Latest bag purchase the day(s) after.

I saved this draft post on July 4, shortly after the bag mentioned in the previous post had arrived, but had not yet been carried.

Well, my wallet seems to be safe -- though I love the vintage vibe of the Kelly style, I'm defnitely a Birkin-style girl.

My new bag is lovely, but it just isn't my style. I do like that it has a vintage, "left to me in Grandmère's will" look...which oddly enough is my style. Holy moley, it might actually work for me! Yikes! My wallet!

Don't love: I'm carrying essentially the same things in my new 35cm Kelly style that I had in my 35cm Birkin style, but it's a snug fit. I put my makeup and little things in smaller bags to save room, since the Kelly style is a narrower bag.

Do love: It's lighter in weight. Great color, love the contrast stitching. I'm leaving the straps open and just letting them dangle; it relaxes the look of the bag just enough, I think. I love that the handle is big enough to go up to the elbow with my coat on, which is always a plus with a handheld bag. There's a detachable, non-adjustable shoulder strap which offers a hands-free option.

It's kind of scary that the more I look at it (it's on the bookcase where I can see it while I surf on the laptop and watch TV), the more I think I might be liking it. It'll look fabulous with fall clothes. Oh no! I think I like it after all! It wasn't love at first sight, but it's growing on me fast.

I wasn't quite sure if the style really worked for me, but I can't stop looking at it. This may be the start of a new collection; I'll know better tomorrow after it's been in action. I may even do a little shopping after work -- for wearability research purposes only, of course.

present day... My initial response was correct -- the Kelly style is a beautiful bag, but I really am a Birkin-style girl. I'm highly pleased with my new bag though, because it'll fit right in with fall's retro vibe. I mostly bought it for dress-up occasions anyway, so spicing up work outfits with a little vintage glam now and then will be a bonus!

Today's bag: camel Pierotucci Birkin-inspired bag.

New bag!

Someone I know purchased this bag last week:

Pierotucci 35cm cognac firm leather, gold hardware. Actually, that someone was me, as if you couldn't guess.

Is that a beautiful bag or what? Want to hear the best part? $327.00, which is 40% off! Because, yes! It's the Pierotucci summer sale! The link I gave is to the full price page. Here's the link for the sale bag. [note: link removed, sale's over!] Buy away, and feel free to tell them I sent you.

I wanted a Kelly style bag because it's such a feminine style, very ladylike. Despite the size, I'm thinking it'll be gorgeous for dress up, for those occasions when my tote-style Pieros would be just a bit much. Estimated date of delivery is Thursday June 21st, which means I'll most likely have it by Wednesday afternoon -- which means I need to come up with an outfit for showing off purposes Thursday morning.

Sadly, none of you can really help with this since you have no idea what I've got in my wardrobe. Actually, I've been starting with accessories and color and going from there. So...what to wear?

Turquoise immediately leaps to mind since I've embraced my love of blue-greens with a vengence this summer and have the bangles to prove it. My tortoise bangles are classic, of course, and would look wonderful.

White shirt? A white twinset look, perhaps? Clean and streamlined and perfect for the 90+ degree heatwave we're currently locked in. White tank or tee, white shirt worn open over. Yessssss.

The skirt option is where things get dicey. Had I not worn it today, my go-to black slinky side-slit skirt would be a good, though safe, choice. I need something more fun! Or...do I want to go more straightlaced? Maybe my dove grey/muted plaid? Or the pencil skirt in navy silk? Ahhhh. Did you hear that "click"? That was the sound of the pieces sliding into place.

White tee, white blouse. Navy silk pencil skirt. Pearls, silver coin/pearl earrings, tortoise bangles. Depending on the true color of the bag in real life, my croco-embossed flats with silver buckles on the toes (think Roger Vivier) will be perfect. Yay, new bags! Yay, planning outfits around new bags!

Today's bag: blue Pierotucci Birkin-inspired bag.

A cautionary tale: French 1946 Speedy-style bag.

I confessed in another post that I'm the laziest blogger ever, and I'm confirming it now by recycling what I posted about the French 1946 Speedy-style bag in a purse forum.

I ordered the Black Shadow design -- all black, including a black metal lock, keys and hardware. I was excited when the bag arrived, but when I opened the package and saw the nylon zipper I was immediately disappointed.

It would be a great bag for a ninja or a spy; I think gold or silver hardware would have looked nicer.
12 in. Sacoche - Black Shadow

Definitely of the good: The bag was 102.00 on sale. It'll make a good knock-around bag, and probably a good bag for rain, since the fabric is water-resistant, according to the website. For 102.00 it's not bad. The construction is solid and the bag seems sturdy. I carried it to work once and added another check in the plus column: there's a leather strip lengthwise down the bottom of the bag, which means that even though the bag was pretty loaded there was no "Speedy sag." Yay!

Of the bad: The aforementioned nylon zipper. One of the handles is pretty shoddily sewn -- the stitches are tight but crooked. It's a good thing the thread is black to match the leather, because contrasting stitching would have looked awful.

Again, for the price range, not bad. After carrying it for a day I might buy the herringbone version when/if it goes on sale:

12 in. Sacoche - Herringbone

One thing would keep me from ordering: crappy customer service.

I wasn't happy about the 20.00 shipping charge, especially since - at the time - the banner at the top of the site said "Free shipping in the U.S." When I called to ask about the discrepancy I was told that they'd "look into it." What this meant was that they updated the website, changed the banner to remove the "free shipping" statement, and didn't offer to make good after misleading me. Great P.R. there, fellas.

Today's bag: blue Pierotucci Birkin-inspired bag loaded up for tomorrow.

Ordering another one! and clothing adventures.

Another unexpectedly fabulous outfit yesterday. Slinky chocolate cardigan, khaki/goldish-ish tank, black/gold scrollwork design skirt. Tortoise bangles, sheer cream stockings, leopard ballet flats, silver hoop earrings with gold dangles. It probably sounds odd, but the camel/gold/brown/black combo looked extraordinarily sophisticated. I was quite pleased! The only thing I'd change: I'd carried my olive Pierotucci the day before and didn't have time to change before leaving the house. The olive looked good, but I think my blue Pierotucci would have added a nice pop of color.

Speaking of camel and black, I've decided that I need a pair of classic Chanel-esque camel ballet flats with black cap toes. That is my shoe mission!

Speaking of Pierotucci...yes! I'm ordering a fifth bag! I tried to order this afternoon, but that stupid secure VISA password thing never seems to work for me without a lot of failed transactions, frustration and crying first. It might be a phone order. ;-p

Today's bag: olive Pierotucci Birkin-inspired bag.

Purchased ages ago, like, January 2006...

I'm feeling incredibly lazy; I want to post, but I don't really feel like writing anything. Because of this, I'm going to recycle a post I made in a forum; I bought my Luella Suzi tote before I started this blog, so here's a blast from the past...


The leather is gorgeous and I love the styling. The bag is a bit heavy for its size but not crippling.

My main issue with the Suzi is that because of the way it's constructed, it's much smaller on the inside than you'd think. The sides are gathered and there's a pocket sewn in the middle to create two compartments...two small compartments. Plus, there's a foldover flap from the back that attaches magnetically inside the front of the bag, which makes getting in and out a little trickier than it needs to be. There's a ton of wasted potential space.

With all that said, it really is a pretty bag; I carry it every now and then as a change of pace. I bought it online from Saks after seeing the white version in Vogue; if I'd seen this bag in person first, I'm pretty sure that's $1100.00 I'd have spent on something else.

Today's bag: blue Pierotucci Birkin-inspired bag.

Come to me, my beauty...

Oh, my goodness. Oh, sweet heaven. My newest Pierotucci arrived today and it's breathtaking. There's a depth to the color that I can't even describe; it's absolutely incredible! I took a few pictures earlier; sadly, they're incredibly crappy. Here's the best of the lot:

Needless to say, this picture in no way, shape or form conveys the gorgeousness of the color! I'm going to try again tomorrow in natural light (outside), and we'll see what happens. Also, the cool tones of the silver hardware complement the blue perfectly. So beautiful.

This Hermes twilly comes close to the depth of color in my Piero, though my bag is more on the blue end of the scale than the twilly. I am officially the world's worst photographer, but that's okay, because I have the best bags evah.

And by the way, is that scarf gorgeous, or what? I received a teeny, tiny unexpected little bonus-lette at work a week or so ago, and the twilly would make a nice little gift to myself. I'm mad about the aqua, but the black version would probably be a more practical choice, since it would work with more of my wardrobe. But I really love the aqua. But I should get the black one, right? But the aqua has green in it...

See the glasses on my bag? They're also new! They're Isaac Mizrahi, purchased at Target for 17.99 (link courtesy of Amazon.com):

Unless I simulatenously (or subsequently) win the lottery and lose my mind, I will never spend more than 25.00 for sunglasses -- I've lost or broken way too many pairs to justify spending more than that. There is one exception: RayBan Wayfarers, because I'm a retro traditionalist at heart.

Yessssssssssss, I'm thinking the aqua twilly. Perhaps. Stay tuned.

Today's bag: Michael Kors signature jaquard bag.

Color, take four.

If inspired-design bags make you weep, flee now and don't say I didn't warn you.

The following is my Philosphy on Blue. Because I'm apparently the laziest blogger ever, I'm going to copy the text from a mail message I sent to a purse-loving friend:

I'm really funny about blue. I'm not partial to thin, cold blues, but I love anything with depth. I love navy. I'm partial to blues with just a hint of green, or the kind of blue with a soft, creamy base (like robin's egg or Tiffany blue), and I love turquoise. This is why I have a hard time trying to find blue accessories that I really like, especially bags, because the shade has to be just right, and there are *tons* of shades that are just so, so wrong...at least to my eye. :-)

So...I've seen tons of blue bags, and I've even been tempted by a few, but I just couldn't find the one that truly spoke to me. Eventually I fell in love with the oh so lovely color known as 'blue jeans' and I was hooked. Pierotucci had my money quicker than you can say, "Gimme that bag!"

I ordered soft leather, 35cm, silver hardware. The silver should be lovely against the blue! I'm very excited.

This will be my fourth bag, and this one wasn't even on my wish list. It should be a gorgeous warm weather bag, and the blue will provide a bright pop of color against darker clothes this winter. Again, I'm ridiculously excited.

I've been planning lots of monotone outfits in neutral colors so that the bag will shine: khaki, black, brown, grey, white. This will be the first outfit: a crisp white shirt worn open with a white tank beneath and my black slinky side-slit skirt. Finishing touches include a trio of turquoise bangles on my wrist and a pair of silver hoops in my ears. Yes, I shall be fabulous.

Today's bag: camel Pierotucci Birkin-inspired bag.

Great outfits, great bags!

Another great outfit! Black/light khaki toile-ish print cotton skirt, light khaki heavyweight t-shirt, slinky brown cardigan, pearls, sheer black stockings, and, yes, my black flats with black/white bowed toes. The skirt's one I bought at the end of the summer season, but I figured that since it's on the darker end of the color scale I could get away with it. It's the first time I'd worn that outfit and it looked fantastic! Happiness is a great outfit.

As I type these words, there are two bags en route to my home. Eeee! I'm so excited! I purchased my third Tod's bag from a fellow purse board member, a gorgeous caramel-colored Miky Zip Media. The seller was sweet enough to let me use her picture for this post. So lovely!

I killed two birds out of my wish list sky with the second bag: I bought the beige Pierotucci Birkin-style that I mentioned in my last post. It was the annual half-off sale, so how could I resist? I now own a bone/ivory/beige bag for the first time since I was about eight. Squee! Yes, I'm excited!


Today's bag: I didn't go anywhere today, but my Lauren by Ralph Lauren hobo is still loaded up from yesterday.

I'm back! Also, new bag lurve for Christmas!

It's been forever since I posted -- my father was suddenly taken ill and has been in the hospital for the past few weeks. During that time I either haven't felt much like blogging or I haven't had the time. He's done much better this past week, so I've been easing back into my online life. :-)

My Tod's Miky Nomade Grande has been getting a workout since Dad's been in the hospital; since I never know what I might need to lug to and from the hospital, it's nice having a big bag to toss any- and everything into. Oddly enough, even though I've worn it plenty of times before, I suddenly received a cluster of compliments during a four day stretch, including: A woman at work who practically twitched with the need to touch the leather ("It looks so soft!" she said); one of the nurses at the hospital wanted to take it right off my shoulder; my aunt, who commented twice about how much she liked it.

I loved the big one so much that I thought it would be nice to have the regular shoulderbag-sized version. Since this is the season for bag sales left and right, I got lucky (though not as lucky as when I got the big one half off), and not only nabbed it at a pretty good price, but I got the orange bag I've been jonesing for. Yay! Tod's Miky Nomade Media in pumpkin:

I ordered it Tuesday from Bluefly; with Christmas two-day delivery I received it yesterday! Bluefly charges tax, which was an unhappy surprise, so I probably won't order from them again unless it's something I absolutely have to have and can't find anywhere else - and the price is right. One happy surprise is that the bag was shipped inside its big orange Tod's box, a bonus I didn't receive when I ordered the big one from Neiman's. Whee! My cat had a ton of fun helping me open the package.

I now have two Tod's bags, and I'm pretty sure there are more in my future. The leather is luscious, the construction impeccable. I'll be watching the sales, because I fully intend to get at least one more Grande. I plan to get a neutral shade, like the brandy one pictured here at Eluxury. I'm not crazy about brown bags, but that's one I think I can live with. I love Tod's.

Today's bag: Tod's Miky Nomade Media.

New bag luuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurve.

Yay! My new bag! One of these days I'll take outdoor pictures, as I've been advised, in order to more accurately capture the color of this bag - this picture comes nowhere close to doing it justice.

It's beautiful! Olive green, with a touch of brown undertone. The wonderful folks at Pierotucci certainly know their way around leather, and their customer service is incomparable.

I've seen so many fabulous green bags for fall - and wanted them all! - that I've been asking myself just how many green bags one person really needs. Well, this is my fourth, so I've decided that green will be my own personal neutral. Hooray!

Like any acquisitive bagista, I'm already eyeing my next purchase. Tod's new Bensonville is beyond beautiful; I loved the midnight blue, but swooned when I saw the deep green. The leather looks absolutely luscious.

Tod's Bensonville Media, $1,350.00. at Neiman Marcus.

Today's bag: olive Pierotucci Birkin-inspired bag.

New bag!

Green is my favorite color, and I've been eyeing a number of green bags lately. I already own three: a lovely, dark olive suede tote from Coach, my newish Tod's spring green Miky Nomade Grande, and a kelly green patent leather Cole Haan.

As mentioned a couple of posts ago, I wanted to buy a new Birkin-inspired bag from Pierotucci. Well, I ordered one last night! Yay me! This will be my fourth green bag:

35 cm, olive green soft leather, gold hardware. Oooooh, so excited.

After lamenting the fact that I've been pretty boring in my bag choices lately, I've changed bags three times! I've worn my Kooba Woven Ada, my Marc Jacobs New tote, and...

Today's bag: Louis Vuitton Speedy 30.

New bag lurve!

It feels as though I haven't posted in months, but it's only been a week. Odd!

I'm here today with two tales, one of shame and one of triumph. Let's go ahead and get the shame out of the way.

1) The Beast(s)

A few weeks ago I purchased three Steve Madden bags online, and blogged about them here. I purchased these bags on the naive/hopeful assumption that they'd look at least as good as the pictures. HAH! I'm here to say that that's a load of hooey.

I was disappointed as soon as I opened the box - I should have followed my first impulse and purchased all three in black, as that's definitely the best of the three colors. I'm pleased though, because the one bag I hoped/thought I'd use the most, the shoulderbag, is black and indeed, is the one that looks the best. I've carried it a couple of times and I didn't feel too ashamed to have it on my arm.

The so-called tote bag is a bit smaller than the shoulder bag and the boxy rectangle bag is smaller still! It's a long bag but small inside. No, I can't figure it out either. The brown tote isn't too bad, and I think I carried it two days. The boxy bag is pretty awful, but I felt obligated to carry it at least once. The color is weird and the leather is truly strange, kind of waxy and...waxy.

The day I carried the boxy bag, I almost made it through the day with my dignity intact. As luck would have it, I stopped by the restroom on my way out of the door for the night. As I approached the restroom door, a tall, slim, fashionable diva stepped out. She gave me a quick once over, definitely gave my bag a long look, and swept on by. Oh, the shame of it.

There's a reason I don't buy trendy bags - they're not me. My style is definitely classic, and that's fine by me! The experiment wasn't a total loss, because I do have a fun black bag now and a brown tote-y thing, maybe for days when it's raining so hard that I don't want to carry one of my good bags. Ah, well. I'm giving the boxy bag to the first one of my young neighbors who'll have it, and good riddance.

2) The beauty

I ordered the Tod's Miky Nomade Grande from Neiman's a week ago, and it arrived this past Friday. It was on sale, half price to be exact (woohoo!), and I love green.


I didn't have a Tod's but I'd been eyeing their bags forever. The only thing I wasn't sure of was the size. I knew it was big, but would it be too big? I kept going back and forth about it, but I couldn't get it out of my head. I saw this picture, and thought, yeah, big but workable, I think.


I kept checking and finally figured that if they sold out I'd regret it forever. So I bought it and crossed my fingers.

This thing is HUGE. HUGE. Almost weekender size. But it's beautifully made, of beautiful leather. I love the way it looks, simple and clean but with enough details to make it interesting, and the silver hardware adds a bit of flash. The strap is adjustable to three lengths. I'm currently wearing it at the shortest length, doubled, and the bag hits me at the hip (I'm 5'1").

I wore it shopping yesterday, and I felt like a rock star with this huge, beautiful bag on my shoulder. It's not for the faint of heart, that's for sure! I absolutely love it. Even better, I checked the Neiman's Final Call to see if it had been further reduced, and it's gone back up! It's still less than the original 1300.00 price, but it's 260.00 higher than when I bought mine. And to that I say woohoo.

Today's bag: Tod's Miky Nomade Grande (no pics yet, the battery's low).

Black bag squee! Multiple bag squee!

While perusing the August issue of Shop Etc. this afternoon, one of the bags in the 'Luxe for Less' section caught my eye. If you haven't seen it, 'Luxe for Less' shows how to put together a similar look within three different budgets - Deluxe, Luxe and Less. This month's look was composed of a grey tank top, a black pencil skirt, and black belt, booties and oversized bag. As usual, the bags were my main focus.

The deluxe and luxe bags were nice (Kate Spade and Rafe, respectively), but the third one (Steve Madden) was really the most interesting, a huge, slouchy frame bag in the spirit of - among others - Celine's Clandestine. Even better, all that style at a $225.00 price point really piqued my interest. Before I got too excited though, I hit the Steve Madden website in order to find bigger, better pictures. Sadly, the fall styles aren't on the website yet, but I thought I'd take a look around since I'd never been there before.

There aren't many styles listed in the regular section, but the clearance rack yielded gold. I bought three bags! Leather bags, crazy prices! Each of these is offered in black and one other color. I'll show the styles in the colors I purchased.

This is the biggest of the three, listed as ANXIOUS. 16 1/8 in. L x ¾ in. W x 20 ¾ in. H, regularly $175.00. Clearance price? Believe it or not, $35.99.

It looks better in black, but since the bags I bought are all variations on a theme, I didn't want to buy three similar styles in the same color. It's not a classic deep brown, but this color should work for fall.

This one I got in black, since I've been jonesing for a black bag. It's on the large but everyday size, at 13 ¾ in. W x 4 in. H x 19 ¾ in. It's listed as STRESS, regularly priced at $118.00. Clearance price? A jaw-dropping (my jaw, anyway), $34.99! Leather, people! Leather!

It's also available in brown. I'm very excited.

This is the smallest of the lot, 15 in. L x 4 in. W x 15 ¼ in H. It's FRENZY, in tan, and it's regularly priced at $150.00. Clearance price, an amazing $39.99.

Finally, I'll have a bag in the ivory/bone/taupe (kinda) family that I've been thinking about since early spring. It's a nice light color for spring and summer, and I might try to squeeze it into the early to mid-fall range, too.

These bags are definitely a little more ornamented than I usually go for (studs, tassles, ring hardware up the wazoo), but at these prices, I figured I could definitely afford to ride the trend. I've already decided that the tassels are going to come off as soon as I've got these babies in my clutches. I don't know anything about Steve Madden and the quality of their bags, but the pictures look pretty good and honestly, I'm willing to take a chance.

Three bags for less than the cost of the most expensive one at regular price - and that includes shipping! I'm definitely excited and more than a little pleased.

Today's bag: Yellow Coach tote.

New bag lurve.

Squee! Is there anything as fun as a new bag? I think not. The husband and I went out for dinner tonight. I strolled down to TJ Maxx afterward to see what they had to offer. Not much, as it turned out.

There were a few cute fabric bags. I was very tempted by an oversized convertible backpack (short strap at the top for handheld purposes as well as the back strap) in natural leather. It was only 108.00, but I didn't want to buy something just to buy it. Back on the rack it went. I also saw a darling Lauren by Ralph Lauren bag, small and beautifully crafted in burgundy leather. 99.00, but again, not really what I was looking for. Lovely, but too small. I kept looking.

Oh my God, there were tons of pleather bags, and bags that might as well have been pleather. Lots of cheesy metallics. All in all, I'd say this was the worst crop of bags I've seen at TJ Maxx. I was pretty disappointed and just as I was giving it up as a lost cause, one of the bags at the back of the lowest rack caught my eye. I pulled it out and oooooh, fell in love.

The leather is beautiful, and the color is gorgeous. The cost, 99.00; the Lauren tag priced the bag at 238.00! It's amazingly light, which is a treat, especially after lugging around the likes of Luella, Marc Jacobs and Kooba bags. Backbreakers, all of them!

I changed bags as soon as I got home, so it's loaded up and ready to carry. I wore it while I continued browsing, so it's already passed the first shopping test. The real test will come tomorrow when I go back to TJ's to grab a couple of things I passed on tonight (stupid, I know).

Mmmm, I love new bags.

Today's bag: Louis Vuitton Speedy 30.

New bag love!

So. About two minutes after this post, I did indeed purchase the Kooba Ada from eLuxury. I love it.

It's absolutely gorgeous, and completely different from anything else in my bag wardrobe. The first few days I carried it, I kept looking at it thoughout the day, thrilled that such a beautiful thing belonged to me.

Oddly enough, it's not as big as I imagined it would be, though the size is true to this picture. Actually, it's a good thing it's not bigger, because it's a heavy bag. Also, mine had quite a strong chemical smell, I assume from being stored in closed boxes at the eLux warehouses. Store-purchased bags might not smell, simply by virtue of being out on display in the open air. At any rate, all the bag needed was a good airing out. It hardly smells at all now.

I've gotten several compliments on this bag, including a fellow employee who went into an orgasmic swoon touching and stroking the leather. All in all, I'm very, very pleased with it, and I'd have to say that over all, it's one of my favorite bags in my collection.

Today's bag: Kooba Ada.