Vintage John Romain Purse Repair and Restoration

I was at my local Goodwill store, and I came upon this purse.

It's a 1970 vintage John Romain straw and leather "doctor bag" style. It's in great condition, with the straw/ raffia intact, and the whiskey brown leather straps and trim with a little bit of wear. The brass metal studs, feet and clip look great.   

The wooden rods through the leather at the top of the bag ensure the shape. 

 

Check out the bottom. It has five brass stud feet.

 

 

 

Here's the back. Again.... typical wear for its age. I'll end up polishing the leather. 

 

 



The only bummer about it is that the flap and twist lock was missing. Note the Romain lion logo on the front flap.

 

 The interior John Romain logo and the date of "DEC 1970" is clearly seen.

 

 

But, the price was right at $3.99. I had to get creative to make this truly functional. So... I scoured the rest of the store, and I found this "busted up" Etienne Aigner straw/ raffia purse.

 

In its existing condition, it looked awful.

 

But it was priced at $1.99, and it had something I needed. It had the intact lock that fit into the John Romain purse!

 

 So, I took one of my trusty pocketknives, and loosened up around the lock.

 

 

 Then, I pulled out the lock mechanism.

 

 

 

I slid a pair of scissors under the leather strap on the John Romain (check out the lion insignias on those rivets), then placed the lock in through the cutouts from where the missing lock was. I used a pair of needlenose pliers to secure the lock into place.

 

 

 

Ta-dah!!!!! A perfectly matching lock! Saint Salvage strikes again!