Bag of the day: Chanel Maxi Soft Caviar

This bag is an old version of Chanel Maxi flap bag and made from soft caviar leather. It is different from current maxi flap bags as they are now made from lambskin or caviar leather. This rather old bag is much less structured (due to the use of softer leather) than the regular Chanel flap bags. It is then common for this bag to have the slouchy look when it is worn.

I love to wear this bag to be paired with jeans, simple top and wedges or flat shoes. And today I wore my Chanel Maxi Soft Caviar to go to my son's school for meeting with his teachers. From the teachers I received a very positive feedback on my son's academic performance at school.  This has made my day.
So proud of you, Son *hugs*

At the airport

The above photos exhibit the bags that I brought during recent China-Hong Kong trip in April. These were taken in Hong Kong International Airport while I was waiting for my return flight to my home country. At that time I had 3 bags: Proenza Schouler PS1 in midnight blue, Longchamp Le Pliage XL and a Billingham camera bag. Yup, it seems that there are so many bags to carry at one time but absolutely each bag has its special function.

Proenza Schoule PS1 has been proven to be a reliable bag for travelling. For sure this is not the first time that I carried PS1 for travelling. The leather is very durable and I love the fact that it has so many compartments. The back zip pocket is also very handy where I normally put my boarding pass and passport.

Next, the foldable Le Pliage from Longchamp is a great bag for keeping shopping bags from the last minute shopping I did at the airport *grin* Guess what, when I arrived at the airport the Le Pliage bag was still folded and stored inside my PS1. But after completing some duty free shopping, I took out the bag, unfolded it and started to put in the stuffs that I bought at the airport.

Lastly, the black bag is my camera bag from Billingham. It is a British brand famous for designing classic camera bags. The design may look simple, but inside it has soft padding for protecting delicate lenses and camera and the bag is surprisingly quite lightweight.

Now I am looking forward to my next trip sometime in September or November. Destination? It is either Hong Kong or India *big grin*

Reese Witherspoon and Hermes Garden Party Canvas

Here Mrs. Toth was seen arriving in Los Angeles Airport as she prepared to fly out LA. She carried Hermes Garden Party Canvas in natural colour with dark brown leather trims. See how she filled up the bag which has caused the tote bag looked a bit bulky (and heavy).

On Hermes website, the current bag price is EUR1260.

images from dailymail.co.uk and hermes.com

Drool worthy Victoria Beckham two-tone clutch

Quietly, my admiration towards Victoria Beckham handbags is growing steadily. I have seen in real life some of her handbag collection and I have to admit that details (especially the inner part/compartment) are excellently executed. I also love its chic-minimalist look and in my opinion the use of rose gold hardware in most (or all) of her handbags has added the uniqueness to the bag.

Given my recent shoulder problem, in the past 2 months I have tried to give my shoulders less burden. It means that from time to time I switch my bag to a clutch as the clutch would not give so much pressure on the problematic shoulders. Hence it is no wonder that recently I have a very soft spot for clutches and can not stop thinking about this gorgeous Victoria Beckham 2-tone clutch.
I have seen one (in orange tones) in a local multibrand store and considered that the piece will be quite versatile. I can carry it for casual outing or for attending a formal event. The size is big enough (it fits a mini ipad) and the clutch is quite comfortable to be held.

The above pictures display the clutch in red matte and calf hair leather (USD705) and beige-grey matte leather (USD570).

Now this clutch is officially part of my never-ending bag wishlist lol

images from net-a-porter.com

Inside my bag: Cambridge Satchel Company

 

 

Around 6 months ago, I bought my first Cambridge Satchel Company bags in size 11 inch (green) and 13 inch (purple). Please check here and here. I simply adore the satchel's bold-and-bright colours and the smell of thick (and stiff) leather. Yet I have to honestly say that the bag has limited space and not big enough to fit all of my daily essentials. So I make the rule that when there is something 'limited' then I need to carefully select or prioritize on items that I should put inside the satchel. 

 

In this post I wish to share on how the satchels can carry my stuffs (wallet, phone, etc...)

 

 

 

So these are the items that I normally carry in my bags. They are my survival kits and companion during my daily activity. I like to keep my small items in a pouch/wallet as I am not a fans of a bag organizer and I don't like the inside of my bag looks cluttered. Seeing the colourful pouches inside the bag can instantly bring cheerful feeling whenever I open the bag, and when I get bored with contents of my bags (I sometimes do!) I simply switch the pouch to another colours or prints. 

Inside those cute pouches are my daily survival kits, and without the pouches they simply look like a mess lol. For details of my 'junks' please check my previous post here.





Now, for the 11 inch satchel, I have thoroughly thought on the items that I must carry. And for sure the mini ipad can not go into it :( So I have to leave it at home and bring only few items which are wallet, power bank, mirror, tissue and phone. Well, this set is only suitable when I go out with the kids where my hands will be fully occupied to hold them (or their toys).

And for the 13 inch satchel, surely it has bigger space than the 11 inch satchel, but it is not big enough to enable me to put in all my survival kits lol. I have to let go the card wallet and foldable eco bag. Thanks god that the mini ipad can go into the bag and I still have enough space to allow the make up pouch joining the others.
However this formation (with mini ipad and make up pouch inside) would cause the bag to be quite heavy and the small-thin-long strap pressing the shoulder may cause some pains if I have to carry the bag for a longer period of time. Hence I would rather leave the mini ipad at home which will significantly reduce the weight of the bag (and eventually save my shoulders too!).

There is actually another trick if I want everything to go into the satchel. Basically if I want to carry more stuffs in my Cambridge Satchel Company bag, I just need to switch the wallet into a small wallet that will allow extra room to put in other pouches. But I can not live with a small wallet as I get used to a continental-styled wallet that gives me greater compartments to store bank cards, receipts (a lot of them), cash (not so much of them), ID card and driving license. (Note: small wallet is still ok for short overseas trip where the wallet will keep the foreign currency notes and receipts).

The Cambridge Satchel Company bags for sure have given me a lesson that as a matter of fact I can 'survive' the day or the outing with only limited number of items and leave the rest of them at home. If I have to choose the 3 most important items that I can not leave home without, then they will be (1) wallet, (2) phone and (3) power bank. Why does a power bank go into the top list? Cause my phone battery is draining quickly (I guess it is due to some problems with the battery or hardware) and I have to recharge it from time to time when I am on the move. Hmmm, maybe it is a sign that I switch to a new phone? *wink*

Recent Lanvin haul: wedges and ballerina flat shoes

Lanvin has been one of my favourite brands for shoes. They make comfortable shoes and the styles are just classic. I ventured into Lanvin about 6 months ago when I acquired my first pairs of Lanvin shoes (check here) and immediately I was sold and made a wishlist to grow my Lanvin collection.

This time, I was quite excited that I scored another two pairs of Lanvin shoes during their End of Season Sale. Yay! To be honest, it was an impulsive purchase as I could not resist the '50%' sign on the price tags *big grin*

First pair is another wedges in patent with leopard pattern. The colour is stated as prune. Trust me, this style is super comfy although the heels are relatively high (in my dictionary, any heels that are more than 5 cm will be considered as very high since they are above my threshold). I like the leopard pattern in patent finish that have given subtle yet distinctive looks. And the patent leather is very soft that I don't think that I need a period to allow the leather to break in. I simply can wear the new shoes without getting any pain or blisters.

And next pair is Lanvin ballerina flat shoes in raisin. Cute and comfy shoes. I have to say that this pair is much more comfortable than Tory Burch Reva or Balenciaga or Repetto flat shoes. Note that Lanvin ballerina flat shoes run true to size, yet for the wedges it is recommended to go half size down.

 

 

To conclude, definitely this is a happy purchase (no regrets so far) and I am planning to continue expanding my Lanvin shoes collection gradually.

 



 



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.

Bag Acquisition - May 2013

Zero, nil, no new bag in May 2013.


image from Google search