Bag of the day: Prada tessuto crossbody bag

I can't believe that I have had this Prada tessuto/nylon bag for more than 8 years and I still think that this small cross body bag is quite handy. From time to time I still wore the bag especially if I went out with the kids. In my case, the bag is entitled to be labeled as a mommy bag lol

A few days ago I opted to carry this bag when I needed to accompany the kids to an outdoor playground. The bag is proven to be hassle free (i.e. simple, lightweight, easy opening) and quite low maintenance (no need to 'baby' the bag for sure). So when the bag is on duty I can utilize both hands and focus my minds to handle and chase around the kids.

As a conclusion, I have no regret on keeping this 'rather outdated' bag and intend to occasionally wear it.


P.S.: Check this old post here where I featured the very same bag.

Miranda Kerr and Prada flowers brushed calf tote bag

Mrs. Bloom is looking chic and gorgeous on these pics (as always). Yet my attention was immediately drawn to her totebag. The bag screams 'retro' loudly and it is a nice bag if we wear monocromatic outfit during winter.

Yet, I am not so sure that this is a bag for me... Errr, it's just not my cup of tea although it is a very very nice Prada bag.

The Prada Flowers bag also come in other colours (and a style that comes with long strap)

Price USD2,500

Price USD2,500

images from dailymail.co.uk and prada.com

It's packing time!

I just finsihed packing. Yay!

I decided to bring both Celine trio and Prada tessuto crossbody bags :D During the flight tomorrow morning, Prada bag will take the duty. It is roomy enough to carry my essentials plus 4 passports and tickets. And while strolling the city, Celine trio will be the perfect companion as I will carry a baby toddler bag so I do not need a bigger handbag ;)

Other than clothes, I keep things in small pouches inside the luggage. Well, I actually I keep my underwear inside one of those pouches ;) I like small pouches as a way to organize the luggage. It makes me (as well as DH) easier to find stuffs. Whenever he asks for a mobile phone charger, I can simply tell him to find a brown Kipling pouch.

As always, whenever I travel, I bring my favourite tea, Japanese green tea. I would drink this tea every morning as part of my brakfast ritual.

So, please excuse for not making any posts for the whole week as I will be on holiday :)

Nite nite ;)

Inside my bag: a bag for overseas trip

It has been a while since I made a post about inside my bag;)
So I guess today is the right time to do so, as yesterday night (almost midnight) I just returned from an overseas trip, and my bag (and its contents) has not been changed. It was a short trip and during the whole two days I was always on the move and ran errands. So I needed a good bag companion which is big, easy to handle, not heavy and secured enough to keep my valuable belongings (like passport, etc).


I chose to bring my python hobo bag in 'unbleached' grey colour from pla. The python skin is finished as unbleached so the python patterns/spots/marks (those in darker grey colour) remains on it. Else a fully bleached python bag will have the same colourtone all over it). The bag is BIG, which is perfect for the purpose of this trip.

The bag has a detachable pocket (also made from real python skin) which I like!

And inside of this big python hobo is my many cluttered things which I tried to organize into several small pouches. I used to like a bag ornanizer but now I much prefer to use small pouches as most of the times I can find my stuffs easily (without peeking into the bag) by touching and instantly recognizing the 'shape' of the pouch. It may sound odd but it works well for me :p Ooh, one thing missing from my bag in this pic is an iPad, as sometimes I asked my husband to carry it in his handbag ;)
See, I carried quite a lot of stuffs, right :p

Ok, let me 'break down' those clutters inside my bag;)


A Prada wallet that contained only the foreign currency in small denomination and coins which must be sufficient enough to pay for meals, taxi and tips. Note that I did not (and never) keep any atm or credit cards inside this Prada wallet.

A Tulisan money pouch where I keep the foreign currency in big denomination. No coins or small notes or atm/credit cards inside!

A small pouch from Seabreeze Studio @Etsy which is nicely designed and very good for travelling. It has 2 zip pockets, 1 open pocket and lobster clasp. I like it so much! This small pouch has the local currencies, overseas SIM cards (for mobile phone and iPad to avoid any unnecessary roaming :P) and a paper clip. The paper clip is intended to open the iPad's sim card holder and to replace its sim card.

A Bottega Veneta card case in steel colour is to keep my atm cards, credit cards, ID card and driving licence.

In conclusion, I had intentionally organized the money and cards into 4 different wallets/pouches.
The reason behind it is simple, because I remember very well an idimoatic phrase of "Do not put all your eggs in one basket". I could not imagine if I put all my resources into one wallet and it got stollen wheile I am abroad. It will be a nightmare for me!!! So this system always works well for me whenever I had an overseas trip.

My passport with Coach leather passport cover. I adore its green colour on this passport cover. And it is very durable as I have had it for more than 5 years and never had a thought to replace it.

A blue pouch from Auntie Betsie where I kept brochures, leaflats, maps, receipts, hotel bill, etc..... The size is small so most of those papers had to be folded into it.

A small fuchsia Moleskine notebook where I normally write down things I have to do and to visit during the trip. I also wrote down stuffs like hotel name, address, phone number in this notebook (this may become handy when talking to the taxi driver) and tried to record the shopping expenses as well (but most of the time I was lazy on this expense things) hehehe:P

A pencil case from Jim Thompson that I bought almost 7 years ago during Thailand trip. Inside the case I had a pencil, pencil eraser, 2 black pens and small post-it.

A matching pocket mirror from Jim Thompson which was also bought almost 7 years ago in Bangkok.

A three-fold business card with keyfob from Cassy Lain Totes @Etsy where I kept the undergound/mrt card and its small folded network map. It is bright and can easily be found inside the bag. So I can grab it fast and tap it on the machine to get in and out of the station's platform.

A make-up pouch from Tulisan. The pouch has the following contents: (1) MAC pressed compact powder, (2) Shu Uemure blush on, (3) MAC lipstick, (4) Shu Uemura retractable brush (for blush on), (5) mouth refresher spray, (6) foldable comb (I have a very short hair so I do not to carry/have a hair brush :p ), (7) tooth picks (I wear braces so these things are very important), (8) Japanese green tea sachet (it is good to bring and enjoy my favourite tea flavour in the morning as I can have the feeling of having breakfast at home), (9) bandaid (also very important as I walked a lot during the trip and sometimes foot blisters happened). Oh, I still have 2 sanitary napkins inside the pouch as a spare for those 'rainy days' (but not shown on the pic *too embarrassed*).

A multifunction soft pouch from Auntie Betsie. I like to use this pouch to keep my shawl or thin cardigan or extra t-shirt. This pouch is good to keep clothes as it does not have a zipper so the clothes/shawl will not get stuck on the zipper and get ripped, and its shape is very flexible.  Note that I always avoid to throw my shawl inside my bag 'uncovered' or 'unprotected' as I treasure my shawl ;)

And lastly, my batik shawl that I kept inside the above pouch. It is handwoven and handpainted and made from silk. Very beautiful when it is worn over the neck and very very soft. Look at those details, dots and strokes which was handdrawn, handpainted (by using wax) and handcoloured. This piece of batik fabrics has undergone several manual colouring processes. It is truly a work of art and I am proud of wearing it.

Splurge and save

Splurge

Prada Saffiano Lux Tote
BN 2274 
L 12.99" H 9.25" D 5.71"
USD 1,810 

 Save

Tory Burch Robinson Double Zip Tote
14"L x 5 1/2"W x 10 3/4" H
USD 575

These two bags are very much look alike.
Both are using saffiano leather.
Design-wise, both are very very similar.
Size-wise, the Tory Burch is one inch longer than the Prada.
Strap buckle is slightly different and I like Prada better on its buckle design.
Logo position is exactly the same.
Price-wise, Prada cost 3 times more expensive than Tory Burch (ouch!).

The reason why I made this post because simply I like the bag (both!). I saw the bag for first time on Mission Impossible 4 movie, as it was worn by Lea Seydoux (she was the bad girl on the movie). I like it when the bag was worn in cross-body style. It looked comfortable yet stylish.

Prada BN 2274 on Mission Impossible 4, worn by Lea Seydoux
image from Google search

Since I really like the bag style (a tote bag that can be worn crossbody), then I decided to get one.
Which one is it? Well, I choose to 'SAVE', meaning I just bought a Tory Burch Robinson Double Zip Tote in black. Even better, I bought it during Bloomingdales sale. Then it just became 'SUPER SAVE'. Yay!

Now I just need to wait patiently until the bag is delivered to my doorstep....

Inside my Hermes K35 Etoupe

The contents were

• Bottega Veneta fold-over wallet in Cioccolato
• Longchamp cards wallet in red
• Prada make up pouch in dark green
• Jim Thompson round mirror
• Jim Thompson pencil case
• Moleskin fuchsia small notebook
• Invitation for Lego events (for my son!)

And inside my Prada make-up pouch

The contents were

• MAC pressed powder
• MAC lipstick
• Shu Uemura blush on
• Shu Uemure cheek brush
• L'occitane hand cream
• Fuchsia hair clip
• Mints
• Mobile phone portable charger

What's inside my Goyard St Louis?

To make the bag more cheerful, I have put a cute bag charm from Tulisan. A flower shaped bag charm with a hint of orange to match the colour of the bag;)

And inside the orange St Louis I carry:

• Bottega Veneta foldover wallet in cioccolato. This style of wallet has been my favourite wallet! Good bye to zip or continental wallet.
• Longchamp card wallets. Very handy to keep those discount cards :D
• Prada green make up pouch
• Tulisan red small pouch (from 'Mimosa Love' series) to keep my daily medicine
• Jim Thompson round mirror
• Jim Thompson pencil case
• Moleskin fuchsia notebook