If you’ve read my In Paris for the Holidays post, then you know the Champs Elysées is one of the most beautiful avenues in the world. It also boasts several great shopping possibilities from drugstore to high-end. Many brands house their flagships stores on this legendary avenue such as Sephora and Louis Vuitton is no exception.

Shopping in Louis Vuitton is an experience for all the senses. Due to heightened security you will have more guards than usual at the door checking your purses etc.. The first sense of course is the pleasing sight of all the luxury items laid out and perfectly lit for your admiring eyes. This flagships store is very big with three stories filled with purses, menswear, womens pret à porter, and a library.

Because of its location and its flagship status, even though it’s a huge store, it can get over crowded very easily. During sales, there is often a line on the side walked corded off by red velvet rope for customers to wait in line. I usually avoid those times, and come when I know it’ll be less hectic.

If you are going to be shopping in a luxury store it’s always better to get to know a good sales associate, and then ask for the same one every time in order to build your relationship with them. It’ll make your in-store experience that much better.

Once the sales associate is helping you, you will be offered a drink. I took some tea to help combat the winter chill. But water or champagne is offered as well. I’d say be careful of drinking alcohol when in such a place with temptation underfoot ! There’s a reason alcohol is free in casinos as well! Anyways your taste buds are brought into play here as well.

Finally I just love the way the store smells, leather is very comforting for some reason. Have you ever liked the smell of a store?

Let’s get on to the actual item I purchased : the Louis Vuitton Caissa Card Holder or Porte Cartes. I featured it in my Mother’s Day Gift inspirations. I was looking for a card holder that could easily be used in combination with my LV Clés Pochette (which I reviewed as well) for any of my smaller purses and cross body handbags. The Caissa line is a new line from Louis Vuitton that has just come out last year. I first heard about it from MakeupbyTiffanyD on YouTube.

The dimensions are :

• 11.0 x 7.0 cm (Longueur x Hauteur)
• 4.3 x 2.8 inches (Length x Height)

For reference it’s slightly taller than the Clés Pochette but a little less wide.

I chose the Damier ébène print with the Cerise color (French for cherry red). If you’ve read my 2nd Liebster Award post you know I’m not a pink girl, which is the other color it comes in or should I say Rose Ballerine. I think the pop of red is gorgeous against the dark brown or ébène which means ebony. The red coating also goes all around the card holder. I like this color combination so much I don’t see myself using the front slip pocket any time soon! haha!

The Caissa line puts an interesting twist on the Damier ebene print by giving it a slant. On the front of the card the slant is slight and caused by the pleat – which by the way is to die for it’s so pretty. However in the back, the slant to the pattern is much more pronounced and it turns the checkered pattern (which is what “damier” means in French) into a diamond pattern. I love everything about the aesthetics of this SLG, even down to the yellow stitch on the pleat.

It’s made with coated canvas and grained cowhide leather lining. This is an improvement over the regular LV card holder or Porte Cartes Simple which is entirely made out of coated canvas. This makes it very durable but it also has less stretch over time than leather does. You might find this card holder limiting with only two pockets. But the inner pocket as I said stretches out quite nicely and I can fit up to 10 cards in it, granted it’s a tight fit.

Personally, I don’t carry a lot of cards with me, because I store my loyalty cards in an App on my iPone. I just needed a small card hold for my credit card and social security when I’m using a clutch or smaller bag. I’ll use my Clés Pochette for cash and coins only. So this item is perfect for me.

But if you are big card carrier then I wouldn’t recommend this item to you. You would be better off with an accordion style holder like the Sarah Multi Cartes which can carry more cards easily but also makes searching through them so much easier. You wouldn’t have to pull all your cards out to rifle through them till you find the one you needed.

As with all LV pieces, this SLG is hot stamped in the leather lining with the Louis Vuitton brand name and the location it was made in : mine is from Spain.

This LV piece retails for $235 or 160€. It’s part of their affordable items. I love this item. If I had to find a con for the sake of this review, I would mention the pleat (which is a plus to me). The pleat does create a bit of dimension and if your clutch is tiny it will not lay completely flat and will take up an extra bit of space. I’m only mentioning this for the people that might be bothered by this fact and so this review is as thorough as possible.

I think it’s a good value for your money as it’s an item that you will be able to use day in and day out without having the baby it for many years to come. What’s the point of buying an item you love and not using it because you’re afraid of scratching it up? LV coated canvas is very known and popular for its resistance. Yes, you are paying a lot for something that isn’t entirely made of leather but it’s a tried and true high quality canvas that is scratch resistant, water proof and will show minimal wear and tear.

Do you use a card holder? And if so which one is it?

Xoxo Danetigress

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