This post is specifically designed to help you when scrolling through the resale, preloved luxury sites with identifying a real Lady Dior medium handbag from the period 2008. This post will not help you with newer or older Lady Dior’s.

If you want a vintage Dior that’s 1995/96– please read this post instead.

If you have an eye on a Dior that’s 1997 A/W – 2000s please read this post instead.

Check out my review of the Lady Dior here.

Please note, if you have read all my posts, some of the below is repetitive because a few style features have stayed the same throughout the decades (I am not being lazy I promise).

Dior have subtly changed a lot of style features over the years. What makes a 2008 bag authenticate IS NOT THE SAME as what makes an earlier or later collection authentic. Authenticating a Lady Dior cannot be done in a one-size fits all, it is not one blog post on “these are the 8 things to look out for” No, you have to do your homework. My biggest tip is first establish what year your bag was meant to be made (look at the date code), and work backwards from there.

Let’s Go! Get a cup of coffee, green juice, hot water and lemon - this is a long one

Contents

1.How the bag is made

2.The leather

3. Cannage Stitching

4.Date Code

5.Feet

6.Zips

Dior Charm

6.Interior label

7.Leather hangtag

8.Size

1. How the bag is made

This bag takes eight hours to make and is handmade. (when we say handmade we mean the finishing, stitching, detailing, and quality control are done by artisans)

The bag was first designed in 1994 by Gianfranco Ferre. In 1995 it was gifted to Princess Diana and debuted on her arm. A star was born.

The Lady Dior is made up of 144 individual elements. (the hardware by itself comprises of 43 separate metal parts).

Therefore, expect serious craftsmanship. This begins with how the bag is formed.

The bag is made up of separate pieces of leather stitched together. Note: where possible counterfeiters love to cut corners to ultimately save costs. They’ll try and get away with continuous material they can just fold over, or just double stitch over the top to give the illusion of cut pieces. You need to really examine how this bag is made – it will seriously help you.

Watch the bag coming together (when you’ve finished reading the post):

2. The leather and cannage stitching

The first Lady Dior’s were made of lambskin leather. Insanely soft to touch (even after 17 years). It does scratch easy though. If your bag doesn’t feel soft – take that as a warning. But, I’d caveat that by saying if the bag is 17 years old + but has not been taken care of, the leather might be a bit dry and not as soft as it could be.

I’m pretty sure a satin collection came next, and then suede.

3. The Cannage stitching.

The famous cannage stitching is steeped in the brands history. It was created to reflect the pattern of the back of Napoleon III cane rattan weave chairs. Historically, when Dior would debut their latest designs, guests would sit on these chairs.

The colour of the stitching matches the colour of the bag perfectly.

Showing you a silver toned 2008 version from auction site Litchfield County Auctions

The bag is five squares high. They are 3.1cm x 3.1cm. ( I don’t call it a rhombus or diamond as it’s a square – 90 degree angles.

Turn the bag on its side and the bag is 3 squares deep (if you measure across from the bottom of the bag)

Lady Dior, 2008, Single row of stitching (older models from the late 90s had a double line of stitching)

Inspect all the stitching around the whole bag and interior – it is faultless.

4. Date Code

The date code is foil stamped on the underneath of the ‘Christian Dior' interior tag attached right outside of the zippered pocket. The code means that this Lady Dior bag was made in February 2008 at a factory in Italy.

When you look at this date code, you’ll notice it consists of two numbers, two letters and then four numbers.

The first two numbers are the batch code

The two letters are the factory code where it was made.

The last four numbers signify date and month. The first and third number correspond to the month, and the second and fourth number correspond to the year.

Hardware

5. Feet

In 1997 Dior introduced feet to the Lady Dior. These feet are cone shaped and are domed on top not flat (unlike the balenciagas city hardware cones fixed on their bags)

Please do not worry about tarnishing and fading of the gold tone - it’s perfectly normal.

6. Zips

Bag Closure Zip

The zip features what looks like a ‘5’ / ‘S’ with two lines behind it on the part of the zip which brings the teeth together.

The back of the zip features Christian Dior Paris. Now, why am I not concerned that this isn’t Lampo? Why was this not a big red flag? I am not concerned because of the lining. My bag is actually a seasonal Lady Dior variation from 2008.

In 2008 Dior was going through a few changes with Galliano at the helm:

-Alongside using Lampo Zips they were experimenting with different zipper types.

-They were also playing with different lining prints and fabrics. Hence why my bag has the Diorissimo print and not the standard CD Jacquard lining.

Inside Pocket Zip Pull

Zip Pull and Zip Dior Charm

This zip then has a pull – this is made up of a series of 4 gold toned loops.

The loop which attaches the charm to the zip is key ring style, and different to the other 3 gold toned loops.

Hot Tip (it’s all in the tiny detail)
Notice the tiny dot of solder on the 4th loop which attaches to the charm. Counterfeiters miss this!

The Oval CD attached to this feels very, very, heavy.

The oval is framed by textured metal. (it almost looks like its shimmering). The same for the CD. This is a tiny, tiny, detail, but the CD isn’t smooth – but looks in the light slightly textured.

Hot Tip - Fakes make the tail of the C too short.

This is the same for CD printed on the eyelets.

The CD should be crisp and not thick and smudgy.

Hardware

4 Gold Rings that attach the handle to the bag

These are fixed into position at the top of the bags gold hardware, (would we say grommets?)

They have tiny holes at the back of them. If you push a needle into these it activates a spring mechanism which opens. This is in place so you can take the handles off the bag should you need to clean them or repair them. Fakes are bad at a) putting these holes in, b) if they put them in they do not work properly.

Screw heads

These are mock screw heads and not actual screws

DIOR CHARM KEYCHAIN

The Dior Charm is attached to the gold toned O loop hardware which connects the handle and is on a pivot. I believe they started doing this from Autumn /Winter 1997 onwards. Before, this the Charm was not fixed.

How did I find this out? Again, I have studied many photos of the late and magnificent Princess Diana from 1996 carrying the bag and you can see the keychain ring rests on top of the hardware as opposed to fixed into it and through it. I also had a 1995/96 Lady Dior bag and the charm was not fixed in position.

Further information: In 2014 Christies Auction House sold a 1997 (Autumn/Winter) Lady Dior and the loop was fixed into position – like it is on bags today.

The 8 loop attaching the letter charms to the keyring.

7. The leather hangtag (the oval disc of leather behind keychain ‘O’)

WHAT COULD BE A BIG RED FLAG (But isn’t)

The ‘O’ fits perfectly in front of the leather hangtag. The stitching outlines the disc perfectly.

It reads:

Christian Dior PARIS.

Made in Italy

A few places online say this should say Christian Dior only. This is wrong. Dior changed this on various styles through the years. Definitely, in 95’,96’ and 97’ it said Christian Dior Paris and omitted Made in Italy.

In 2012/2013 Dior created their own manufacturing outfit in Italy - its at this point you see Made in Italy on the hangtags of most lines, however, they used a network of sub contractors and third party suppliers prior to this date. Therefore "Made in Italy" is seen on a few bags before their own factory was established.

Christian Dior PARIS.

6. The Interior Label

The interior leather tag has Christian Dior PARIS printed in gold and MADE IN ITALY embossed on the tag. Notice all 3 fonts are different.

The tag should not have sharp crisp edges and the edges should not be clipped off at the corners. They are are slightly curved.

The edges should be finished with black edging paint.

The top line of stitching fixing the tag to the bag should match the bags exterior lining and thread colour. In my bag the stitching is black, and is comprised of 13/14 stitches.

The tag will not be sewn down on all edges. It will only be attached via the top row of stitching.

The leather tag will be perfectly placed in the middle of the pocket.

Another 2008 Example
Also note that the interior pocket zip is not finished and surrounded by leather trim at this point.

8. The interior lining

The lining on my bag is the iconic diorissimo print. It changed from the CD Cannage lining below.

Notice the D is going up to the right , not down

I hope the above is helpful - feel free to ask further questions in the comments.

Please remember: I’m not an expert…this is just what I discovered on my research journey. Please get your bag authenticated by a reputable reseller, and also add in your own research to be 100% certain

I really hope this helps. Love Alice xx

How to Spot a Fake Vs Real Lady Dior Medium. Circa 2008

How to Spot a Fake Louis Vuitton Speedy Bandouliere 25

Understanding: Louis Vuitton Date Codes