Essie has released their Cafe Chic Society collection, which consists of six new shades of “soft floral and tart, bright fruits for summer”. The collection was created by their Global Color Designer, Rebecca Minkoff.
Sweet Soufflé iridescent
sugar whiteBaguette Me Not unforgettable
lilac macaronBlue-La-La pastel
Parisian blueS’il Vous Play lavender
pink foilFondant of You sparkling apricot
marmaladeÉclair My Love red candy passion
I’m loving these pretty shades, particularly Fondant of You and Éclair My Love!
(It’s a bit odd that they remembered the accents on soufflé and éclair, but not on café.)
[Marc Jacobs Small Shutter Camera Bag, US$325. Image: modasens.com]
My very first handbag was a little blue camera bag, though I didn’t know what the style was called at the time—I was about 10! It was dark blue, not quite as deep as navy, and very plain, which is the way I liked most things as a child. I’m pretty sure I got it at TJ Maxx or Marshall’s.
I have no idea what happened to it (though, as faux leather, it probably didn’t hold up too well), but camera bags seem to be making a comeback, and I am toying with the idea of getting one for my birthday.
Here are a whole whack of styles I’ve come across. Do any catch your eye?
My favorites are the Gucci Soho Disco, the Longchamp 2.0, the Rag & Bone Mini Flight Camera Bag, and the Vasic Collection Anselmo. I quite like the blue Moschino, as well, except for the massive gold logo on the side.
Baggu Mini Crossbody in Oxblood. US$120 at nordstrom.comCoach butterflies crossbody bag in Black. US$250 at nordstrom.comCynthia Rowley Felix Cross Body Bag in Dark Red. US$95 at shopbop.com
[MARC by Marc Jacobs Classic Q Baby Aidan satchel. Image: farfetch.com]
I’m the sort of person who gets a little bit obsessive about one topic at a time (though luckily I stay pretty obsessed with nail polish, ha!), and recently I’ve been diving back into handbags because my birthday is coming up in the fall and I wanted to narrow down my choices and give myself time to find a good deal!
(Yes, DH and I don’t really exchange gifts. We just do gift budgets. It works out great because we no longer get disappointed about not receiving quite what we wanted! Before, I’d ended up with jewelry that I don’t really wear, and you should have seen the look on his face when I bought him an apparently subpar bottle of Scotch one year. He ain’t never gonna live that look down.)
Anyway, handbags are the only fashion items I’ve been interested in buying, simply because I’m losing my pregnancy weight and even my damn shoes are too snug right now. Clothing will have to wait. I’ve already decided that once I get back to my pre-pregnancy weight—and I will! Right?—I’ll treat myself to a new wardrobe. But for now, handbags! Weeee!
My shortlist is pretty small now, so I just have to decide what I really want. But while I was doing my research, it got me thinking about bags that, for one reason or another, I have had on my wishlist for ages. Many are discontinued (style or color), so the secondhand market is the only place to find them now. Most of these bags will remain on my wishlist forever, I feel, but I enjoyed compiling them into a single blog post for sharing.
Alexander Wang Rockie in Nectar. Image: fwrd.com
Alexander Wang — Rockie
The Rockie is the perfect size for my petite stature (the Rocco is too large for me), but reviews all say this is still one heavy bag, thanks to all the gorgeous hardware it sports. Part of me also feels I’m not cool enough for the bag, so I continue to admire it from afar. I especially love this one in nude and pastel shades with silver or rose gold hardware.
Christian Dior Miss Dior in Crimson. Image: bragmybag.com
Christian Dior — Miss Dior
This is beyond my comfort zone, price-wise. Simple enough reason! Isn’t that chain strap gorgeous, though? Most bag aficionados are gaga for Chanel’s quilted flaps, but for me, Dior and their cannage stitching is the grail. Sadly, I don’t see the Miss Dior on the official site any more.
Coach Borough in Retro Colorblock Oxblood/Olive. Image: thebay.com
Coach — Borough (Retro Colorblock Oxblood/Olive)
Coach has come out with some beautiful styles lately. Every time I see someone carrying this, I wish I’d gotten one—but I don’t work in an office and this bag doesn’t fit my lifestyle. (As if a Miss Dior does! Hahahaha.)
Those who’ve followed my blog for a bit will know that I’m crazy for Rebecca Minkoff bags, though I’ve not been as big a fan over the last several years due to a decline in quality, a proliferation of duller “inspired by” designs, and my own dabbling into fancier brands.
I do, however, still have huge love for the old school quality and styles like the Morning After Mini satchel (MAM) and the Morning After Clutch (MAC), both of which have inexplicably been recently discontinued by the brand! I mean, I love the Mini MAC as much as the next petite RM fan does, but the MAM and MAC were great styles that helped put RM on the map in the first place. I’ve also been longing for a comeback for the short-lived Morning After Mini Mini (MAMM) style—it looks so much better in person, and worn, than it does in stock photos—and after a few years of stalking the usual pre-owned sites, I still haven’t got my hands on one.
Anyway, last week I lucked out on my search for an older, full-sized MAC in a great color: I was also fortunate that the seller is in Canada, too, so I didn’t have to pay taxes and duties!
Red is my favorite color, and yet it is a bit odd to me that I don’t have that many red bags in my collection. Perhaps it’s because I had a tendency to wear red clothes, so red bags just seemed like they were overkill. In recent years, however, I find I’ve been wearing much more neutral or even cool-toned shades, so I’m dipping my toes back into red bags!
Here’s the newest addition to my collection, a MAC in Cardinal with gold hardware, from F/W 2009, I believe:
I’m sure many of us have been insanely busy over the last month or two, and for me, I’ve finally reached a point where I can heave a sigh of relief and, hopefully, get back on track, blog-wise. I hope you haven’t been terribly bored by my recent non-nail polish related posts on perfume, more perfume, washing your hair in reverse, and handbags! While I enjoy collecting perfume and handbags, I’m no full-fledged perfumista or fashionista.
So, back in late November, I posted Part I of my birthday beauty haulage. In this post, I’ll combine Part II with my Christmas haulage.
I splurged on beauty products for my birthday; less so for Christmas. I tend to receive money for Christmas (our families like do that, including DH and myself simply exchanging Christmas budgets so we don’t have to go through the rigamarole of picking out unwanted gifts for each other), and while I spent a bit of it on beauty products—on sale post-holidays, of course!—I spent a lot of it on two non-beauty products, which I’ll post about at the end.
Unwanted gifts! Image: gq.com
Without further ado, here’s Part II + Christmas:
November (Part II) & December Haulage
AMOUR & BARIELLE
Amour Nail Lacquer in June Is Here, and Barielle Shades Nail Color in Jess’ Champagne Toast (yeah, I don’t get the name, either! Purple champagne?). Always like trying new brands! I actually have one other Barielle (Jordana’s Skinny Jeans) that I picked up from Winners some time ago, but it’s untried, so this brand remains new to me.
I am not the girliest of girls (proclaims the “girl” who runs a nail polish blog!) but I do love my handbags.
My very first leather bag was one of two: it was either a red Coach demi shoulder bag with the softest, smoothest leather—this was around 15 years ago, folks! baguettes were in and Coach leather was super—or an edgier, cement-grey Hype hobo in no-fuss, slightly shiny but still very soft leather.
Hype, Everest pocket hobo in Steel. Image: bluefly.com
I want to say it was the Coach that was first. Either way, I adored the Coach but didn’t get that many chances to use it, since it was so small. I also loved the Hype and used it to hell! It was fantastic because it had a comfortable, adjustable strap that let me wear it both on the shoulder and crossbody. Plus, I found that grey goes with almost everything.
Fast forward about 15 years and I’m really happy with my bag collection, and am thinking of trimming it down—I have a lot of bags that I no longer use and should really just donate—and, of course, I’d love to add a brand new bag, as well!
It turns out that I didn’t buy a single handbag for myself last year. That’s pretty stunning, because I don’t think I’ve had a no-handbag year for…many years…before 2015. It’s probably a sign that I’m mostly satisfied with my collection. (Either that, or I spent too much money on nail polish last year.) I definitely go through shopping phases—in 2014, I got a number of bags, but hardly any makeup at all! And last year it was the reverse.
On a more personal note, the last week has been a bit trying, as I’ve had to go to the doctor more often than I’d like—even a first-ever trip to the emergency room for me—and as a result I’ve neglected the blog even more. Today I am satisfied that everything is all right for the time being, but since I was trying to take my mind off medical issues for the last several days, I got bitten by the handbag bug again! Internet shopping is so evil, but what else can you do when you’re instructed to rest all day?
Luckily, it’s only been internet window shopping. My clicky finger has been stayed by the atrocious and only getting atrocious-er Canadian to US dollar exchange rate (we’re at 70 cents to the dollar, now, eek) so I’m just starting to compile my shortlist for My Next Handbag Addition, Which, If I Wait for the Canadian Dollar to Partially Recover, Might Not Even Be For 2016.
I’ve bought way too much Rebecca Minkoff in 2014, so I’ll probably move on to something else, particularly since I’m not keen on most of her new styles. Here’s a list of the bags I added in 2014 (keep in mind that I barely bought any makeup and clothes in 2014!), and after that I’ll share my Next Handbag Shortlist.
Handbags I Added in 2014
Rachel Nasvik, Phoebe Satchel in Grey. Image: lyst.com
Rachel Nasvik
Phoebe Satchel in Grey
Rachel Nasvik, based out of New York City, used to make the most gorgeous vintage-inspired handbags that are made in the USA! She hasn’t really done much in recent years, which makes me really sad, but I did manage to add this grey Patricia to my very small RN collection (which also includes a burgundy Patricia, a white/tan Bianca, and a black Phoebe). The Patricia is a little awkward to carry due to its size, but I love the styling to pieces! The bags all come with a bright cobalt blue cotton lining, too.
I have eBay email me every time a Rachel Nasvik bag pops up there; I bought this used (or “pre-loved”, as they like to say!) for US$50.
Today, National Handbag Day, was my self-imposed deadline for responding to Stashmatters’ dare from back in April! I am nothing if not a procrastinator.
But first, in celebration of the day, I would like to share with you some of my favorite handbags. Who am I kidding? All my handbags are my favorites! But I have used some more than others this summer.
Treesje — Asher Mini Satchel
Treesje’s (pronounced TREE’-ZHUH) an American brand that was popular perhaps ten years ago. I’m not really sure what’s happened to them, but last I checked, I was not terribly impressed with their offerings. The Asher is one of the bag styles that launched them into stardom (particularly in the Grande size) and it is my favorite of their styles. Mine is in the small size, which looks far less ludicrous on my petite frame. It’s the only pink bag I own, and it goes with so much! Treesje Asher Mini Satchel in Fuchsia
