Red bag!

I'm on a roll with red items lately. This time, it's a red bag! Originally, I was intrigued by a yellow bag in this style, but lo and behold, the popular yellow ones were out of stock, leaving behind only red ones. I have never ever considered a red bag. I debated about this for weeks! Was it for me? A sign came when my favorite style bloggers posted their red bags: Bravoe Runway's Gucci and Wendy's Lookbook's Banana Republic. I took Bessie's advice "If you want a handbag with a pop of colour that will stand the test of time, get it in RED!"

So here I am with the red bag! I took a bunch of photos of different outfit themes to make sure red is truly versatile. 

 Not bad with neutral tan, blue, and blacks!

Then to push the boundaries, I tried to style it with more funky colors:

 I'm surprised it worked with my orange coat (probably due to the analogous theory of the color wheel). 

The red with green is a bit trickier. Red with green by itself is so elfin Christmas-y! But I found that if I added more colors to my green shirt as in my cream-purple-yellow scarf, it is more passable. 

I'm now a believer in the versatile red bag.

Another nice thing about this particular tote-bag is that it's packable! 

(Which is perfect for my 2012 goal of a better travel bag).  

It is currently sold at Travelsmith on sale $66

(way more affordable than this Ralph Lauren one that I had saved in my dream wishlist.)

By packable, I guess it means I can fold it in half:

 How much stuff can I fit in it?

 I was able to fit them all!

Here's how it looks zipped up full of things. I probably can add a few more small items to it.

 The four outside pockets are secured with a magnetic closure, but I would probably not put valuables in them. I think the open side pockets are good for stashing candy, granola bars, tissues, or hand-sanitizer.

 This bag is all soft full-grain leather, except for the red trim where the cell-phone holder is (which feels more like a vinyl piece). Ooh, the fabric lining reminds me of Khatu's recent fashionable outfit post here.

 I thought this bag was just PERFECT until this happened:

 In effort to rub a sticker/glue mark off the bag with some furniture polish wipe, I noticed that some red dye transferred on my moist sheet. I wonder if this means I cannot use this bag with light-colored clothing or in the rain for fear the color will drip or stain my clothing. Does anyone have dye-bleeding issues with their vibrant colored leather bags?