Make an Old Bag New Again with Dye

When I purchase a handbag my default color is always black. It’s classic, goes with everything, and it ages nicely. However a few years ago when I decided to sink some cash into Proenza Schoulder PS1 I decided to mix things up a bit with purple instead of black. I wanted a brilliant pop of color in my life and assumed the leather would break in beautifully. Boy was I wrong.proenza-schouler-ps1-medium-orchidAfter only a few weeks water stains started showing up (after being caught in the rain for about 2 seconds) and after a few months the back side of the bag was being ruined by my black jeans. WTF. I took it to get professionally cleaned and that didn’t help at all. I called the folks at Proenza Schouler and they explained that because it was vegetable dye there was little I could do to clean it. They suggested wiping it down with lotion and that didn’t help.

5327235853_621cc5c9a7_b$1600 down the drain. The bag had been sitting in my closet for about a year completely untouched. Until I had a stroke of genius – I would get it dyed black. I took the bag to my go-to place Andres #1 Custom Shoes on Sunset Blvd. Two days later, I have beautiful black PS1 bag and it only cost me $60 for this upgrade.

So if you have a bag that seems to have lost all hope, take it to a trusted specialist and get that baby dyed!

Before:proenza bagAfter:Black PS1 bagPS- my photo kinda sucks but trust me you cannot tell AT ALL that this bag was ever another color

2 thoughts on “Make an Old Bag New Again with Dye”

  1. This is brilliant! I’ve had dark blue denim jeans bleed dye onto a vintage suede bag, and it was never really the same. I’ll look into seeing if I can get it dyed!

  2. Hello! Wow I am the happiest I found this article, I am in the EXACT SAME position!! I have the same purple PS1 and would like to dye it black because I have the same issues you describe, literally in the closet for a year. I have a question I hope you could help me with: Has the black dye fall off? Did the finish of the black paint alter the leather?

    Thank you!!

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