How a Wallet Stole Several Hours of My Life
Apr 14, 2010 by Violet
This story is a long Prada Wallet related saga.
It’s about a wallet that took over my life for two whole days. It’s a story about greed, a story about recycling, an epic drama about craft… and one Prada wallet.
This silly little thing was the cause of many many hours of my life being wasted:
| James and I were at a thrift store one day looking for some bits and pieces. While we were waiting for the clerk to ring up our purchases it caught my eye from under the glass counter. It was barely noticeable… just a tiny corner of pink peaking out from under a mess of costume jewelery and decorative soaps.
They lady brought it up for me to take a look at and I saw the price tag… as well as the gigantic Prada stamp on the front. I did need a new wallet, my previous Hello Kitty one was fairly thread bare… for only AU$5 even a fake was good value. But thinking of our budget I put it back.
Overnight, stories of friends finding pristine authentic Louis Vitton, Chanel and other high end brands among the thrift store junk floated through my brain. What if it was real, what if I had just missed out on the find of a lifetime? It was certainly decent quality leather whether it was a fake or not… it was just a bit beaten and up and dirty. So I decided to venture back… and if it was still unsold I would take that as a sign from fate that it was meant to be. And it was. And I bought it.
And thus started an obsession that lasted several hours. I used Twitter to find out more about Prada and how to discern a fake. In the process I had a hilarious conversation with Cheesie and Aud and was given lots of advice from others!
I googled and googled, finding number after number of “Signs to tell it’s real” websites. I’m sure an aficionado of high end brands would have spotted in a moment what I was searching for but as someone who has never handled anything of a high end brand it was an adventure for me. Had I stumbled onto the holy grail of thrift store finds?
Ok so it failed the final test… I have to admit I was slightly disappointed. The day dreams of selling it to pay for a trip to Japan or a puppy suddenly plummeted just like the bank balance of someone who had just bought a real Prada wallet. But then I thought for a little while… even if it wasn’t going to be buying me a pony it was still quite a nice wallet. I liked the leather even it was a bit dirty, I liked the colour, I liked the size and I liked the idea of having a new cute wallet. So out came the leather cleaner, glue gun, ribbon and lace… and my new wallet was born!
I scrubbed the leather clean with a combination of leather cleaner and a moisture sealant to make it nice and tough again.
I hot glued lace all around the edges on both inside and out to strengthen and disguise the cracked edges.
I found some matching pink polka dot ribbon in my stash and added accents to cover damage and add strength. I think it accents the card holder spots beautifully.
And finished off with a bow.
Even though it turned out to be a fake this pre-loved $5 wallet was worth every penny. It entertained me for two days, it gave me great conversations with my friends online and offline, it brought out my creativity and thriftiness, it sharpened my google-fu skills and it’s now holding all of my money, cards and old receipts. 1 month on, it’s in better condition than when I found it. Now it is the ultimate hime style wallet! Very pleased! And my idea is catching on, when I was in Melbourne, Super Kawaii Mama thought the idea was so cool, she re-vamped her old wallet too!
The verdict= $5 for several days of entertainment and a fantastic wallet is a great deal ^_^ Real Prada wallet or not, I can’t say I really care! |
It’s gorgeous! Such an improvement over the original design :)
^_^ Thank you! I have to say that I totally love it more now that I would have if it had been real!
It’s so pretty^^ Hail to The DIY Queen^^
XD Thank you!
i was getting so excited reading about how it passed all your quality check tests! hahaha it’s ok even if it’s a fake it’s a very nice fake! and you made it so pretty and you <3
I was so excited when I was doing the checks too! I so don’t even care anymore that it’s fake, I think it’s way cuter now ^_^
Wow, it turned out great anyway! :D
:D Thank you!
Oh, you made it gorgeous!! And I love the polka dot trim – it really does work well on the card holder places and highlights them :) Dang but I spent all arvo filming a DIY, that isn’t even edited yet – how do you do it? You churn them out like speedy gonzalez :)
I seriously love it more now than if it was worth lots of money XD Haha I’ve got a nice little system down for doing all these tutorials now, I’m trying to be even more productive now and work smarter now harder!
So clever. Very nicely done, like it a lot!
:D Thanks Yvonne!
I love it! The pink polka dot ribbon looks great with the softer pink of the wallet! Really cool! I think I’ll give mine a makeover too!
I couldn’t believe how nice the ribbon looked with it, I’m really happy!
Wow, that’s really cute. :) Love the things you decorate. ^^ I am a new reader from germany. :D Greets Tsukiko.
Aww thank you so much! Nice to meet you Tsukiko! Thank you so much for visiting my blog, I hope you really enjoy it! Let me know if you have any requests <3
I really love what you did with that wallet! It looks amazing!
Thanks Tamara! I’m really happy with the end result and it gave me lots of entertainment!
That is so cute! Where do you thrift though? I’ve been living in Brisbane for like 20 years but finding good places to shop and thrift seems to be impossible for me for some reason!
Brisbane is so hit and miss for thrifting, I go to a bunch of places in Capalaba usually. Because it’s a (comparatively) poorer area there is more turn over in the stock and so there’s always new things to look at! Oh btw, there is another Nuffnang meet up coming up, let me know if you want to come!
that’s adorable! I like your deco version better anyway, and to the uninitiated it looks like youhave a devil-may-care attitude by deco ing a Prada ;)
Haha exactly, perhaps I’m actually so insanely rich that I can deco a real Prada wallet without a second thought!
Wow, your decorated version is gorgeous! I think it looks way cuter than the original ^.^ And hey, now you have a new wallet! I think I’d be too scared to use a real Prada XD
:D Thank you Kari! I’m very glad to have a new wallet too! Haha I would be much too scared to use a real Prada too… but then again what good is a wallet if it’s not as pretty as it possibly can be?
Your DIY always impresses me! :O Such a cute wallet! Great idea, m’dear. <3
Thank you so much Victoria! I’m really glad you enjoy reading :D
Thanks for taking us on this journey with you:) Just think how much fun you had, plus you learnt lots about how to identify genuine Prada so that when you do make that find, you’ll know
Heehee identifying real Prada is definitely a skill for life!
Well I think it looks better all dolled up than the original! :D I have a question tho, when you say “Prada branded zip and closure… FAIL.”… do you have a photo of how that’s supposed to look like? I tried googling but my google-fu is not all that good when it comes to fashion XD
Thanks Shouri! I much prefer it now too :D I don’t have a photo of what the zip etc is supposed to look like but apparently the toggle on the zip is supposed to have Prada written on it and so is the little round snap closure. My snap closure had a Taiwanese characters on it, so it’s safe to say it’s not authentic XD
Haha, that’s cute… maybe in the future you’ll find the treasure of all trift stores! Keep searching! :D
I’ll always keep looking, that’s half the fun!
Bummer. I found a genuine Chanel bag in Savers earlier this year, and it was a pretty heady moment. I’ve been op-shopping for over ten years, and this was a pretty major find.
I like your D.I.Y-ed version better than the original anyway!
Oh wow that’s a great find! Haha I prefer my version in the end too ;)
Hehe such a cool story! I love how you see the positive in things – and it’s still a mega bargain. I’m sure most people wouldn’t be able to tell it’s fake anyway :-D Not that it matters in the end because you made it more unique than the original!
Totally still a mega bargain! Even if it’s fake, $5 for a real leather wallet rocks! And you’re totally right, mine is more original and completely unique :D Violet = 1, Prada = 0
how nice, what an improvement from the original design, I definitely have to learn from your hand craft skills. I love your blog, and become one of your followers.
Thank you very much Laura! And thank you for following too <3 I hope I can write more posts that inspire you ^_^
Yet another great example of why I love you so much. You aren’t just creative, but thrifty. You make saving money seem like the coolest thing to do. I think perhaps you should get a bank to sponsor you as Ambassador for Saving in Style!
:D:D:D Your comments are always full of awesome and win! I feel like I should totally start contacting banks for work now LOL
Love what you did with it, great job!
Thank you Kae!
I’m antifakes so part of me frowns at little, but I’m quickly overcome but the end cuteness. I really like how instead of just leaving it as is you made it your own and gave it the character it deserves. Not to mention that pink color is so sugary delicious :D
To be honest I’m anti fakes too >_< When I bought it I didn't know anything about identifying Prada so I honestly thought it was real and I'd made a super thrift store discovery! Even though I know it's original creation was ethically/legally wrong I like to think I made the best out of a bad situation hahaha! Either way… yay for the sugary delicious cuteness in the end :D