Three Most Essential Bags

If I can only choose three bags to own for the rest of my life, I would go with these Baggallini bags because:

1. Lightweight: nylon bags are great because I am a non-athletic woman with small bones and heavy bags strains my shoulders. Nylon also washes well (just throw in the washer machine to sanitize!) 

2. Adjustable Crossbody: I love car-belt style straps that can adjust to various lengths to suit the mood...hanging on one shoulder casually or across the body for more security and comfort. 

3. Affordable and Unobtrusive: I prefer sleek styles without huge logos and does not break my bank. I just need something that easily goes with all my outfits and convenient to carry my phone/wallet/keys/medicinals when I go out of the house.

The Perfect Day Bag:  medium size to have enough space to at least carry a 500 ml water bottle when needed (ie. for a long commute). Of all the color choices, I found out that a feminine berry/plum hue excites me the most, especially when it matches my favorite lipstick color!

The Grab and Go Bag: small-medium bag that can pass for casual to more sophisticated outfits without much thought; cannot go wrong with black. 

The Perfect Mini Bag: just small enough to fit the smart phone and car keys for those events where one does not want to carry a lot of things. Also can convert into a wristlet/clutch for a more dressier event (ie. attending church). A neutral gold color works well with light-colored outfits when the above bags are too dark.

Note: This post is not sponsored by Baggallini. I just really love the thoughtful designs of their bags that fits my lifestyle perfectly! 

Island Vacation Vibes

Fortunately right before the pandemic happened, my husband and I accomplished an epic trip to Vietnam, a bit of Thailand, and even a couple of hours in Taiwan in November of 2019. Culture shock, yes (especially the crazy moto-traffic in Ho Chi Minh City). I'm not much of a foodie, so the street or restaurant foods did not appeal much to me, but the fresh fruits and pressed juices (nước ép) in Asia are BOMB! Impressed, yes, especially by the new developments for tourism with the cutest modern decor. Overall, it was a trip to remember!

We stayed in mostly tourist areas, so I did not witness much local fashion other than the women on motorbikes covered head to toe with face coverings, and colorful printed aprons to shield from sun/dust. I thought it was interesting though that workers like waitresses and hostesses had uniforms with really short mini skirts. Young adults who hung out at popular coffee shops were into pastel over-sized tee's and sweatshirts.

No one walks casually around town in style except for tourists. Therefore, whatever fashion I saw came more from tourists (not locals). When I was on the VietJet Air flight from Vietnam to Thailand, I saw this photograph on the plane magazine that inspired me!

Two key items here stood out for me: wide-leg palazzo pants and rattan bag. 

Palazzo Pants:

The Good: this is all about comfort when traveling. Breezy pants keeps one cool in hot humid weather while keeping dust/bugs away from skin. Also for the paranoid person who carries money in hidden waist bags during travels, these pants can hide that pouch. Choosing a thin synthetic material like 100% polyester also packs very light and washes/dries quickly.

The Bad: the restrooms in Vietnam can be very gross, especially in older areas or in people's homes, where the floors are always wet. It can be challenging or time-consuming to keep these wide legged pants from touching the wet floor when sitting on the toilet. By time-consuming, I mean trying to roll up the pant legs before getting down on it. 

Rattan Bag:

The Good: I've been seeing this style of bag on fashion bloggers for a year or two already, but never have been provoked to purchase until this trip. Probably because in Vietnam and Thailand they sell these everywhere in every street market stalls and you can try to haggle for cheap. I've seen these bags in the US retail stores for around $20-40 (on sale). I'm not very good with haggling prices, but I found the exact one that the model wears in the magazine at a random stall at the An Dong Market, in which I paid about $15 US dollars, not much cheaper, but I know they tend to hike up prices for tourists.

The Bad: although this circular bag is super cute and editorial worthy, it doesn't fit the things I normally carry in a purse like my iPhone 11, but my old iPhone 6 would fit. Therefore, this rattan bag is more a souvenir that will probably collect dust in the back of my closet. 

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?