Chanel - How to research the clothing

Debbiejcd

Registered Guest
I totally love Chanel and often look for it on the secondary market so thought this might be a great place to ask here about researching Chanel clothing items which to be honest I find a little tricky to do at times - although I am getting more familiar with it
I’ve looked at your labels resource which is a great help - but changing labels over the years - the way the data gets displayed can be quite variable - sometimes I’m not sure what all the info on the labels refers too. To be honest there is much more info out there about researching the bags / purses more so than the clothes.

Often Chanel listings I see go within a couple of hours of going live - one did today - I may have missed the boat - but then again I was dubious about it - whilst I was trying to run a little research on jacket it sold - so as a buyer you do have to be quick - but you also need to feel confident about authenticity - even if you find what seems a bargain these things do not come cheap

When checking items out I will generally do picture search and also type the serial number into Google with the word Chanel - on a few occasions I see a totally different Chanel item pop up and I normally then give it a wide berth - I can only assume serial numbers always individual to each clothing item ? Or did the numbers ever get repeated on different garments

The market is awash with dubious Chanel - some outright new or vintage fake, some that are other manufacturers items but with buttons and magic labels sewn to them to elevate price

What is the best resource for checking Chanel ? - i have several books which help but they don’t really cut it when trying to make a judgement if an online item. I don’t trust the authentication services attached to selling sites either - used only once and had bad experience - although I think some of the independent ones are probably better - but generally I feel more comfortable being sure by doing my own research, leaning about what to look for, and using my own judgement / experience

I also wanted to ask about couture chanel items - how did the system work for purchase of couture garments ? - can you walk into any of their boutiques and request a couture item ? I think I read they were often guests invited to runway shows - then invited to place orders after the show

One of my favorite Chanel items here - 1993 couture tweed dress - I assume this is what is known as the fantasy tweed they did - I don’t think it’s linton or lesage tweed and definitely not Harris tweed
What the camera can’t capture is the glitter thread running through it - whole dress shimmers beautifully
I’ve worn it a few times and just love it. I found the same tweed used for different dress etc in Fall / Winter 1993 runway show - shown in the last pics
 

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Im not sure what best resource is for checking Chanel, probably trying to find matching images of runway shows or from magazines that show the authentic item and then comparing that. Look into archives of magazines like vogue Paris, vogue us, and WWD. if you have a specific garment you want info on msg me because I have access to a lot of those archives through my fashion university.
 
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