive. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Halloween!
I know this isn’t your job Dom, but do you know what kind of process they go through to make sure the bags are authentic? I only ask because I’m almost positive that you did the research on this lol
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I most certainly did!!! They hired actual authenticators with a specified expertise in the designer manufacturer’s standards of quality pertaining to fabrics, leather, patterns, date codes, etc. That being said, if I had enough money to buy a Birkin, I’d buy it straight from Hermès. Some fakes are just too good. If you have any doubt whatsoever, don’t buy it or return it. So far, I’m pretty confident I haven’t gotten screwed. Lol…
Thank you!
So glad you found an LV that you adore! I only have vintage, honestly because I cant afford to drop full price – a few hundred is easier to save and spend. Anyway, the only LV that I have had any issue with is the denim look monogram scarf. Again, I purchased second hand, but it still had the tags so I went for it. It is SO SENSITIVE TO SNAGS! And retails for around $550 to $600. Upon reviews, many people remove all jewelry and avoid zippers while wearing so it doesnt get ruined. On the flip side, when folding it to put away, even gently and into the box it came in, the weaves move upward, almost leaving a “fingerprint like” mark. It’s worth it if you can get a really good discount and you use it sparingly. Brand new? Absolutely not – at least not from the store. It is incredibly soft and goregous – and reversible.
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Hi Stephanie! Thank you for your comment! So sorry to hear about your experience with the scarf, but I have seen those complaints many times regarding most LV scarves. I really wanted the Steven Sprouse leopard print LV scarf but it’s so delicate that $750 seemed like a total waste.
I agree – I’ve never really had a problem with LV until that brand new bag. I meant to update this post to reflect that some jerk broke into our house and stole that bag and I was considering just sucking it up and replacing with a new one. We’ll see!
Take care! xoxoxo