Ledbury Re-Born

I know I will sound like a broken record but: 
I like wearing bags cross body. 
I hate having to carry then in my hand. 
I don't get the wearing them in the crook of my arm type thing. 
I can just about manage with carrying them on my shoulder.

Therefore certain models of bags have been off my list, even though I might love the look of them. The Mulberry Ledbury is one of them. Styled like a classic Bayswater but baby-/mini-sized, it would be the perfect alernative to my Alexa. It would also be a nice change in that it's a more structured and therefore smart-looking bag. 

Mulberry recently released the Small Bayswater Satchel (SBS), which is pretty much a Ledbury with a long strap and I do love it (especially the oxblood version) but I 
a) had my heart set on something in printed oak and 
b) thought the price tag of almost £800 was a bit ott, considering you can get a nice preloved Ledbury for around £300.

Imagine my delight, when a lovely and very knowledgeable lady introduced me to something that would allow me to convert a Ledbury into a SBS! So without much further ado - i.e. I'm gonna stop typing now - the transformation!

If you'd like to have a go yourself, you can find these clamps on Cox the Saddler's website.

Just a couple of detail shots, which hopefully show quite clearly how these clamps were attached.

 

Give it a go and let me know how it goes?

More Tea and Bags - Interview with Aqila 2 of 4

Part two of that video I had to cut as it was just too long for YouTube. Aqila and I are still talking bags. But this time you actually get to see one - and a matching purse at that! One of those iconic quilted Chanel numbers, actually the first one I've ever touched - so worth watching for that alone. ;)

Let me know what you think!

Tea and Bags - Interview with Aquila 1 of 4

My first ever interview. Quite scary.

We always knew I'm not one for few words. So what happens if you throw in (figuratively speaking) a lady who is equally as chatty? The lady I am talking about is Aqila and you might recognise her from my reference section. Not only chatty but also hugely knowledgeable when it comes to designer handbags. Add a few cups of tea and a room full of bags* and you get an interview that went well beyond the time YouTube caters for. No to worry: video split into three, you can enjoy the bite-sized ramblings of said women on all things handbags and purses.

*Please don't ask for photographs of the bags. So much was the chatting that we forgot (!) to take any (!) pics. I know. Will do better next time.

So here it is: the first installment!

 

MacBook Pro Travelling in (Mulberry-)Style

So what do you do if you have to carry a laptop (more specific a MacBook Pro) and don't want to give up your Mulberry? You could use a simple laptop sleeve on a strap together with your small- to medium-sized handbag. Or you could use a slim laptop sleeve and squeeze the whole thing into a Bayswater (I did this up until recently). Or you could discover something you didn't even know existed: a Bayswater for Macbook!

I acquired this very practical bag a few weeks ago and found it particularly useful when I was flying with my toddler in tow. Carrying his bag, pushchair, my bag and him and getting all that stuff (and him!) through security meant it was so much easier to just slide my MacBook out and back into the bag than getting it out of a sleeve inside a Bayswater - which is what I had done previously.

I really don't get why Mulberry ever stopped producing these - maybe it was just a limited licencing deal with Apple or whatever but I really wish you could get any Bayswater as a laptop bag...

Mulberry Bayswater for MacBook in Black Drummed Patent Leather

Factfile
Width 36cm, Height 28cm, Depth 12cm
1 padded laptop compartment with tab closure, 1 removable pull-top bag.
1 zipped compartment, 2 slip pockets, 1 press stud compartment for pendrives. 

Anyway, let's see what fits in...

Veggie Mulberry?! Almost...

I love my Mulberrys* mainly because of their leather. Sometimes supple and soft, sometimes full of texture and structured. The bags do come with a health warning though (usually in form of a pretty, white printed care card): with some you will want to avoid rain, with others you will be worried about cracking and then others again, you will have nightmares about colour transfer.

Enter the one of the few fabric bags Mulberry have produced: from the Rosie range, the Rosie Satchel seems like a great little holiday bag... let's have a look...

This one is in Mini Leopard Foxglove Pink Quilt

Factfile:
Width 25cm, Height 15cm, Depth 7cm
Handle drop from approx 54cm to 64cm
1 main pocket, 1 small outside zip pocket

*This does my head in: 1 Mulberry, 2 Mulberries?! Surely not. Mulberrys it is then. But that just looks wrong.

Not So Boxy Bayswater

Whereas I am still on the fence on whether I prefer my Alexa a bit more slouchy, i.e. without an insert that gives the bag structure, I definitely want a big workbag such as my Heritage Bayswater, to be fairly boxy. If I carry any documents, I wouldn't want them to get crumpled and I'd probably expect to be able to slide in a laptop without having to uncrumple the bag first.

So far, I haven't owned a standard Baywater (yet) but from what I know, the Heritage Bayswaters are much more slouchy. I therefore ordered a standard Bayswater-sized Samorga insert (the colour is dune by the way), which fitted quite well into my Fudge Heritage Bayswater and achieved the desired boxy shape as well as gaining useful compartments inside the bag, which help to organise its contents.

Tradition or Heritage?

I always loved Mulberry's traditional Bayswater: great size (holds A4 or something laptop-sized), a style that allows you to dress up or down and a great choice of leathers and finishes. However, I am hopelessly addicted to wearing my bags cross-body and just was never sure enough I'd cope with the Bays' handles that may or may not work for me on the shoulder. Carrying a bag like that for my work commute (or any amount of time) in the crook of my arm, was not an option.

I therefore had a bit of an epiphany when I discovered the Heritage Bayswater: A classic Bayswater, all be it in a softer, slouchier leather, with a long strap attached - long enough to carry the bag cross-body! A real shame that this was just produced and sold for a short time, I believe somewhere around SS/AW12 but worth seeking out if these features excite you as much as they do me!

 Photo courtesy of Z.Collyer

In With the Old...

I have really enjoyed finding out about which Mulberry styles suit me more and which less, what makes them different to each other, how to best use them and the different leathers. This has been mainly across fairly recent styles but with Mulberry having been founded in 1971, there is a whole back-catalogue of styles to enjoy. I happened to have four different (some more some less) vintage around and I just did a quick show and tell on these... hope you enjoy!

Once More With Feeling - Del Rey the Second

Just a bit more information about the Mulberry del Rey.

This one is the regular size, slate blue with nickel hardware.

Factfile:
Width 35cm, Height 25cm, Depth 16cm
Handle drop 12cm
1 inside zip pocket, 1 inside slip pocket.
1 outside pocket (underneath postman's lock)

Sometimes Size does Matter...

So I had been after a regular Mulberry del Rey for a while. I had purchased a small one and though I wasn't sure about the colour/leather, I adored the style. I knew I'd want to get a small one again but in a different leather and also a regular sized one. The small one hasn't materialized yet (and I am still dithering about which colour to chose) but I came across a regular one in slate blue and snapped it up.

The day of the delivery arrived and I received a rather large box. The clue should have really been that. Yet I was still surprised at how big the bag that emerged was. 

Now, this is where I will normally just put a carefully styled still-life picture of the bag in question (thank god for our nice fireplace) but since my point is the size of the bag, I will accompany this with a quick mod shot.

 So anyway, what could I possibly do with a big handbag...?
 

P.S.: Yes, I would bring more knickers. I planned this video in about 2 minutes!