A Dilettante’s Dispatch is a series of posts from a jet-setting friend of ours, Arturo. Watch for more in the coming days.

OMG, I forgot to mention in my last post that I saw Ewan McGregor — my number-one celebrity exception — at L’Eclairuer. Beautiful, and wisely checking out a pair of Rick Owens motorcycle boots. Unfortunately he was with his wife and children, and therefore unlikely to fall prey to my waning charms.

In any event, Chanel. I’m not going to review the fashion, as I’m hardly qualified, and I don’t want to piss anyone off…yet. That said, the clothes at Chanel were quite shiney and elaborate and seemed well positioned to appeal to rich ladies in Texas and Russia. (See if you can spot me in the crowd!)

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This is an addendum to a luxury bag round up from back in April which included a Chanel bag designed to look like their shopping bag. Well here’s a do-it-yourself version that’s even more downtown and definitely more affordable that was spotted in the wild:

As photographer Jerome succinctly summarized, “fake it till you make it.” Just be ready to run from the copyright and trademark lawyers!

Three unique luxury bags that I guarantee you won’t see in Chinatown. Actually, on second thought, impossibly accurate imitations of the first bag below might appear on Canal Street for Free 99 sooner than you think.

Coming to a Chanel store near you is this bag that’s so meta, fashionistas’ spring season brains may explode. Typically you walk into a store, select something, and the trim and hip sales clerk, after swiping your plastic, carefully places the item inside the store bag and hands your purchase over to you. For some women and brands, that store bag itself has established a certain cachet and chicness. Capitalizing on that, some clever designer at Chanel had an “Eureka!” moment and produced the Chanel leather shopping bag. [Via]

Extend a big middle finger to the global economic meltdown with this gold rucksack from Billionaire Boys Club. Only four available, at $1,650 each. [Via]

If the lifestyle of the people who can afford the aforementioned bags are beyond your plebe means, here’s an attainable and affordable Hermes bag. Yes, you read that correctly. Affordable Hermes. Head over to their website, download, print, cut out, and then glue together a paper version of their famous Kelly bag. DIY luxury! [Via]

Lastly, we can’t talk about bags without this iconic, ubiquitous (and decidedly “un-green”) bag modeled here by fashionable Sarah Bernstein, an executive assistant at The Weinstein Company.