At the flea market recently (there’s one every Thursday near where I work, and yes, you can be jealous,) I spotted a cute purse that I picked up just for the color and size.  When I looked inside the purse to see the label, I noticed that it said Louis Vuitton.

So understand something about me – I am not a fine purse connoisseur.  Not even close.  But I do know the name Louis Vuitton.

 When I saw the label on the bag and asked how much, the woman said $2.  At that moment I knew it was a fake, but I didn’t care and handed her my money.  It’s so cute and still a great purchase for a small, clean purse.

When I went back to work with my find, the tiny-bit excited part of me had to make sure it was a fake.  This post is the results of my findings that I am sharing with you!

All the advertiser links on this page take you to Amazon, where although Amazon does not sell REAL, Louis Vuitton, they do sell “Inspired Designer” handbags, many of which look like Louis Vuitton purses.  Links for real Louis Vuitton sites are at the bottom of the Amazon website.

This is the video that helped me the most.

Here are examples of the workmanship, from photos of the purse I purchased.  The key for any Louis Vuitton purse is quality of workmanship.  They are valued over $300 for a reason – and that reason is the quality.

First indicator: A real Louis Vuitton does not have the logo under creases, straps or hardware.  Note that the tab in the photo is also not marked with an LV logo, just a plain, brass colored tab.  This photo also shows thread sticking out from the stitches!

The “brass” hardware was not real brass, as you can hopefully see from the photo that the zipper pull is discoloring as fake brass does that.  The tabs on a real Louis Vuitton purse are marked with the LV logo, not the full name as shown on my purse.

The stitching is done by hand on a real Louis Vuitton, and the video above stated that another good indicator the purse is not real is by looking at the stamped label inside the purse.  The stamped label is not supposed to be off center as shown on my purse.

The video goes into detail about the handle.  The handles on a real purse are made out of cow hide and oxidize after being used which turns them a darker colored brown.  As a result, the handle will also soften over time.  The color of the edging is supposed to be red.  Although similar to a real Louis Vuitton, I would describe the color of the edge of the handle as brick red.

If there is anything from the things I read about how to spot a real Louis Vuitton purse, it would be that the quailty is the number one thing on a real purse.  The tab on the purse I bought for $2 was peeling away from the seam.  Clearly, this purse was made in a hurry and would never be worth even $10, let alone $300 or up.

I think I’ll be checking those labels more often.  Many people at flea markets don’t acutally know what they are selling, which is why it can be so exciting to go!  I believe I would never actually find a real Louis Vuitton purse, but I hope to share more finds with you of other super cool things.

I do like my faux bag….