A text from my sister-in-law inspired me to start this newsletter.
I’ve been thrifting since I was in diapers (seriously: my mom used to drag me to markets across Asia and our local Goodwill). Knowing this, my family and friends often ask me to help them scour locals shops and websites for secondhand finds.
In this case, my sister-in-law was looking for a dupe of the Celine Clasp: a classic frame bag that screams quiet luxury.
She has great taste, but not the four-figure budget that these bags often fetch secondhand. And while it’s certainly possible to find vintage Celine bags for a song on sites like Vestiaire Collective (Exhibit A), she was drawn to the sleek silhouette and minimal hardware of this particular design.
Pinterest turned up some made-in-China dupes, but like me, she values investment pieces and asked me to help find alternatives.
The blueprint
Initially debuting as part of the brand spring 2017 show, the Clasp bag dates back to Phoebe Philo’s time at Celine and counts Angelina Jolie among its fans (so much so that Jolie owns it in both cream and black).
If you can afford to purchase it secondhand, it’s a solid investment piece, with subtle hardware, an elegant top handle and a unfussy frame silhouette. It’s certainly hard to imagine the style becoming dated in the same way Philo’s Luggage tote has.
When emailing my sister-in-law options, I noted:
You may need to think more about what you would prioritize/value in the original Celine’s features: is it the clasp/turnlock? The top handle? The accordion fold combined with the box shape? Eliminating even one of these features could help you find a vintage bag that's similar and will hold its value over time.
With these details sorted out, I started the search.
The search
To start searching for a Clasp-inspired bag, you'll want to use keywords like ‘top handle’ and ‘leather’ along with variations of the following terms to find a comparable silhouette:
frame
accordion
turnlock
And, of course, ‘vintage.’
I like to start on Google, as sites like The RealReal, while treasure troves, can be notoriously difficult to search with specificity. In the Google Shopping tab, I also always filter for ‘used’ to avoid the dreaded dupes from Shein and Amazon.
The results
The RealReal (TRR) can be a great place to score authenticated vintage, especially in the case of the Clasp purse, which sports a 50s-inspired silhouette that you also see in vintage Gucci Kelly bags. The challenge is, these bags often come with heavy hardware.
In my email to my sister-in-law I suggested:
If you find a silhouette that's similar on TRR but perhaps the item isn't perfect—like this Gucci bag, which is the wrong color—you can scroll down in the listing under ‘Similar Products’ and find other options.
Here’s what the above-mentioned Gucci bag turned up—you can see how TRR’s algorithm picked up on the silhouette and minimal hardware of the not-quite-right option:
Next, I tried another TRR result from Google:
Here's another TRR listing for a Prada bag—much too boxy but is the right shape directionally and the right color (black)—but scroll to the bottom and you'll spot some nice options.
Still, I wasn’t fully satisfied with what I was finding, so I’ll let you in on a trick when shopping for vintage handbags: switch the seller location to Japan, a vintage collector’s haven.
When I did this, I immediately found the one: a vintage Karl Lagerfeld tophandle frame bag in black leather with minimal hardware (and minimal wear!) plus the requisite clasp.
Two tips if you end up finding your a-ha score like this one:
Use the seller’s handle or listing description to comparison shop across platforms, as sellers often cross-post. For example, this particular bag was listed for $539 on eBay and $490 on Etsy.
If the price isn’t right—and BTW, it’s completely acceptable to message the seller with an offer—copy and paste the keywords the seller used in their listing, including the style or serial number (if applicable) so you can find the same model elsewhere.
Ultimately, we were able to find my sister-in-law’s dream Celine-inspired purse for under $500. Now, let’s just hope you don’t beat her to the checkout!
P.S. For more on the anatomy of an it bag—AKA, why what’s old really is new again—check out this excellent piece from
on The Row Margaux:
Welcome to substack, Claire! 😊 So nice that you were able to help your SIL find her dream bag and on budget! Thrifting/vintage/secondhand has become so much easier thanks to ecomm in the last decade or so, it's a win win. And thank you for the mention! 💕