Back in March I posted this photo of one of the items in the new Cashin-inspired line at Coach:

photo copyright Coach, Inc.

Quite unbelievibly, these are already in the Coach outlet stores.  It was my good fortune to stumble across them yesterday at the outlets at Blowing Rock, North Carolina.  I've been visiting my niece and we somehow ended up at the nice little outlet mall.  As we went into the Coach store I actually thought, I wonder when they will send the Cashin stuff down to the outlets? 

They were not only there, but were in the back of the store - land of deep discounts.  The entire line was reduced, first around 10% and then 50% off that.  The pink bag above was originally about $300, and on sale, it is about $130.  I almost bought it, but opted for a smaller version with a kiss lock top for $55.

It's been my experience in the past that it takes almost a year for Coach items to reach the clearance area, so the four month shelf life of these was pretty surprising.  I'm sure the economy was partly to blame, but still...

I'm not sure the name and the artwork of Cashin was enough to carry a line.  A store employee was  actually explaining to a buyer who Bonnie Cashin was.  Now that might be hard for us fashion history junkies to believe, but unfortunately, not every Coach buyer is well versed on designers of the past - not even those at Coach.

But, fair warning, if you saw this line and wanted some of it, act fast!

Oooh! I remember when you posted about these. That's a great deal. The bags and sneakers with the Bonnie Cashin drawings have been coming up on eBay consistently--wristlets about $40, small totes about $150, but the large tote is what everyone seems to love.

I don't like them that much, but a large framed poster would be great. I'm not one to wear advertise-y, logo bags although I've pined for a Roberta Di Camerino for nearly a decade.

Oh, that's interesting. I didn't even think of looking on ebay. I didn't price the canvas wristlets, but the small totes are cheaper at the outlet. They were out of scarves, otherwise I'd have gotten one.

But I'm with you; I really don't like bags that are that obvious and, well... cartoony.

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