Diversions in Consignment Store Shopping

Behold!  The saddle bag!

It’s a vintage circa 1970ies tooled-leather shoulder-bag … with the top shaped and adorned like a Western saddle, found in a consignment store in Lockhart, Texas, last weekend. It’s stamped “Made in Mexico” and neither my daughter or I or the owner of the consignment store had never, ever seen anything like it. And being women, you know … we do know our handbags.  It was quirky, amusing, original … and we liked it. My daughter and I decided against it at first, but talked about it over lunch, decided to go halves and share custody. Because we agreed that we so would regret walking away.

I have found three or four on line, all of about the same size and general design, but different in color,  tooled designs, and slight differences in the shape of pommel and cantle  — which are made of wood, covered with leather. The inside flap of the bag is lined in sheep-skin. Considering all that, my semi-scientific wild-ass guess is that they were all made one-off,  in some leather workshop in a border-town, dealing with the tourist trade.

Hey – you fashionista with the multi-thousand dollar Fendi bag? Dig this, if you dare!

9 thoughts on “Diversions in Consignment Store Shopping”

  1. Dan – oh, alas, this was a consignment store and this is probably a modern antique. There was nothing else like it in the shop … but if you went to a leather-working specialty shop in the border-towns (assuming you have all your papers in order!) you might be able to commission one to your specifications.

    Tatyana – we paid $45 plus tax. My daughter has been lamenting ever since that that is the most that she has ever paid for a handbag, since she had to put it on her card, and I will pay her back. The four similiar bags that I found on the internet went from 30-70$ – so, there ya go.

  2. my forehead met my desk repeatedly after I checked my bank balance this morning…but then I realized it cost less then a Birkin and its twice as authentic…still it stings that I paid almost $50 for it (after taxes) when I’ve been able to snap up authentic Dooney & Burke bags at yardsales for less then $10.

  3. Well there’s something for everyone ;-)

    It looks more practical than some of the stuff you see with the runway models.

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