Ultimate Guide on How to Tell if a Gucci Bag is Real (or Fake)? – Case Study: Comparing a Real vs. Fake Gucci (Gucci Dionysus Bag)

(ETA: It has come to my attention that the ‘Chicago Tribune‘ has mentioned Bagaholic 101 in their article ‘Is that handbag real, or fake? Here’s how to prove your designer bag is the real thing‘. Thank you very much, Ms. Ellen Warren for the feature and recognizing this Ultimate Gucci Guide!)

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material  | vintage serial number  |  rounded tag serial number  |  rectangular tag serial number  |  exterior  |  hardware  |  zipper  |  lining  |  seams |   vintage gucci and gucci accessory collection  |  gucci outlet  |  gucci plus  |  case study 1: gucci abbey bag | case study 2 : gucci soho bag  |  case study 3 : gucci dionysus bag

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After the Gucci Soho Disco bag, this section of BAGAHOLIC 101’s “Ultimate Gucci Guide” presents the most popular offering from Alessandro Michele since he took the helm at Gucci.

The Gucci Dionysus bag with its tiger head closure references the myth of the Greek god Dionysus when he transformed himself into a tiger to carry a young nymph across the river, which then became the Tigris river.

Carried by the fashion-savvy, the Gucci Dionysus launched a thousand knock-offs. With this guide, we will be applying the lessons from our ‘Ultimate Gucci Guide’ series for tips to differentiate between a fake and authentic Gucci Dionysus bag.

Monogram Pattern

Fakes are getting better with their bags. As you can see from the monogram canvas below, they are learning how to line up their GG patterns.

(All photos can be clicked to zoom for more details)

However, if you look closely upon this Gucci Dionysus medium bag, a few details are amiss. If you run an imaginary line from one end of the flap to another, you will see the cut-off GG on both ends. There’s also 11 set of GG from end to end.

For the fake bag, you can see that it is lopsided. This is one thing you should look closely when buying bags on Ebay. However, admittedly, some fakes do get this right like what I mentioned in other parts of this guide.

Chain Handle

From the chain handle, it gets easier to distinguish a real and fake Gucci Dionysus bag. Unlike a Chanel bag that is usually intertwined with leather, the chain handle of a Gucci Dionysus will most like dig on your shoulders.

Nevertheless, you will notice that this fake has the links of the chain wrong.

There are also some fakes, like the one below, which almost gets the correct type of chain links. However, upon close inspection, you will see the difference in sheen and finish, as the the real Gucci Dionysus’s chain handle will be evenly polished as compared to the finish of the fake one. It even has some “bubbling” of the metal, as if it was not properly cast and cooled off.

Dionysus Hardware

As mentioned in the first paragraph, the tiger becomes a recurring motif for Michele. The Gucci bangle below was enlarged and reworked as the distinguishing hardware of the Gucci Dionysus bag.

Going back to the present-day Dionysus hardware, the untrained eye will not see subtle differences. The details on the real Dionysus tiger head hardware are more sharp.

Focus your attention on the top of the head, especially the the 10 “circles” indention on the metal.

Aside from the tiger head, you should also pay attention to the details of the diamond on the top of the curved hardware.

Leather Tag and Serial Number

If you have reached this part from the ‘Ultimate Guide Series’, you know by now that contemporary Gucci bags are using rectangular leather tags with two rows of serial numbers.

It pays to review the anatomy of the Gucci logo (as discussed here) to know how distinct the Gucci font is on all the markings. Nevertheless, as I love a fake parade, let us proceed with a couple of fake Gucci tags and serial numbers we are all familiar with.

Even with those very good replica Dionysus bags on the outside get at least one of the leather tags and serial numbers below:

What about the next one? Well, this is tricky. Have a closer look.

For the untrained eye, yes, it might pass as an authentic Gucci bag. But what I have been always telling readers, it helps to get an ensemble of decisions — stemming from several elements of the bag.

The good fake above came with these fake inclusions, with the Controllato card misspelled  as Comtrollato.

But this card can always be lost, and/or discarded, right?

But another giveaway is the zipper. If you remember the post on Gucci zippers, particularly on the D-metal head, you will have more evidence that this is not an authentic Gucci Dionysus bag.

The following leather tags are from authentic Gucci Dionysus bags. These bags came from several materials (suede, coated canvas, leather, etc.), thus making it difficult to discern on some especially the suede ones.

But if you have already familiarized yourself with the contemporary Gucci tags that Gucci is using, then you will gain more confidence in authenticating your next Gucci Dionysus purchase.

A lot of Gucci styles are as popular as the Dionysus these days (such as the Padlock and the Marmont). More guides for Alessandro Michele’s bags will be available soon.

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