Aside from the Bayswater, the Roxanne is considered as one of the iconic styles from Mulberry. While the design itself has a smaller (Blenheim) and bigger (Rosemary) variety, the Roxanne hit the Goldilocks’ zone for being ‘just right’.
Mulberry Roxanne Bag in Apple Green Darwin Leather
What would push me to go back writing here? Yeah, a bag post!
To say that I am heartbroken is an understatement. For years, I have been searching for a Mulberry Piccadilly in Oak Darwin that won’t break the bank. It is my HOLY GRAIL. I even wrote this elaborate longing on my Tumblr more than 4 years ago. Up to this day, this EXACT Piccadilly is on the top of my wishlist. How can you not fall in love with that patina, that kind of brown and the sheen only an aged-leather can give off? I’m still in love.
Fast forward to four years after, the fire is still burning. However, my extremely popular and most-Googled Mulberry entry is a cautionary tale – caveat emptor. But my heart skipped a beat when I saw an ad listing back in March. It was simply listed as a Mulberry leather bag, but it surely looked like a Piccadilly to me.
Last Friday, I asked my sister to drop by this leather supplies store in Marikina Public Market to buy a leather dye. I had a DIY project in mind, but it was so simple that it would probably not take more than ten minutes of my life to finish it. Since receiving a Bayswater from more than two years, I have only used it less than five times. As much as I love Mulberry and this Bayswater, I just can’t bring myself to lug it around each time by the handles. I wanted a nice leather strap to convert it to a messenger bag and breathe new life to it and end its eternal damnation inside the storage bin.
I was previously using a strap from another bag, but the “canvasness” of it just felt so wrong. Mulberry does not sell separate straps unlike other brands (i.e. Louis Vuitton). And even if they do, we no longer have any Mulberrys here. Rustan’s used to carry it before and I remember looking at two Elkingtons and a nylon clipper. But look at me blabbering about all of these — if there were Mulberry stores here and even if they sell straps separately, I don’t even have enough money to spare to buy one. My point was completely moot to start with. >_< LOL
Bye bye brown
The month has barely changed from November to December and it was already our company’s yearend event a.k.a. Christmas party. On one hand, why was it so early? Other companies might not have even released their 13th month pay and yet we already had our party. On the other hand, I was quite delighted with the date because it meant less traffic and it would be easier to go to-and-from the venue. And for the first time after four years, I went to the party without Faye as she was still out of the country!
Mon and I were really pinching the penny because of our trip next week so we decided to keep our outfit simple. I was initially over the Moon with the supposed Yohji Yamamoto Pour Homme top that I was about to wear, but the cancellation of the transaction meant that I had only a day to look for something to wear. Then, why bother? Let’s just wear a similar shirt!
We have a knack for coordinating our outfits and the last time we did so was in 2010 during a ‘masquerade theme’ Christmas party.
Anyway, we traditionally invite a guest host every party (a celebrity) but this year, we invited two hosts. First was Rovilson Fernandez (from the ‘Amazing Race Asia’ fame, whose partner Marc Nelson has coincidentally hosted our party last, last year) and Joey Mead (current judge on ‘Asia’s Next Top Model’). Rovilson was unexpectedly funny because I thought that he’d end up being like Marc, who was eloquent, but lacking in the humor department. I had high expectations with Rovilson because Luis Manzano really carried the whole event last year, so the former had big shoes to fill and it was surprisingly well-done. As for Joey Mead, the girl was a goddess. My jaw dropped because I did not expect her to be that beautiful, and the girl can really walk. O_O
Anyway, more than the hosts, I had a great time seeing interesting looks from others who attended the party. There were several fashion contests/segments and there were two outfits that really caught my attention. The first one was a girl wearing a tuxedo and I think that it was an excellent take on Yves Saint Laurent’s ‘le smoking‘. What I loved most about it was the fact that she was not tall nor extremely skinny but she did not end up looking like a penguin. I was living for her! Her ensemble reminded me of one of Minzy’s (from 2NE1) look from the ‘Can’t Nobody‘ music video. And the second one was this, let’s admit it, costume and replica of Lady GaGa’s infamous red lace outfit from 2009 MTV VMA. I was not familiar with the candle thing but maybe GaGa carried something similar to that but the people went crazy when he got at the end of the runway and blew the flame off. Werq!
(Photo from forums.allkpop.com)
But I was more happy to see Mon go up the stage with his teammates, to accept an award recognizing their efforts. I really liked how he looked on stage with a leather jacket and white skinny jeans, together with that black shirt. I had been pitching to him the idea of wearing this leather jacket I personally intended to use for our trip to Seoul and he only agreed last minute before we left the house.
The food was great as well. I couldn’t remember who was the caterer last night but we had several trips back to the buffet table. I didn’t even care about dieting nor the fact that I was still drinking CarbTrim — let’s now see your efficacy! Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, I was unlucky with the raffle. I was so unlucky that my ticket number 1414 was almost picked several times. The numbers, 1412, 1413, 1415 and 1417 were picked out of the bowl, as well as 1424, 1434 and also 1484. Fate has to remind me again that I should work hard if I want something and not be dependent on luck.
To make matter worse, the committee in charge of the program had to drastically and deliberately delay the raffling off of the MacBooks. There was a band who sang non-stop for more than 30 minutes, as if it was a shaking-off medley to test the people waiting for the raffle. It actually worked because when they began drawing out stubs, a string of names had been called and the people were no longer present. It was literally a drawn out event that the whole thing had not finished until a little past 2 AM.
(The best picture that our crazy and energetic officemates can take, given the festive atmosphere)
I just dragged Mon to the ‘wall’ (or whatever you call it) because we haven’t had our picture taken with it. The raffle was almost over when we positioned ourselves to take pictures and we had to rush taking each others’ photos. We then ran out of the venue, a time-tested tactic of ours, to avoid the rush of people scrambling to go home.
We got home in about an hour, which was pretty fast, considering we went all the way to Marikina. I just felt a bit nauseous, maybe because of the glutton-fest that had happened a few hours back that I had to drink a can of pineapple juice. When I was already checking over my bag from last night, I was mortified to see that the bottle of alcohol inside had accidentally opened and spilled on the bottom of my Bayswater. >_< I was hoping it would dry off but as it has already happened last night, then the mark will most probably be permanent. Why haven’t I checked on it last night? I could have done something to prevent it. Big consolation: the liquid hasn’t penetrated the leather and the finishing/sheen from the outside was not affected.
All in all, the alcohol stain hasn’t dampened my spirit. I had a fun night even if that raffle has annoyed the hell out of me.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta9INf-ZBJk]
Three months ago, I ruminated over selling my Keepall 50 for a Mulberry Bayswater. But turned out, I ended up NOT selling it at all. I told myself “How dare you consider letting this go, after all of those memories?“. However, for our Seoul trip this December, I actually consider not using the bag because I might have excessively packed it last year and remembered that it was extremely heavy, considering it has no shoulder straps.
(Screencap from www.louisvuitton.com)
I then found myself on Louis Vuitton’s website because I was looking at the dimensions of an Epi Cles as I saw one listed on Ebay (I still can’t get over my lost/stolen coin purse). Then I stumbled upon this interesting and interactive tutorial on the “Art of Packing“. First of all, it never occurred to me that you can position your shoes like that inside a keepall or any travelling bag. I had a constant mental “Ooooohhh” while watching the video and picked up a few tricks while the invisible hand (definitely not of Adam Smith) place an item after another inside the bag. Just as I thought that the usual rolling up of the clothes to avoid crease does the trick, I saw this tutorial which proved to be helpful in packing things for travel.
But then again, my Keepall still doesn’t have a strap but I will be taking note of the tips in the video when I pack another bag I can sling over my shoulder.
Whenever I buy something online or offline, I always tend to think that I know my size. I was previously able to get these two amazing dress shirts: an Ermenegildo Zegna and a Givenchy Paris.
When I was still deciding whether or not I would be buying the Mulberry Bayswater from Ebay, I did a thorough and exhaustive search online using Google on men carrying a Mulberry Bayswater — and its permutations. My search did not yield anything substantial and it was really frustrating. What I saw were photos of men carrying the the Mulberry Piccadilly because it was described as large Bayswater.
I was really upset last Friday when I saw that the Mulberry Bayswater I received had a missing postman’s lock. I thought of ways on how to remedy this because I just don’t feel like carrying a Bayswater without a lock.
I had two options with polar consequences: 1) send the item to Mulberry to repair it; however, this means I will be shelling quite a sum of money not only for the repair, but also for the two-way shipping since we don’t have a stand-alone Mulberry store here in the Philippines (and the total price may even cost me more than what I paid for the bag); or 2) have the postman’s lock replaced by myself by getting the necessary part. But where do I get it? It’s not like they would send out parts upon request because of the fear of counterfeiters. *DING DING DING* Counterfeiters.
Fake Mulberry Postman’s Lock from an Alexa Continue Reading
I was expecting the arrival of the Mulberry Bayswater in Congo leather today but to my horror when I called their hotline, it was not to be delivered until Tuesday or Wednesday next week! So here is the true reason why my review session got cut off much earlier — I went to JRS Express’ Headquarters in Mandaluyong City, their mother ship.
JRS Express Main Branch in Mandaluyong City
So yesterday (or last Saturday as it is now Monday here in Manila), I had an afternoon to fix my things because they are scattered everywhere in my room.
I had the opportunity to clean what needs to be cleaned, polish what needs to be polished and others similar to that.
I also took advantage of the perfect afternoon sun diffusely shining by the window to take pictures of the things I currently own. I used to take pictures of them but only with my camera phone, and I’m not surprised that photos were better on a digital camera.
The most logical way for me to post my “stuff” (i.e. bags and SLGs only) here is via size, first with the largest until the smallest:
Louis Vutton Keepall 50