2006 Balenciaga RH City

As mentioned in my previous post, I said I'd be doing a reveal... A new purse starting with the letter B. If you haven't already guessed, it's a Balenciaga!

Here it is! It's supposed to be more slouchy for that boho look but I propped it up inside with a purse organizer for photos.

Laying Flat


Laying Flat Backside

Braided Handles

What's in it?

I filled the bag with my everyday gear including my wallet, glasses, house and car keys, oil blotting paper, and Burt's Bees lip gloss. The bag only features one interior pocket.

The photo on the right features an 8.5" by 11" folder which unfortunately doesn't fit nicely. It obstructs the zipper but isn't a problem if you don't mind walking around with an unzipped bag. Personally I like my bags fully zipped! 

So 2006 was obviously 6 years ago and you may be wondering why I didn't buy a brand new 2012 City.

Cost Saving

I like being cost efficient! I never say no to saving money when I can.

I have no idea how much the City RH retails for at Holt Renfrew right now but the price on the Balenciaga website lists the price as $1545 USD. I actually bought this bag from an online consignment store based in Toronto (www.constylement.com). They sell 100% authentic merchandise and the owner is a member of the PurseForum. This is the first bag I've purchased through consignment and I'm not disappointed. I know normally you'd want to inspect every inch of the bag in person before buying and I didn't which was a bit risky(!) but the bag came perfectly as described and matched photos. I definitely think you need to be cautious when doing this but if you find a consigner who is reputable and is known for selling quality merchandise that is described to a T, your chances of putting yourself in a risky situation are lower. Also when buying consignment I recommend you check to see what the store's policies are regarding returns, exchanges and satisfaction. 

Condition

The condition is excellent for a 6 year old bag which was a huge determining factor. No rips in the leather, no scuffs on the corners, the handles aren't broken in or soft, and the tassels weren't splitting. Also it came with the dust bag and extra tassels which is a nice bonus! I have a pet peeve when I see bags for sale that don't have the dust bag included.

Quality

I spent a lot of the time on the PurseForum researching Balenciaga's. Leather quality seemed to be a very popular topic on the forum. From what I gathered the leather from 2012 isn't very good at all and a lot of people said they were unhappy. Some members reported that their leather was dry, and papery and overall they were disappointed paying a premium price for non-quality. That definitely put me off. 

Naturally the next step I took was to look up 2006 leather quality. This bag is made if chevre, or goat, and many PurseForum members prefer chevre vs. agneau (lamb) leather which is also used by Balenciaga on some bags and as of recently (I think). See thread here. Basically from what I've gathered, chevre leather is thicker, smooshier, has better color saturation, and overall is better quality. Overall, Balenciaga bags produced in 2006 have a lot of mixed opinions on both sides of the spectrum. Some say it's their favorite leather and others say they thought it was veiny, thin and papery, not the best. From what I read of people describing their 2006's there is just a lot of variation between bags! Some people have veiny, dry bags while others said their 2006's were smooshy and thick, just as Balenciaga usually is. After examining the photos on Constylement, I came to the conclusion that the bag didn't look veiny or dry and I'm glad I trusted my judgement! People also say leather can vary between color within years. I think members also came to the conclusion that 2003-2005 leathers are the best and so far they haven't been replicated in quality. In my opinion I think it just really comes down to preference and what qualities you look for in a bag. Not every bag is the same!

I'm happy with my purchase and hopefully this bag will live a long life. It's already 6 years old so I hope to see many more years to come!