Alright, so I’ve been eyeing this YSL College bag for a while, and I finally decided to go for it. I wanted that classic look, you know? But I wasn’t about to drop a fortune on a brand new one, so I figured I’d try to remake *’s how it went down.
First, I did some digging around. I learned that YSL, or Yves Saint Laurent, is a big-name French brand. They started in ’61, if you can believe it. And these College bags? Apparently, they’re pretty popular. They make it with good stuff.
Look For the Original Bag
I started hitting up some online stores. I wasn’t finding what I wanted with the new ones, so I started looking at used ones. I found a few that were in okay shape, but I also saw a ton of fakes. Gotta watch out for those!
After a lot of searching, I finally found one that looked promising. It was a bit beat up, but the bones were there. It even had the authenticity card, which was a good sign. I guess that’s something they do in Canada, where I was buying it from. I took a chance and bought it, hoping for the best.
Dismantle the Bag
When the bag arrived, I took a deep breath and started taking it apart. Carefully, of course. I undid the stitching, removed the hardware, and basically disassembled the whole thing. It was a bit nerve-wracking, but I managed not to destroy anything. I got its leather and hardware off.
Clean and Restore
- Cleaned up the leather: I used some leather cleaner and conditioner to get it looking a bit more presentable. It definitely needed some love.
- Polished up the hardware: The metal parts were a bit tarnished, so I gave them a good polish. They started to shine up nicely.
Reassemble
Then came the tricky part – putting it all back together. I carefully sewed the pieces back together, making sure everything lined up. It wasn’t perfect, but I did my best to match the original stitching. I reused the original thread when I could, to keep it looking authentic.
I reattached the hardware, which was a bit easier than taking it off. The chain strap, the YSL logo, all of it went back on. It was slow going, but it was starting to look like a bag again!
The Result
After hours of work, I finally finished. And you know what? It actually turned out pretty good! It’s not brand new, but it has that vintage charm. And it definitely looks like a YSL College bag. I’m pretty proud of myself for pulling it off. It’s not perfect, but it’s mine, and I made it happen. Now I’ve got a “new” bag without breaking the bank.
If you’re thinking about doing something like this, just be prepared to put in some work. And be careful out there – there are a lot of fakes floating around. But if you’re patient and persistent, you might just end up with a pretty cool bag, and a good story to tell.
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