First you should look at the logo on the front of the bag and make sure the thread on the logo is the same color as the thread used on the rest of the bag. Then you should check the leather trim on the bag because it is always a british tan leather.
- The easiest and surest way to verify you have a bona fide dooney is to look inside. All Dooney handbags come with a tag sewn inside the bag. On one side, the tag will say, 'Dooney and Bourke',.
- What is a website to verify dooney and bourke serial numbers? I bought a really cute dooney purse at goodwill for five bucks. It has a skew number and is really good quality the only catch is there is a made in china tag, on the inside.
- Dooney & Bourke bags sold for between $200-$380 in the 1980s and 1990s which invited knock offs and fakes to flood the market. But it only takes a few seconds to spot the difference in materials, workmanship and feel of the great Dooney & Bourke handbags, briefcases, totes, wallets and other items in the All Weather Collection.
Private | |
Founded | South Norwalk, Connecticut () |
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Headquarters | 1 Regent Street, Norwalk, Connecticut, U.S. 06855 |
Key people | Peter Dooney and Frederic Bourke |
Products | Handbags, women's accessories, men's accessories, business cases, weekend and travel accessories, watches, footwear |
Website | Dooney and Bourke |
Dooney & Bourke is a company specializing in fashion accessories, such as handbags, luggage, bracelets, watches, and briefcases, as well as a limited clothing line, which includes sweaters, shoes, jackets, and scarves. While most products are made for women, there are some products, such as sweaters, belts, wallets, briefcases, and some shoes made for men. Founded in 1975, Dooney & Bourke products range from $60–$850.
History[edit]
Dooney & Bourke started in 1975 when Peter Dooney and Frederic Bourke launched their namesake in South Norwalk, Connecticut. The duo started off with two introductory products: surcingle belts, which were popular due to their unique vibrant colors and stripes, and classic suspenders.
In 1981, Dooney & Bourke branched out into the handbag business with the release of the Tack Case and the Equestrian Bag, both made from bridle leather. Along with their original purse, distributors such as Nordstrom, Brooks Brothers, and Saks Fifth Avenue, they opened The Company Store in Norwalk, Connecticut which sold among other things Dooney & Bourke Merchandise. In 1983, with the development of their famous All-Weather Leather (AWL) bag, the first AWL handbag collection was released featuring a duck logo with a russet leather trim. In 2006 and 2007, the 'Emma Bag,' a small oval sized bag named after Emma Roberts, was created. In 2007, Hayden Panettiere, an actress on the NBC television series Heroes, designed a new bag for Dooney & Bourke
Advertising today[edit]
For 2007/2008, actress Hayden Panettiere has taken over the creation of her own line of Dooney & Bourke bags, including the Hayden bag, and the patent leather bag known as the 'Chiarra'. The 2006 representative for Dooney & Bourke was actress Emma Roberts of Aquamarine and Unfabulous, the niece of Julia Roberts.
Other celebrities including Mischa Barton from The O.C., Lindsay Lohan, and Michelle Trachtenberg have modeled in advertisements for Dooney & Bourke in past years.
Dooney & Bourke advertise in several fashion and style magazines such as Vogue, Teen Vogue, ELLE, Vanity Fair, Lucky, InStyle, and W.
Dooney & Bourke also sends out quarterley catalogs to customers who join their mailing list by visiting their website or calling their toll-free number.
How To Look Up Dooney And Bourke Serial Numbers By Name
Throughout the years, the Dooney & Bourke brand have advertised to capture youthful consumers. The brand have designed a young-looking style for adolescents, expanding their consumers.
Product locations[edit]
United States[edit]
South Coast Plaza3333 Bristol St., Suite 1601Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Ala Moana Shopping Center1450 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 2223Honolulu, HI 96814
Grand Canal Shoppes at the Venetian3377 Las Vegas Blvd, Suite 2215Las Vegas, NV 89109
The Westchester125 Westchester Ave.White Plains, NY 10601
Worldwide[edit]
- Tokyo, Japan
- Cotai, Macau, China
A number of Dooney & Bourke Factory Stores can be found throughout the United States. Addresses can be found via their Store Locator tool on Dooney.com.
Dooney and Bourke products can also be purchased online, on auction sites such as eBay (though authenticity cannot be guaranteed through such sites). Dooney and Bourke products can be purchased at Macy's, Dillards, Lord and Taylor and many other department stores, off-price discount stores, and at many Dooney & Bourke factory stores nationwide.
Legal issues[edit]
Louis Vuitton vs. Dooney and Bourke[edit]
In April 2004, rival Louis Vuitton filed suit against Dooney & Bourke, stating Dooney & Bourke had infringed its allegedly famous Murakami Monogram Multicolore collection. On May 30, 2008, District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled in favor of Dooney & Bourke and dismissed the case.[1]
Conspiracy and bribery conviction of Bourke[edit]
On July 9, 2009, Frederic Bourke was found guilty by a jury and convicted of conspiracy and bribery under the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Travel Act in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.[2] Bourke was convicted of conspiring with a Czech national, Viktor Kožený, also known as 'Pirate of Prague' [3] to pay bribes to the ex-president and government officials of Azerbaijan. The bribery involved a 1998 scheme to induce the sale and purchase of the Azeri state oil company.[4] Although Bourke did not personally bribe the government officials and lost his $8 million investment in a hedge fund managed by the Czech national, Bourke was found to have known personally that money invested in the fund were used for bribing Azeri officials with cash and a secret 2/3 interest in the oil company.[4] After the jury verdict, District Judge Shira Scheindlin assessed a $1 million fine against Bourke and sentenced him to a jail term of one year and a day, followed by three years of probation.[5]
References[edit]
How To Look Up Dooney And Bourke Serial Numbers Diagram
- ^Covert, James (2008-06-05). 'Open & shut case: Louis Vuitton rival wins big in bag battle'. The New York Post. Archived from the original on 2011-06-05. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
- ^Johnson, Carrie (2010-02-08). 'U.S. sends a message by stepping up crackdown on foreign business bribes'. The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
- ^'Pirate of Prague'. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved 2012-05-20.
- ^ abGlovin, David (2009-07-11). 'Executive guilty of conspiracy in foreign bribery case'. Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
- ^Vardi, Nathan (2009-11-10). 'Founder of Dooney & Bourke gets jail term of one year'. Forbes. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
External links[edit]
Dooney & Bourke bags sold for between $200-$380 in the 1980s and 1990s which invited knock offs and fakes to flood the market. But it only takes a few seconds to spot the difference in materials, workmanship and feel of the great Dooney & Bourke handbags, briefcases, totes, wallets and other items in the All Weather Collection.
To help, authentic Dooney & Bourke items have some identifying features. Note that in the early 1980's before the AWL (All Weather Leather) bags went into production, the Equestrian bags, for example, were made of wonderful bridle leather but it was NOT waterproof. Also those early bags, because they were not AWL bags, did not have the Duck Leather seal or the Brass Duck fob as these signify the waterproof aspects - like water shedding from a duck's feathers. So bear that in mind as you shop for authentic bags. There are some absolutes but some anomalies along the way also. To the best of my knowledge and by researching in my vintage Dooney & Bourke catalog collection, here's the scoop.
Early AWL bags (early 1980s) usually will have: | |
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Handbags in the AWL collection (1983-1990s) | |
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Dooney & Bourke Bag Trim Designation There are 3 main trim colors on original AWL Dooney & Bourke handbags. © 2013 Horsekeeping LLC © Copyright Information | |
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| H512 |
About Registration Tags
Very early bags have no sewn in cloth regitration tags.
The first sewn-in tags (1983-1984) were fairly large green rectangles sewn flat into the bag that said:
Dooney & Bourke
DB
Made in USA
After 1985, the tags were red, white and blue and were sewn as tabs inside the bag in conjunction with a seam. They say:
Dooney & Bourke, Inc.
Made in USA
and they have a registration number on the back.
Some more recent bags (1990s) have been manufactured in the US but assembled elsewhere, such as Costa Rica. Those bags have red, white and blue sewn-in tags that say Dooney & Bourke Inc. but the tag does not say Made in USA. Instead there is often a (leather or cloth) tag underneath the red, white and blue tag that says where the bag was assembled such as the example above which shows a blue cloth tag that says 'Assembled in Costa Rica.
In these assembled-overseas bags, there is a registration number on the back of the red, white and blue tag and the letter it stars with indicates the country where the bag was assembled.
C indicates Costa Rica
H, J, K and L indicate China
I indicates Italy
M indicates Mexico.
This registration tag system was used when Dooney & Bourke was producing a limited amount of collections. As the company got larger, it no longer assigned individual registration numbers to each bag.
Tags removed or snipped? Often we will see tags that are snipped or partially or completely torn out of the bags. If a tag is snipped but is mostly still there, it probably indicates that the bag was sold at an outlet store - it is likely authentic but might have been an overstock or slightly imperfect bag. If a tag is completely ripped out, leaving only a few red and white threads, I am always suspicious. Such bags might be authentic but it would be difficult to authenticate them without a registration number.
Since there are so many knock-off designer bags out there, it pays to do a little homework before you buy. We only sell authentic Dooney & Bourke leather handbags. We feel Dooney & Bourke bags from the 1980s and 1990s are the best bags you can find. They are extremely high quality, made in USA, registered bags.
Drop Length. Go here to find out what drop length means and how we measure it.
'We hope you enjoy looking through the bags we've found and
that you see one that suits you to a T.'
© 2010 Horsekeeping LLC © Copyright Information