It’s story time again! I always seem to do these with my splurge items. But I love a good shopping tale. Welcome my new purple Prada Cahier bag in “Viola.”

 

 

The Prada Cahier was introduced in Fall 2016 and the purple/viola “Astrology” or “Constellation” version I coveted is from a couple of years later, according to my research. Cahier is French for notebook, which explains closure and golden edges. Turn it to the side and it magically turns into an old-style book! 

Inspired by valuable ancient books, the Prada Cahier bag is made of soft calf leather. The metal hardware gives it an unmistakable look, & it comes with a removable shoulder strap.

 

I was a little late to the Prada Cahier bag game, probably because I was focused on finding my Chloe Faye for so long. When I saw the Cahier came in a celestial-themed style in early 2018 I had to have it. Originally, I wanted the black velvet version and started saving up in my usual way – a Capital One 360 savings account. I kept my eye out on secondhand stores in case I saw, one but they were always out of my price range. 

 

 

When we went on our honeymoon to Italy and Greece, I thought I might splurge and buy another bag I had wanted – a turquoise velvet Gucci Marmont bag. We went to some Gucci stores and I found the one I wanted but wasn’t sure I was ready to spend the money yet. Christian wasn’t the biggest fan (this is important later.) We also went into some Prada stores even though I didn’t think I would find the Cahier.

 

Prada store in Florence | Prada store in Venice

At a Prada store in Florence, I tried on the plain black Cahier for size and asked if they happened to have any constellation ones left. They didn’t. In Venice I asked if there were any black leather or velvet versions. The sales associate said no, just wallet-sized ones but they did have another color in the larger version - smaller than the black one I tried, though. She went to get it and IT.WAS.PURPLE!!! For those of you that aren’t aware – purple is my favorite color.  This was the bag for me. Christian also loved it. We told her I would have to think about it because I definitely hadn’t budgeted for this. She gave us her card and off we went.

 

Christian thought I should have gotten the bag, but I was being dumb and said, “I don’t have enough saved yet, I’ll have to steal from my other savings accounts” (for travel.) I agonized over the decision for the remaining 2 days of our stay in Venice but ultimately decided I would “behave” and that I could just find the purple version pre-owned later for less. Spoiler alert: I was wrong.

 

My bookmarks toolbar with all the stores I've been checking

Since we got home (September 2019) I’ve been on the hunt almost every day. I had found some in the first couple months that were all over 2K and I didn’t want to spend/hadn’t saved up that much. In February 2020, I thought I found one on Poshmark, bought it and it failed their authenticity checks. In August 2020 I found another on Vestiaire Collective, got the girls over at The Purse Forum to say they thought it was authentic, and bought it. I had to rob my travel funds because I wasn’t going to let it get away this time! A few days later VC emailed me to say that it actually wasn’t available and refunded me. GAH!! I even had personal shopper Gabriel Waller on the case (after a recommendation from Jamie!) starting in May 2020.

 

 

You’ll obviously notice that it doesn't have the moon and stars. I found this plain purple Prada Cahier for a really great price (considering) and just had to take advantage of a lower-than-market price. Most of the plain ones I’ve been seeing are over 2K and this one was listed at $1770 on Rebag. Rebag was also selling it on Vestiaire Collective and, for some reason, they lowered the price to $1488 on there. SOLD! After checking with the Purse Forum, of course. And again after it arrived with my own photos to be doubly sure.

 

 

There are 2 things I prefer about this version of the Prada Cahier bag – it’s slightly bigger/wider and I really love the thicker strap. It has so much more weight to it, literally and figuratively! The biggest size of the Prada Cahier astrology only comes with a thin metal chain strap. I actually looked to see if Prada sold the wide strap separately, but they only sell a thin leather strap.

 

This doesn’t mean I gave up on my embellished version. I will still be searching and will most likely resell this one if I find it. Unless I decide that I don't want to go any smaller than this. I still have money leftover in my bag savings account since this was lower than I expected to spend. Who knows, I may finally get that Gucci Marmont with that and stick with the plain Cahier bag!

 

All this rambling to say, I probably should have bought the bag in Venice because 1) I would have saved two years of searching and 2) It would be a forever reminder of our honeymoon. I guess next time I’ll know better and buy the holy grail item when I see it! 

 

 

Retail when released in 2018: $2,950

Current retail price for same size bag: $3,150

My cost: $1,488