Saturday, April 30, 2016

Review : Louis Vuitton Mini Pochette Accessoires in Monogram

First of all, here's a little disclaimer before we start this post:
This blog is meant for my personal use, to keep a diary of my belongings and purchases, and also to chronicle my journey in collecting these designer goods (because I can only buy them one by one due to limited budget). So if this is not your cup of tea then don't read it. On the contrary, if you love these kind of things then feel free to read along as I record the journey of my collecting story.

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So after developing a hunger for designer goods I started to browse and read a lot about designer bags and accessories, determining which ones are worth it and which ones are not. Then I started to accumulate a wish list of dream designer bags that I would love to purchase in the future. And on those list are a couple of Louis Vuitton items :)

I know to some people LVs are considered a snob thing, but to bag lovers like moi it would be a dream bag instead. The craftsmanship of their bags and the high quality materials as well as delicate precision in the making of each item are what makes them so prestigious. In this case I can only speak for myself, that I didn't buy it because I want to be considered rich or because I want to parade it in front of people. I bought it because I admire their quality and I enjoyed using it because of the great quality. It also helps a little with my self esteem ;)

So anyway, back to my wish. My ultimate dream bag from LV would be the Neverful tote bag in MM size. But it costs a lot (at least here in my country it is more expensive because of the currency) so back then I never thought of purchasing it due to our limited budget. But I really wanted an LV. So what's a girl to do? She chose a (much) smaller item instead with lower price range (:p).

My choice went to the LV Mini Pochette Accessoires in monogram !

 
 

It was during my last year's birthday when I purchased my very first LV item. Well actually it was my husband who bought it for me because it was his birthday gift to me :)

So this was my 2015 birthday gift. He gave me permission to buy my very first LV as a birthday gift after I proposed to him with the Mini Pochette pictures and price range. He finally said okay because it was still around our budget (although we still have to pay it via credit card instalments ;p), but whatever makes me happy, he said.

So after the kind offer from my husband I started to browse for the cheapest price I could find. LV store never had a sale (Never!), but their price are different in various countries due to currencies and taxes, so I hunt for places in which I could get them cheaper because obviously buying them in official LV counter in my country is very expensive due to the price difference.

So I learned that the cheapest price to buy an LV bag is from their stores in Europe. Then I found a personal shopping service run by an airplane crew where I found a stewardess that would go on Europe flight trip and was willing to go to the LV store in Europe to buy the bag for me. I was so happy and I remember I almost couldn't wait for 2 weeks until she came back from her flight trip and send me my very first LV. That experience makes me feel all giddy inside ;)

So finally I received my very first LV item ! She sent me the complete set, including the boxes and original receipt. It almost feel like I'm purchasing it myself from the store. It was dreamy and I was so happy and I kept smelling the leather of the pochette because it smells so nice :)


For you who came here to find a review of this item, this Louis Vuitton Mini Pochette Accessoires  is actually a small pouch which you can use to store all your little things. I even use it as my phone pouch (I have an iPhone 6 and it fits inside it snugly). Please bear in mind that it would only fit an iPhone 6 with thin case or no case at all. It won't fit an iPhone 6 with thick case.

Overall, This Mini Pochette is small but it's not too small. It's bigger than a coin pouch or a key-holder pouch, but it's smaller than a regular clutch. It is made of coated canvas and cow hide leather trimmings.

I do sometimes wore it as a mini clutch especially for parties when I only bring cash, lipstick, and tissues, but I mostly use it as a pouch inside my bag to store my phone or makeup.

This mini pochette is made of high quality canvas in a monogram print with gold chain, and a little vachetta leather tab on one end. The chain is removable and can be moved into different positions, making it wearable as a pouch, a wristlet, or a mini purse.

I chose the monogram print because it's a small item so the monogram would be subtle enough. For bigger LV items I tend to opt for non-monogram print such as the Damier Ebene (or Damier Azur).



FYI, there are two kinds of pochette in LV : 

 - the LV Pochette 
- and the LV Mini Pochette 

 So you have to know the difference in size. What I have here is the Mini Pochette and it is smaller than the regular LV Pochette. 

Also, there are two versions of the regular LV Pochettes : the older version and the newer Pochette NM (new model). They have a slight difference in size and the new model has longer strap compared to the older model (both have leather strap).

Mine is the Mini Pochette and it has a chain strap instead of leather strap like the regular pochette. The chain in this mini pochette can be removed and re-attached to the other end to make it a wristlet. You can also remove the chain and re-attached it to the inner D-ring on an LV bag such as the LV Neverfull tote bag. 


 I really really love this mini pochette because despite the small size I actually use it almost everyday. I put it inside my bigger bags to store my iPhone or as a purse for my money/cards, and I also use it as a mini clutch for parties and date with my husbands or for short errands to the stores downstairs. 

Overall, I think it's a very useful pouch and for those of you who are looking to buy something from LV for the first time and wanted to start small, I really recommend you get this mini pochette. It is less pricey compared to the regular pochette and it has gold chains which makes it look more glamorous compared to the regular pochette (in my opinion). I really think it's worth it to buy this as your first LV item :)


 
Wearing LV Mini Pochette as a clutch, with my GAP corduroy dress and Fossil watch.

 
Wearing the mini pochette with my Coach scarf, a raglan-sleeves top from Hush Puppies, H&M jeans, Michael Kors iPhone case and Guess bracelet (please excuse the dirty elevator mirror).

Styling a wedding party look with my Stella McCartney Dress, LV Mini Pochette, and some accessories.
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Thursday, April 14, 2016

Accessories : Vintage Scarves

Lately I'm really into collecting designer scarves. Mostly vintage of course.

Actually, I have always loved collecting scarves. I have many scarves piling up on one corner of my wardrobe room, mostly unbranded with a couple of high-street brands. But despite the many scarves I have I actually almost never wear them. It seems that I only love collecting them but never wore them. Living in the tropics means I rarely wear scarves, because we actually don't get winter here. So I only wore scarves when I'm on vacation or when it gets really cold outside during rainy season.

With my intention to improve my wardrobe I decided to sort out some of my belongings including the pile of scarves. Well actually I haven't had the time to finish sorting the pile yet (because it's a big pile!) but I already started to reduce the amount by giving out some of them to my family. I also started to add some vintage designer scarves into the mix because I love hunting and finding vintage scarves!

I basically love the many colors and patterns of scarves, and I love how vintage designer scarves seems to have a story of their own. They are also the most affordable designer items to collect (although they are harder to get), so the thrill of finding them makes me happy (is that weird?).

It all started when I accidentally found a consignment store that sell Hermes twilly and scarves. They come complete with their orange boxes but the price was too expensive for me. I couldn't spare that much money for a piece of cloth (but maybe later I would! Because I still wish for an Hermes scarf) - but maybe not in the near future. 

However, that experience made me realize that there's another thing I wanted to collect, which is : Scarves !

So I've been looking for designer scarves from then on (mostly vintage because it's cheaper then buying new ;p), and then one day I discovered a private seller that was selling her preloved Coach scarf. I thought the price was okay, it was about $30 while the retail price for Coach silk scarf is above $100, so I purchased it right away before someone else snagged it. It's a vintage Coach logo scarf in khaki brown and green. I couldn't get the series name of this style because it's vintage, but I do love the look of it. It's my first ever designer scarf! And hopefully the start of many 😜.



It's a thin rectangular scarf and it's made of 100% (raw) silk. It's actually almost see-through and it's lightweight, more suitable for fall or even summer. It's prone to snagging though because I accidentally pulled a thread when I tried it on (whoopsie!). But I still love it and I'm still trying to figure out how to use it and mix it with my style.

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Next, I found a thrift store that specializes in vintage scarves, handkerchiefs, and knick-knacks.
I regularly checked that store because they don't always have designer scarves in stock, so I have to browse and dig their collection every time I visit because most of them are just regular scarves. Sometimes when they do have designer scarves I couldn't find any style that I like so I skipped it and rather wait for a scarf that I really like.

From that store I've found a beautiful Lauren by Ralph Lauren floral scarf in the most prettiest color palette, very suitable for summer / spring colors ! It also happen to match the color of my Rebecca Minkoff Mini Mac ! I scooped it right away when I saw it because I really like the colors of the florals. It was offered at $15 while the retail price is around $60-$70 for Lauren by Ralph Lauren silk scarf. So it was a steal!

Then as an introductory bonus the owner of the store also kindly gave me another floral scarf! The free scarf I received was a Laura Ashley floral Scarf in muted color. It was also very beautiful and although it already shows wear and tear but hey, it's a free scarf :D

Top : Laura Ashley 
Bottom : Lauren by Ralph Lauren

 Lauren by Ralph Lauren Scarf with Rebecca Minkoff Mini Mac in Purple
My last recent purchase from that store were these two vintage small scarves / 'kerchief below. I purchased these just recently. The store owner categorized them as "handkerchiefs" because apparently they are too small to even be considered as scarves, but I personally thought these were too big for handkerchiefs - so I'd say this is a very small scarf instead ;) Or maybe a 'neckerchief' ? Or a twilly ?

I originally wanted to buy the Moschino Cheap & Chic "Olive" scarf that I saw at the store, but upon close inspection and some contemplation later I decided that I don't really like the design and I was also looking for a square scarf instead of another skinny rectangular scarf. So I cancelled buying the Moschino scarf and decided to browse the store one more time. I dig the store's scarves collection until the very bottom and found these two neckerchiefs that were still in mint condition :


First is a Fendi neckerchief with an animal-print luggage design, and secondly a beautiful Celine with European royal/military paraphernalia theme. 

I originally bought these two handkerchiefs to accessorize my bag. They are too short to wear around the neck unless I wore it "stewardess style" a.k.a tied really close at the neck. Are they actually twillies? I don't know I'm not sure, but I thought I'll be using these as accessory for my bags instead.

The Fendi neckerchief/twilly has a really nice design and I thought the colors would suit my brown bags such as my MK JetSet Tote bag and my vintage Fendi Zucca handbag (and my LV Neverfull Damier Ebene bag - Recent purchase!!).

Fendi luggage scarf :

Worn with my new baby, Sir Louis :


While the Celine neckerchief/twilly is just so pretty and beautiful by itself. I really love this kind of "royalty/military" print, and I think I might just use this as a normal handkerchief instead -> You know...when I have the flu or when I need to wipe something off my table when I go out in the crowd I would just take this out from my bag instead of tissue, how classy right? Lol.

But It's surely more pretty than tissue 😉 Or maybe I would wear this one around my neck in stewardess style neckerchief :)

UPDATE : I found out that this mini Celine scarf also looks good when tied around my Longchamp Le Pliage bag as accessory :)

Celine scarf :

Aren't they beautiful?
I love vintage scarves so much ...

The retail price for these neckerchief is around $100-$150 each but I got it for $5 each! Talk about 90% discount, right?! I'm so happy I could dance!


While at the store I also saw a paisley-patterned scarf from Etro in a pale yellow / muted green color, but I didn't buy it because I was hesitant (because it's more expensive and I was already at my budget limit of that month). So maybe next time I'd buy that Etro scarf because I believe Etro is a good Italian brand with excellent quality.

I can't wait to see what my next vintage scarf purchase would be (;p).
Right now I'm on shopping ban because I just purchased my dream bag which is the LV Neverfull MM tote bag in damier ebene (another story for another post)!! 
So I think there wouldn't be another designer purchase in the mean time...

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