You know I love bags, right?

So I loved BagSnob's posts on the best and worst bags of 2006. I'm still lusting after that Pierre Hardy Besace like my life depends on it. A little bit of Lanvin wouldn't hurt either. But here's a tip for poor little college students like myself -- check out Aldo for cute purses. I've got three bags by them, and all are durable, fun, gorgeous and don't break the bank. The last one was just acquired on Sunday, when I went shopping with Nisha, and it is a delicious black-and-white confection. I've been going through a black-and-white phase lately.

It's this bag, except the red parts are black and the brown parts are white on mine. I kind of like this red version too. I definitely have a weakness for red.

Also, I have a tip about shoes. For insanely comfortable, affordable ballet flats - try the Onthefly by Bandolino. I have them in grey suede which I've been wearing to death because somehow the weather in Chicago has lately been nice enough that I don't have to wear boots all the time, and these heavenly flats just went on sale so I've ordered the red suede and the pale gold leather, for $29.99 each! What a great price for real leather/suede! Incidentally, they look exactly like Steve Madden flats which retail for around $70. I've had the grey ones since Thanksgiving and they're still looking pretty good even though they've traipsed around Chicago, New York and Singapore with me - not to mention airports in three different countries! So they're definitely durable. A deal if there ever was one.

By the way, the best part is that I've been pondering those red flats for a really long time, in fact when I bought the grey ones my original choice was the red but they didn't have my size, and then a couple of weeks ago I decided to check if they had them on the site, and they did but at that point they were $39.99 plus shipping and tax and all that so I was pondering over it for a while. I almost bought them yesterday but I decided to think about it a bit more, and then today when I went back to the site like a girl drawn back again and again to the bad boy, I noticed that the price had changed! With very little hesitation I picked up the red and the gold and I lived happily ever after.

(I find this hilarious, but I just went back to the site to get a picture and I accidentally clicked on the "add to shopping bag" button and it turns out that the red suede is no longer left in my size, which means I bought it just in time!!!)

Oh and I got some fabulous suede boots from Piperlime.com. They're Tribeca by Kenneth Cole, and on sale right now for $84.99. Plus piperlime has free shipping and free returns. Yessir, I've ordered three pairs of shoes in the last couple of hours.


I've been having some pretty good luck with sales lately - one day in Singapore I saw a gorgeous black coat at Zara for S$450 (US$300) and I thought to myself that it was the most delightful thing ever but that was a little too much at that point to pay for a coat. The next day was the beginning of the Zara sale, I didn't think they'd put such a gorgeous little thing on sale but I went back to show it to my mom anyway in the hopes that she might be feeling generous. Lo and behold, it was marked down to S$265 (approx US$170)! And they had a piece in my size without all the buttons torn off by avid sale-goers. And then the gorgeous black coat was mine.

The end.

Labels: bags, links, Sale, shoes

So I went on another day-long shopping trip today. It's okay, because once I get to campus next week I won't be shopping for a very, very long time, since there's no good shopping in the area. So it's justified if I overcompensate by shopping a lot now....right?

However, my favorite thing I bought today wasn't during my shopping trip-- it was an Herve Chapelier tote bag I just got on Ebay for $20! It's the 925N bag in Tarama/Moka.

I love the Herve Chapelier bags because they're fun and cute but also roomy and really practical. The 925N normally sells for $115, so getting it for $20 on Ebay (brand new, with tags still on) is really a steal. Anyways, my point: these are extremely practical for college life because they a)are waterproof and have a ziptop so your stuff will always be shielded form snow/rain; b)have plenty of space for your books and laptop; and c)come in every possible color combination you could dream of. This is definitely going to be my new bookbag for this semester!

Labels: bags, college fashion, college life, style obsession

I really want this Pierre Hardy Besace handbag. It's been around for a while - I think it's S/S 06 but I'm not really (yet) of the opinion that you're fashion roadkill if you're carrying last season's bag. In any case it's still up on the Pierre Hardy website, which probably means it's still available, which means if anyone wants to buy me a $1400 post-Christmas gift, please call 33 (0)1 42 60 59 75.

Labels: bags, Lust List

I think I've mentioned before that I have a bag fetish. It hasn't really reared its head lately, apart from that Goldenbleu clutch, but I realised that there are some insanely expensive bags that I've been coveting. Unfortunately, despite a similar lack of spending power, unlike Nisha I can't stop myself from looking at pretty things! I wish I had the willpower. So I just thought I'd let you know. In the spirit of sharing and free speech and all that, you know... By the way, they are bags that are very practical for college use, if you have sufficient spending power. I know


Miu Miu Peggy Vitello Shoulder Bag, $890 at Neiman Marcus


Orla Kiely Greenberries Laptop Bag, $368 at Anthropologie


Anna Corinna City Tote, $396 at Otte NY


Aso Oke Two-Way, $398 at Anthropologie
In terms of functionality, this is very similar to the Anna Corinna - it can be carried as a tote or folded over and carried as a messenger bag. But I love the graphic print, it's so eye-catching.


Finally, an affordable bag! You can't go wrong with a great nude bag. Canvas convertible bag, $68 at Urbanoutfitters.

Enjoy the visual feast, if nothing else :)

Labels: bags, gifts, holidays, Lust List

The New York Times has a pretty interesting article about the increase in back problems caused by the recent trend of carrying oversized handbags - Ouch, My Bag Is Killing Me.


"In the last few years, bags have become ever more voluminous, and as women have fallen sway to their chunky charms, they have filled them up with necessities. These days many women are as burdened as mail carriers."

I think this is especially relevant to college girls, because I feel like many of us have gladly embraced the oversized bag trend -- finally, we can be stylish around campus and still have all our paraphernelia with us! And the fact that the fashion world finally validates large bags means we probably carry around a lot more than we really need to. I certainly can't remember the last time I actually cleared stuff out of any of my handbags!

This can cause back, shoulder and neck aches as well as headaches. So maybe late nights at the library aren't the only cause of your headaches. It's kind of nice to have something else to blame, isn't it?

"A common side effect is that one shoulder becomes slightly higher than the other. A lot of women talk on their cellphones while they’re carrying these bags, which only intensifies the problem, because in addition to balancing too much weight on one side, they’re lifting the shoulder at the same time."

Recommendations:
- Clean out your purse once a week.
- Use all the pockets so that the weight is distributed evenly within the bag.
- Keep the bulk of the purse towards the centre of the body.
- Rest the straps close to your neck.
- Instead of always carrying your bag on one shoulder, try alternating between shoulders.
- Many women have a habit of unconsciously lifting the shoulder that has the purse on it to keep the straps from slipping, so make an effort to square your shoulders.
- Or carry the bag in front of you. “It’s not exactly glamorous, but if at the end of a long day you find your shoulders aching, slip the bag off and carry it in front of your body with both arms like it’s an infant.”

And if you can afford the time and money, get a massage every so often.

Labels: bags, health, Lust List

Hello! I have another question for the readers!

Would you buy a designer knockoff?
I have this anti-knockoff thing. I don't mind if it's inspired by and somewhat similar to a designer bag but when it's a blatant knockoff I really feel rather uncomfortable. It's partly that I don't want people to recognise it as a fake (and inevitably it'd be possible to tell, I myself am pretty good at spotting fakes) and think that I'm some useless person pretending to carry Vuitton and Dior, partly it's that I want to one day buy myself a REAL Chanel/Dior/Vuitton/Chloe/whatever and feel satisfied about it. Partly it's because as a lover of designers and fashion and everything I'd feel unhappy with myself for tarnishing the integrity of a beautiful design. For these reasons, the randomy LV/Gucci fakes that I've picked up in China and Bangkok are all rotting at the very back of my bag shelf.

Today I saw a very good Fendi B Bag lookalike, and if it weren't a designer knockoff I'd have snapped it up in a second -- Is there any better evidence for the superiority of design over brand name? It was also just 59 Singapore dollars, which is about US$37! Yet I stopped myself because I wondered if I'd ever feel happy carrying a bag which is pretending to be something it isn't really.

Alas, when finances are tight and there is a beautiful bag even if it doesn't bear a beautiful authentic Fendi label, one wonders if integrity should be compromised. It is a conundrum indeed.

Should I buy it? And if I do, should I get it in black, white or red?

Randomly, it occurred to me that if one day someone from Fendi stumbles across this site, my chances at a fabulous job in fashion are possibly ruined. Thus let me add a disclaimer that if I had a couple of million dollars lying around I'd gladly buy lots and lots of genuine designer handbags. I promise, one day I will be a loyal customer to all the big fashion houses that my bank balance can handle!

Labels: bags

Quick post about bags for school, by request (by the way please keep posting requests, I love the idea of being able to tailor our posts to fit what readers are looking for!)

I think basically when it comes to laptop-carrying, there are two options. So I have scoured my favourite bag blogs and online stores to bring you the following ---

Option 1: One-Bag-Carries-All
Get a large, roomy bag that can carry a laptop as well as charger and books and all your essentials -- a tote could work for this but I personally feel that it will be pretty harsh on your shoulders, so I'd go for a messenger bag style or if you don't mind a backpack, that's the most practical option (there are some rather stylish leather backpacks out there).

In Singapore there's a line of bags called Crumpler, there's a US website but I don't know how readily these are available in stores. These are very practical bags, not very feminine looking but they come in a huge variety of colours and sizes and styles. They're also very decently priced -- in Singapore the most expensive ones come to about US$130.

AcmeMade is very stylish but they have very few of the cute, colourful types of fabrics that I'd like for my bags. Plus they're really quite pricey, but stylish they undeniably are and they come in a host of different styles. The totes (green and pink) can be used like briefcases so they probably fit better under Option 2, but the designs I've picked are cute enough to work on a daily basis. Unfortunately, as I said, most of the other designs are very professional (read: Old) looking. And they're definitely priced to target the salaried woman.


I know I said totes are not a great idea, but these canvas totes from Gap are irresistable! And as you can see, they're HUGE so you can really take everything with you. I love the brown one, the colours are gorgeous.

Target has some cute, functional totes -- I don't know if these are actually good quality since I'm unable to physically check them out myself, but they're quite stylish, very affordable and they serve the purpose. Okay I only actually found two that I might consider buying. By the way Target do also carry some Gyms Pacific laptop sleeves (see below) so you might be able to see those yourself and pick them up at the store instead of ordering online. These are the two totes that might work:
Sorry I had to remove the direct Target link because it stopped working, but go to the section on Electronics > Home Office > Notebook Cases + Bags (under Computers + Accessories) and you'll find their whole selection of bags. Most of the bags are really just of the functional-but-ugly variety, though.


Option 2: One-Bag-and-One-Sleeve
Get a bag that can hold all your non-laptop stuff, and then carry your laptop around in a cute laptop sleeve, like these ones at GymsPacific. I love the Motel print on the top right, the pink poppy sleeve would be a fresh burst of colour in an otherwise dull collegiate day (who're we kidding? Collegiate days are always bright, right?), and the Bora Bora Hibiscus at the bottom is, well, not really my thing but it's exotic and refreshing in its own way so it might be attractive to someone else!



The best part is that the non-laptop bag can be any style that you like, because it's entirely up to you what you want to carry in it. This is why Option 2 is what I'm going to go for (evidently this is what I'm interested in considering I've picked so many bags for this option!) I believe Casey, at TeenFashionista, is planning on doing the same. For me the primary reason is that this will mean I can continue to use my current collection of bags instead of having to start a laptop-holding collection from scratch. But even so, nothing's preventing me from just looking at all the gorgeous possibilities available, right?

It has been noted by one reader that this option may make your laptop more vulnerable to theft, and also it doesn't really leave your hands free when you're carrying your laptop with you. Both are valid points, so you should really think about how much you'd like your hands to be free, and how often you're actually going to carry your laptop with you. Also if you get a chance to check out any of the following bags in person, you might very well find that some of them can take your laptop and sleeve and other things in them! Keep us posted, dear readers, about your findings and opinions!

There's this tote by Brooklyn Industries, which comes in a very pretty design and three very pretty colours, plus it's roomy enough to carry all your things. In fact, the dimensions are 18"x11"x6" so you could even consider puttting your laptop inside sometimes if you want to.

There are also these adorable messenger bags from Old Navy, which will probably carry quite a lot of things but they don't look large enough for a laptop, unfortunately.

I just realised that the Target women's section does offer up quite a few possibilities. The ones I've selected are all quite large so they might be able to take your laptop depending on the size. Most come in quite a wide variety of colours. 1. Chloe Edith lookalike, 2. Pretty patchwork tote in deep jewel tones perfect for fall, 3. Pearly coloured tote in a nice comfy shape, 4. YSL Muse lookalike, 5. Skulls-and-roses totes (very edgy, I like!) 6. Beautiful grey faux-suede tote (this comes in a lot of colours but I only really liked this one), 7. White tote with pretty design at the top (also available in orange and black), 8. Gorgeous red - every wardrobe should have a deep red bag, imho - faux leather tote, 9. Perfect tote for hardware-lovers.

Then there are these unique handmade screen-printed sling bags from Luchaworkshop, recommended by Pursueing.

From aGaiN NYC - also recommended by Pursueing - three options: (clockwise from top left) velvet and leather laptop bag, canvas and leather barrel bag, polyester hobo with suede detail. The laptop bag can probably function as a document bag as well - I love the unpredictability of the colours and textures on these bags. Really quirky pieces, though unfortunately rather pricey at around US$150 a pop.

Finally, if you and your finances are up to it, you could go for the to-die-for Jean Paul Gaultier sling bag I posted some time ago, because while it's roomy I don't think I'd want to ruin such sumptuous leather by stretching it out with a bulky laptop!

I'm off for a weekend cruise now, when I'm back I'll try investigating more bags :) You can also check out Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, American Eagle in the meantime -- there are some cute totes and slouchy hobos out there! Please post links to more college-worthy bags if you can find any!

Labels: bags, college fashion, college life

You know how most girls are obsessed with shoes? I'm not really one of them. Before you start throwing stones and rotten eggs, let me state for the record that I know the importance of a great pair of heels, and god knows I've blown hundreds of dollars on shoes in my lifetime thus far, but really, deep down, I'm a bag person. My bag collection probably trumps my shoe collection and I certainly started collecting bags long before I started collecting shoes. I just love a pretty bag.

And when it comes to bags, you know as well as I do that there's nothing wrong with coveting one that's hundreds or thousands of dollars out of your budget. We're all waiting for the day when we'll graduate from college, get our fancy jobs and with the (hopefully first) paycheck, waltz into Marc Jacobs/Prada/Dior/Chloe and coolly hand over the credit card to pay for the season's It Bag. This fantasy, like all fantasies, is of course slightly skewed - in reality most stores don't have It Bags sitting in a row waiting to be picked up; normally such unglamorously earthly obstacles as waiting lists have to be dealt with first. But we're still living in fantasy land so it's okay. We'll continue pretending.

Since we've established that college girls are entitled to fantasy, every once in a while I'm going to indulge in some coveting of way-out-of-budget items on this blog. In terms of style, though, I'll keep them as college-appropriate as possible. Just so that you can be on the lookout for affordable knock-offs :)

So here's my pick for blow-the-budget bag which is also durable and very college-appropriate:

Jean Paul Gaultier Cross Body Hobo

Spotted this on The Bag Snob a couple of weeks ago and only today did I decide that the $995 pricetag is no reason not to post a picture or two here. The toffee colour above is beautiful and chicly casual, but I'm deeply, deeply, DEEPLY in lust with the snazzy, bold red below. And how cool is the strap detail? You can change the look around subtly just by tying it in a knot instead of looping it.

Oh, what would I give to be living in the land of paychecks and credit cards already!

Labels: bags, Lust List

Spotted on FabSugar:

This is potentially very very useful. This bag features vertical zippers so you can remove sections to adjust the length. It can carry a yoga mat (which will be useful when I get round to picking up yoga properly - which I plan to in university), it can carry posters or oversized documents or canvas (which would be useful if I were an art student or something) or tripods (if I owned lots of fancy camera equipment) or just function as a small travel purse (if I needed more of those). So, um, it may not really be practical for me but given that it's fantastically multi-purpose, lightweight and it looks quite cute, it could be a very good investment for some college girl out there. Only thing is, yoga mat's not included. Which makes it slightly pricey for a yoga mat bag at $55.95.

If all this works out for you, get it here at the MoMA online store.

Labels: bags