Tag / mansur gavriel

looking back on last year's purchases
By On In Wardrobe836 Comments

To be honest, I wish I could show you guys more colorful purchases than the ones above but I’m afraid this will have to do. I think you’ve seen all of them already except for the black Everlane turtleneck on the left. Overall, 2015 was the year I started to incorporate more black into my outfits and managed to have a small wardrobe crisis halfway through despite a closet filled with clothes. Summer has never been and never will be my favourite season wardrobe-wise. So it won’t come as a surprise that most of my favourite pieces of last year are fall and winter items.

last-year's-purchases

Now onto the purchases. Apart from the Weekday trousers, these acquisitions have gotten a lot of wear. The Uniqlo trousers, cashmere turtleneck and coat are on heavy rotation at the moment. I’m also still very happy with both of the bags. The A.P.C. bag is my current go-to bag when I don’t need to carry a lot. The Mansur Gavriel bucket bag however needs to be worn more often (too afraid to scratch it). Finally the blouses are just okay for what they are. The striped blouse doesn’t look so great anymore after I wore it several times a week last summer, but what did I expect for €20? The silk blouse is lovely, but I regret not buying a silk blouse with pockets.

5 piece purchases
A.P.C. half moon bag
Mansur Gavriel bucket bag
Uniqlo x Lemaire cashmere trousers
& Other Stories silk blouse
Everlane cashmere turtleneck
Filippa K Dean coat
Weekday cotton trousers
H&M striped blouse
Mango leather sandals

style-resolutions5

The heels were a gift and bought for special occasions. Even though I don’t plan on wearing them on a regular basis, I did add them to my basics as I do feel that everyone could use a basic pair of black heels. I opted for a suede shoe with a sturdy, not too thin heel for comfort. Speaking from experience, Isabel Marant’s t-shirts are of excellent quality, so I decided to purchase an extra t-shirt on sale.

Basics
H&M sandals
Pier One loafers
& Other Stories black heels (gift)
Isabel Marant Wenji t-shirt

The items below all needed to be replaced. I no longer fit my old blue jeans and they’re a welcome change from my usual black attire. The black jeans were bought quite unexpectedly but it turns out H&M no longer produces the high-waisted jeans I used to purchase so I figured I should probably have a backup just in case they stop producing them altogether. As I’m going to try to ignore fast fashion as much as I can this year, I need to start looking into other brands for jeans (more on that in my next post about style resolutions).

Replacements
Adidas Stan Smiths
& Other Stories wool long-sleeve
& Other Stories blue jeans
H&M black jeans
H&M white and black t-shirt

That’s it! As I kept track of my purchases throughout the year, I was able to make a fairly accurate estimation of what I spent in total over 2015 on clothes and accessories. I won’t bore you with the numbers, but trust me when I say it can be confronting. That said, I was able to afford it all and do not regret investing in more expensive pieces that I know are of exceptional quality. But I should cut down on the purchases in general because at this point I have enough to wear.

What do you guys think? Is my list of purchases over the course of 2015 reasonable? And how did you do yourself?

outfits-september
By On In Outfit388 Comments

Seriously? We’re almost halfway through October! Yeah, sorry about that. I’ve been incredibly busy at work and apparently I’m a terrible planner. So I’ll leave you guys with a couple of outfits for now. It’s getting colder and colder at the moment and I’m loving every second of it. Yesterday my boyfriend almost caught me trying on my wintercoats just for fun.

Regarding the outfits, I’m not sure whether or not I should post them because honestly, they’re kinda boring. Once I find a uniform that works, I stick with it for the time being. Hence the numerous pictures of me wearing a striped top and black loafers on Instagram. Unfortunately I’ll have to say goodbye to the latter for now because they’re no longer weather appropriate.

  1. H&M high-waisted jeans, &Other Stories basic wool long sleeve, Adidas Stan Smith sneakers and my beloved Céline trio bag.
  2. H&M striped shirt, Isabel Marant trenchcoat, Pier One loafers, Mansur Gavriel Bucket bag
macbook-marble
By On In Shopping420 Comments

So Thursday evening was pretty interesting, to say the least. I finally made up my mind and decided to go with the Mansur Gavriel bucket bag. What I didn’t know is that it’s very hard to get your hands on one of these bags. What I assumed would be a piece of cake, turned out to be a real test of patience. MG didn’t announce a particular launch time for the apparently, much anticipated restock, so I refreshed every thirty minutes at work (how naive). But when it was time to go home, still no sign of those pretty minimalistic bags. At home I sat down with my laptop and decided to keep an eye on their Instagram for the announcement of the launch. If I was able to get one, great, otherwise, too bad. Better luck next time. But as the day passed, more and more people started to get anxious and turned to the Mansur Gavriel Instagram to express their frustration. Especially when the E-shop went online somewhere between nine and ten in the evening and everything was sold out in a matter of minutes. I had my eyes set on the black/ballerina bucket bag, but every time I wanted to check out, it was no longer in stock. I gave up. Luckily I have an amazing boyfriend who doesn’t take no for an answer, and he managed to get through.

It’s strange what a simple product can do to people. Some people stayed up the entire night, others took a day off from work or called to say they would be late. Even I started to stress a little when I had to sign up for an account, which would take another couple of minutes. Of course this is nothing compared to for instance Black Friday. Another example of how materialistic we sometimes are. I know I am occasionally and I’m not proud of it (I felt like such an idiot, refreshing that website every five seconds between nine and ten, but at that point there was no turning back). I honestly can’t wait for my bag to arrive but I will never put myself through such a time consuming and frustrating process again. There’s more to life than a bag or a pair of shoes.What is the craziest thing you ever did in order to get your hands on something you really wanted?

Image: Pinterest
mansur-gavriel-bucket-bag
By On In Shopping2,251 Comments

Ok, so here’s the deal. I would love to be that person that owns just one or two bags until they completely wear out before considering another one. But who wants to wear a Balenciaga bag to death? Not me. I want to use it for as long as possible. So I need another medium sized bag to rotate with. Below you’ll find some of my favourites but I still haven’t made up my mind. Although I’m starting to feel some pressure ever since I received an email from Mansur Gavriel that new stock is coming up in a couple of days. And we all know what happens when something is a. limited or b. hard to find. So what to do!?

Mansur Gavriel bucket bag (€495)
It’s everywhere. Well, at least online. I have never seen this bag in real life. Consequently, that also means I’ve never been able to feel the leather and to see how it looks on me. A big plus though, is the design. Very clean yet still interesting and different. And don’t forget the price! Expensive, but more reasonable than another Balenciaga bag.

Balenciaga bag (€1245)
I know, I already own one. But it’s an ongoing love affair for almost four years now. So maybe I should consider getting the same brand bag in a different model of colour? The Velo looks interesting and seems to be able to hold a lot. I already know that the craftsmanship is excellent and it hardly shows any damage. Unlike that Mansur Gavriel bag with it’s smooth leather. But still, I already own one.

Everlane Petra bag ($365)
Another bag that’s a little more budget friendly but unfortunately not available to anyone outside the US or Canada. I might be able to get my hands on it when we go to New York but that won’t be until the end of August or the beginning of September. The soft, smooth leather looks beautiful and I usually love a nice tote bag, but maybe the design is just a bit too simple for it’s price? Hmm…As you can see, all very different bags with price tags ranging from rather affordable to completely ridiculous. But please note that I can afford the occasional splurge and I have no problem with investing in a bag that will last me for years to come. An expensive brand is definitely not a must. I’m pretty sure hardly anyone recognises either my Céline bag or Balenciaga bag. And I’m totally fine with that because I don’t want to explain to anyone why I spent €600 on a small cross body bag. Yikes! But I do have a penchant for beautifully designed bags that are of outstanding quality. And I think I can find both in the options mentioned above. Let me know if you have any other suggestions or maybe even a favourite out of these three bags.

Image: Pinterest