Step back in time

So I have just re-written my "about me" section and deleted the following:

I do go to sleep thinking about what to wear tomorrow. Then I wake up and have forgotten it all, putting on an outfit that has been tried and tested or something I just throw together.

The best outfits are the ones that make me feel myself. That means they have to be a bit different - who wants to look like everybody else? - yet uncomplicated enough not to rule my day. There needs to be one detail that makes me smile - yet hopefully nothing that makes people laugh out loud. Having said that, depending on who laughs I really don't mind.

Having grown up a tiny bit, I still love dressing up. I want to feel stylish and up to date but it also needs to look like it took no effort at all. "Yes, I just pulled that out of my wardrobe." Join me on my musings on wearable fashion, stumbled upon inspiration, sought after shopping spaces and random pretty bits I come across.

I  still agree with all of that, though I have to admit that getting little M dressed is probably taking up more time than choosing my own outfit these days.

Chicken or Egg?

So if you've seen my post on the Ledbury conversion, you know that I essentially took an older model bag (Ledbury) and customised it so I was able to wear it with a strap, effectively creating a Small Bayswater Satchel - hence a newer model.

You could say it's ironic (though it's really just the logic precursor) that whereas I took the SBS as an inspiration to customise the Ledbury, Mulberry took the Ledbury as the inspiration for the SBS.

So what's better? Ledbury or SBS? There's only one way to find out...

Bloomin' Lovely

I don't do mega girly* stuff. 

Don't get me wrong: I like pretty things but I don't really do pink. I don't wear (much) make up. Lots of jewellery just annoys me and I end up taking it off after an hour. (Ever tried typing with a bangle on? Or running after a child with a long necklace?)

*I apologize right now for seemingly stereotyping girls. But I do actually mean "girly". Which is different.

Anyway, I always regarded the Mulberry Lily as one of those pretty but not very practical bags. Instead of a strap you get a long chain (uncomfortable). It's small. It's delicate. Do I need to go on?

I recently had offered one to me though and whereas I still maintain that it's not the most practical bag, its prettieness is so powerful (do I even hear myself?!) that it kind of makes up for it. I'll shut up now... (Oh, and sorry for kicking you in the head.)

Pidgeon Post

I remember somebody telling me about "unboxing" on Youtube. I had never heard about it before and, in all honesty, thought it was a bit daft when he told me. Whereas I could see the value in watching online reviews, do I need to watch others open their parcel and see what they ordered?!

When I thought about it though I thought that this could be quite useful: you get to see how a specific seller/retailer wraps and packs their goods. You get to share the excitement of a parcel received. You get a quick view on said ordered item.

So when I received a parcels from Naughtipidgins Nest, a name you may know or recognise from my "trusted sellers" list, I thought that would be a prime candidate. So without much further ado, here my first ever "public" unboxing.

Oh, and a bit of a spoiler, but this is in the box:

Manbag for Girls

When I unpacked this bag in the office one of my male colleages said "Manbag?" and raised his eyebrows questioningly (is that a word?). A female colleague said "Oooh, Mulberry!" 

I'd say that pretty much sums up the Antony: classic and simple shape, practical and functional design and a shape that works for both men and women. 

So I'm going to keep my usually Bayswater-sized waffle short and to the point - just as Antony does.

Not Another "Babybag"?!

I know I've gone on about babybags a number of times and, as much as I love the idea of using a Mulberry as your full-on mum & baby bag, I have been using a Storksak for most of the time as it's lightweight, has all the compartments I want and I don't have to be precious about chucking it on the floor. My lo is 2 1/2 and we are now at a stage where I usually just pop a couple of things in whatever tote I'm carrying if we're not out for too long.

However, I had been after a Mulberry Mitzy for the longest time and though I love my Sofie Messenger, which is very similar to Mitzy Messenger, I still thought it's not quite big enough to replace the Storksak on a longer trip. So when the opportunity presented itself to have a play with a Mitzy Tote, I thought we'd try to load her up with the kind of stuff I'd want to take on a daytrip...

Step It Up

Mummy & baby bags - all Mulberry

From the top

Bayswater NVT Printed Oak

Ledbury Printed Oak

Regular del Rey Deer Brown

Small del Rey Slate Blue

Regular Alexa Soft Buffalo Black

Mini Alexa Cabbage Green

Roxanne Darwin Chocolate

Blenheim Chocolate Darwin

With a Little Grace

I love my Mulberrys. I really do. I coo over them - or others I can't afford. I think they are gorgeous. But I use them and generally think they are "just bags" (*ducks and covers*) Gorgeous (for most of the time) but they are just beautifully crafted pieces of leather. But ultimately, they are attainable - even if aspiration is still a factor.

There are certain other bags that will command respect. Admiration. Awe. And aspiration isn't even in the picture for me. In my opinion Hermes and Chanel are definitely leading the pack when it comes to creating iconic bags that are recognisable across the world - even by people who have otherwise no clue or interest in handbags.

At the very top of that has got to be the Hermes Kelly or Birkin. Waiting lists and price tags that beggar belief mean "normal" people like me will never even consider buying one. 

Of course other designers have drawn inspiration from copied the style but usually that ends in rather nasty imitations. Imagine my amazement when I came across one that was not only beautifully crafted but also - and here is the real shocker (ahem...) - from Mulberry?! Created in the late 80s or early 90s Roger Saul stole unashamedly from Hermes and delivered a bag that didn't just look like a Kelly, it was also called a Kelly. So here we go.

 The longest intro ever... enjoy!

One Last Cup of Tea - Interview with Aqila 4 of 4

The last part now. Seriously - we did eventually shut up. Or rather the camera stopped rolling. As indicated in the write up of part one, we had a room full of bags and didn't take any pictures. But in this video you get to see a few of them. So stay with us and you will be rewarded! 

And as promised in the video, Aqila's contact details!

PapillonKia  

Webshop
Facebook page

eBay Shop

  
Here the other parts of the interview: part 1, part 2, part 3.

Even More Tea and Bags - Interview with Aqila 3 of 4

This is part four* of my interview with Aqila and whereas we were talking about personal favourites, kids and the hunt for *that* LV Ramage in the first two, the next two parts are about Aqila's business - aptly timed as she has just launched her webshop PapillonKia. What set her off on her journey of making women happy? What else has she got planned? And yes, there is another pretty bag to swoon over: *that* Louis Vuitton. I'll stop now and let you watch...

*yes, I know, I say "Part 2" - that's because I did not know I'd have to split the previous video in 2 as it was too long or that this one would last so long I'd have to stop to check my front door for imminently arriving guests.

 

Find the other parts here: part 1, part 2

Festival Bag - Mud Optional

If you're like me, then you don't want to have to baby your bags. You want to know that a regular treatment with Collonil products and some reasonable care will mean that you will be able to enjoy your investment in years to come (after all, that's what you told your other half, right?!).

I don't get the pictures, where you see the likes of Kate Moss gallivanting around a festival, Mulberry Roxanne over their shoulder, looking all boho and cool. Surely, you'd expect the bag to end up somewhere in a field, maybe being rained on excessively, possibly even being covered in mud?! (Mind you, I am sure the VIP areas are a bit short on the mud.) For that occasion I'd certainly steer clear of leather. And if it had to be Mulberry I'd turn to another one of their classic finishes: Scotchgrain. Have a look below and find out more...

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)