Saturday, September 24, 2016

New-In (Accs) : Laduree Macaron Keychain


I'd like to dress up my bags with little bag charms and/or scarves, and I always like how this Laduree macaron keychain looks like on other people's bags, so of course I wanted it for myself ;)

They are so cute and pretty, and they come in many colors. They are not cheap though, so I always hesitate to buy them. They are also not available in my country so I have to purchase them via a personal shopping service that can get you stuffs from abroad. 


Husband finally got me this Laduree keychain as a Valentine gift. We ordered it from Laduree Japan via a shopping service. It came in a beautiful box and the keychain is super cute !

I chose the brown color because I intend to put it on my brown colored bags such as my LV Neverfull Damier Ebene or my Michael Kors Jetset Tote in luggage. 

[UPDATED] : I also find it looks cute hanging from my Longchamp Le Pliage Small Tote in Beige (new bag!). Below is an example of when I use it as a bag charm in both my LV Neverfull and my Le Pliage :



Now don't they look cute together?
Thankyou hubby !


And here are my other bag charms using scarves :

LV Neverful bag adorned with a Fendi scarf 


Michael Kors JetSet Tote Bag with Laura Ashley floral scarf 



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Monday, September 19, 2016

Bag Review : Longchamp Le Pliage Tote (LLH) in Gunmetal

One of my most worn bag last year is definitely the Longchamp Le Pliage Tote Bag. There's nothing fussy about the bag. It's the easiest bag to wear. All I have to do is just grab it and fill it with anything I wanna take with me that day, zip it up, and I'm ready to go! Such an easy-breezy, one-size-fits-all everyday tote bag. Definitely one of my best pick!

Longchamp is considered as the entry door to designer / luxury world. Their most popular item is their iconic Le Pliage tote bags - which is also their most affordable item. The Le Pliage series is considered as "lower-end" in the designer brand hierarchy, because they have a "more affordable" price range compared to other designer bags. So the Le Pliage are usually the choice for girls who just ventured into "the world of designer bags", or girls who wants to buy their first designer bag but don't want to splurge too much as it is their first dip into the luxury world.

I got this bag for FREE (!) from a work-related job I had back in the days. As I have mentioned before, I felt really blessed and very lucky because some of my first designer items were free. Including my first ever designer item which is the Coach Madison Lurex Coin Purse, and my first ever designer bag the Kate Spade Georgina (both I won in giveaways), as well as a couple of other luxury brand items that were gifted to me from family or from jobs such as this one. I got very lucky and didn't have to pay anything for them, including this Longchamp Le Pliage Tote Bag. I am very thankful for all of it.. and still can't believe my luck :)
  

So anyway, this Longchamp tote bag is actually my third designer bag (first is the Kate Spade Georgina, second is the Michael Kors Jetset Tote). As part of a job I took I was given a credit voucher that I can use to purchase anything from any reputable online market. So I purchased this bag from a popular online designer outlet and then got reimbursed for it later. So this was another Free one indeed and I felt very blessed and thankful for that :)

I chose this bag because : (1) the credit voucher I was given had a limited amount and this Le Pliage is the only one I want from that budget range. And (2) because I've been wanting a Le Pliage ever since I learned about how easy and durable they are. 

It's "the versatile daily bag that every girl should have".


As you might probably know, the Le Pliage bag is a cult favorite. It is an ultra lightweight nylon canvas bag inspired by the Japanese art of origami. Simple yet eminently ingenious it has become a firm favorite all over the world.

The Le Pliage is known for their sturdy nylon material that even comes rain or storm the bag would stand it all. The material is waterproof, scratch-resistant, very durable, and can hold a ton of things inside. It comes with a zipper and flap for maximum security, and the nylon material makes it easy to clean (just wipe it off!).

Mine is a Longchamp Le Pliage Large size with Long Handle, in the color Gunmetal. I chose the long handle because I like bags that I can carry on my shoulder, especially for larger size bags. My petite figure doesn't allow me to carry heavy bags, so I personally think that larger size bag would be more comfortable if I can wear them on my shoulder. I thought with large bags we tend to bring a lot of products inside, and if it's a hand-held bag then I imagine it would be painfully excruciating having to hold that many weight on our hand for a long time. And I'm always a shoulder-bag-girl anyway :)

The color I chose is Gunmetal - which to my eyes it looks like a blue-ish dark grey. I originally wanted to get the black one or the blue one, but there were not that many options on the website at the time when I got this bag, so I went with this shade instead.

I love love love this bag. As I told you this is my most worn bag during last year, I wore it almost every day. The bag is very roomy with only one small pocket inside. I can practically put in everything I want in this bag. It fits my 13" laptop very nicely + my big iPad + wallet + huge planner + water bottle, even with an added umbrella this bag would still holds very nice!

The most important thing is how light this bag is! 
This is probably the most lightweight bag I owned so far. It weighs like nothing, so when you put your heavy items into it (such as laptop) then it wouldn't burden your shoulder so much because the bag itself is already very light, so it wouldn't add any extra weight to your shoulder. Nice, right?

I also love how I can wear it daily. It's my grab-and-go bag! Aaannd it's also perfect for travel or for a weekend getaway. With the large size you can fill it with clothes, wet bags, sandals, makeup pouches, and toiletries. Basically it would fit all your necessities for a short trip. It's perfect for cabin bag too!

And to top it off, the Le Pliage is known for their magical ability to turn from a large size into a teeny weeny itsy bitsy size just by folding it ! Yes, you can fold the Le Pliage so you can even bring it INSIDE your other bag for extra storage if needed.


How the Large size looks on my petite figure :
Psstt, I've read some girls also put the folded Le Pliage inside their more valuable bags (such as LV or Chanel bag), so when it rains they just take out the Le Pliage and put their LV/Chanel bag INSIDE the Le Pliage to cover it from the rain :)

I really love the Le Pliage so much it makes me want to get another one (or two more ;p).

On my wish list :
- Le Pliage Small size with Short Handle in black
- Le Pliage Medium with Long Handle in any color.


I also wanted the black Planetes one (the older version, not the Neo one) - but they are not produced anymore so I guess I'd have to hunt for the Planetes online or from private sellers.


Wish Me Luck on finding it!

Saturday, September 17, 2016

New-in (Clothes): DKNYJeans Wool Knit Sweater


Last week (September) there was a charity bazaar held by Club 21, a boutique that sells designer names. The bazaar is basically a boutique sale + designer garage sale that were held for charity. I of course decided to come because it was actually my first time ever coming to Club21 Charity Bazaar. I remember I came at the last day of the bazaar and on the way there I can't wait to see what would I purchase from the garage sale section.

It turns out that the garage sale section didn't really have anything interesting. Sure there were a lot of designer preloved goods (infact, almost all of the items on sale were designer brand names), but there was nothing that interest me, and maybe because I only came at the last day and the last minute so there really wasn't much left. Maybe the good stuffs were already sold out because all that's left was ugly dirty clothes and shoes that no one wants. There's a pair of Louboutins that looks like its still in good condition but it wasn't in my size (and it was still a tad expensive too). There was also a cute and girly Marc Jacobs rain boots for only around $20 but it was in shocking pink color (!) and it's not customary here in my country to wear rain boots, so I had to skip it because I don't think it's worth it. Another thing that I was gonna buy is a preloved travel document holder from Aspinal of London in very mint condition. It was made of rich luxurious leather in a royal blue color that makes me fell in love. I kept looking at it and then picking it up and then putting it down again (repeatedly). It was marked $30 and I didn't buy it, but at home I tried to browse around and I realized that it's retail price was a whopping $142 !

My mistake was I went to the bazaar when I know I didn't have money (yasss, so stupid, I know). But even though I didn't have money I still wanted to come to the bazaar just to see if there might be something cheap that I can take home. So the reason why I didn't get the Aspinal of London travel document holder (that I coveted) is because I already found something cheaper that I wanted to purchase. A grey ruffled DKNYJeans knit sweater that was marked down for 70% Off. Then surprisingly I got extra discount at the cashier so the last price I had to pay for the sweater was only $7 !! And it wasn't even from the garage sale section, it was from the boutique sale section (which means it's a new item from the boutique, not a preloved from club21 members). 
The sweater is a mix of viscose, cotton, wool, angora materials. It is warm and fuzzy, and adorned with feminine ruffles on one side. There are fabric ties on top and bottom of the ruffles, so you can wear it tied for more detailed look, or just let the tie loose. Thanks to the tie the sweater can also be ruched at the bottom, and this is how I mostly wear it, with a little ruched on the bottom side.

Unfortunately I didn't get the preloved Aspinal of London travel document holder, and that day I also saw a row of Diane von Furstenberg wrap dresses at the boutique section that were on sale. Sadly the DVF dress was still too expensive for my budget at that time (even though it was on sale around $60-70). So I had to let it go.. But at least I got a brand new angora wool DKNY knit sweater for just $7 ! Ha!
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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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