°˖✧✝ All Bats Everything: Patchy Backpack ✝✧˖°

So, you thought I had my fill of bats, huh? NEVER! Just when I thought I couldn't get any more lucky, I was able to obtain my very own Patchy bag! I still can't believe it. I'm teetering between either bursting out in tears or hyperventilating.     

There is at least one item that is treated as a "holy grail" piece in a Lolita's wishlist. It's said to be a holy grail because it becomes the most sought after item on their list. Sometimes, it's labeled as a holy grail because, while it's well known, it may never be obtainable. For a long time, one of my holy grail items was a Patchy bag, and I would've settled for any one of them.The first time I saw one of their bags was of course in the Gothic Lolita Bible. I was so smitten with their designs. And how could I not be? Every design came with cleverly styled wings, most being slick bat ones. Every time I stumble over my saved Patchy pictures in my documents, I always let out a longing sigh.  

The bag I will forever swoon over.

With stunning bags like these, one would think that they would be extremely popular and sought after. But, surprisingly, they are mostly unknown in the Lolita world today.  Patchy items have always been hard to obtain, but now, even further in the 2000s, it's like they never existed. When I tried naming and describing the bags to one of my Lolita friends, she had admittedly told me that she was not familiar with the brand until I had mentioned it. It's hard enough trying to describe an item that someone knows nothing about, but it's even harder to look for that said item when seemingly no one knows anything about it.    

Source: Amy the Yu's 2013 wardrobe post 

Though, to be honest, I didn't know much about the bags aside from their name before now. I didn't know where to buy them, how often they were released or if the brand was defunct. And just typing in Patchy, both in English and Japanese romaji, on Google or auction sites never got me anywhere. I had gotten to a point where I thought I wouldn't ever get a chance to own anything from Patchy. I gave up and accepted defeat.

But then, something magnificent happened at the beginning of this month. When I was listlessly scrolling through an auction site, my eyes glanced over a backpack with that iconic Patchy bat swirl! I didn't think it was real. It couldn't have been, I thought. I lost all hope of ever owning one, so there was no way it was real. Not only that, but the backpack wasn't listed under the name Patchy, but Putumayo. But what does Patchy have to do with Putumayo? Apparently, everything!

Source: From Putumayo's 2012 Twitter post

One thing that I didn't know was that Patchy's merchandise has been sold through Putumayo's stores for years. I never knew this about Putumayo. If I did, I would have went about my searches differently. Whereas typing "Patchy bag" in a search engine offered zero results, typing "Putumayo Patchy bag" produced a nice amount. One of the results lead me to a 2004 post asking similar questions about the brand Patchy on EGL, where many provided helpful information on the subject.  

But I had already bought the bag even before I officially knew about Putumayo's affiliation! I guess I was a bit reckless, but I couldn't give up the chance. Sure, I thought about the possiblity of it being fake or an "inspired" Patchy design. However, I felt as if this opportunity was far too great not to bid on it. Besides the wings being a dead giveaway, I squinted very hard to make out the words engraved on the front and was sure that the obscure 'P' word was Patchy. As an online shopper I knew I had to be careful, but my gut was telling me my instincts were right. So I put a bid on it. And, oh was I lucky! For a Patchy bag that started at about $14, I won the auction for $30!    

Bonus: It's in a shape of a coffin!

The bag I won was a 2012 design, and, as you can see from the linked Putumayo Twitter post, it is a softer bag than its predecessors. I assume this is because it might have been targeted for casual wear. However, its softer material doesn't diminish its construction. In this version, the wings are detachable, and the material makes the bag overall more malleable, which I like. If Lolitas think petticoats make maneuvering hard, they should wear a Patchy bag and see how even more difficult it becomes. So in a way, I'm grateful for something with a little more cushion. It's great because when people push past the bag's wings or the wings tuck under me when I'm sitting, I don't have to worry about the bag being permanently bent. I'm very happy with this bag, but I'm still hoping for one of the older, stiffer ones. They're stiff and clunky just like my platforms, hehehe~  

°˖✧ 'Till next time