FLORAL PAISLEY SHOPPER

Its a beautiful summer's day and i'm feeling floral. I love this vintage floral shopper. The proportions of this are just perfect and i love the simple clasp detail in the centre.

The floral paisley is embroidered onto this heavy fabric and finished off with simple red leather binding.

The shape is wide at the base and narrows to the top. I also really love the flat zip pocket with metal zip on the front panel.

The inside of the bag shows where the handles are lovingly attached and the additional inside pocket.

The bag has a home made feel about it, even though it probably is not home made. Even the little metal corner details are very dinky and cute. This is the kind of bag i can imagine a cool grandmother with oversized round sunglasses wearing slung over the forearm on her way to the shops in West London.

MERCHANT & MILLS OIL SKIN BAG

I like the narrow handles of this bag and the inbalance (or balance) of proportion. The simple oil skin canvas bag is accented by thick but narrow quality leather shoulder straps.You can buy this bag here at the Merchant & Mills shop. They have a real bricks and mortar shop in East Sussex. I will keep this in mind for my next road trip. This bag retails for £48 not bad.

WANT LES ESSENTIALS de la Vie

I love this brand - WANT Les Essentials de la Vie. They continue to make classic, amazing quailty products which also manage to have a really contemporary edge to them. This is a favourite of the moment, not so much the actual shape of the shopper but the fact of the exposed iPad case on the front. With a massive trend towards transparency and translucency in bags as you may have seen in some of my previous posts, this pocket is all about exposure.

Every time i open their website, i am completely overwhelmed by the striking beauty and quality of the products they make. They have a masculine but refined feel and from a designer's perspective a real focus on details which make leather goods absolutely sublime.

WANT LES ESSENTIALS de la Vie

Goodordering Cycle friendly bags

Cycling has definitely taken off as the transport of choice in many urban settings. So what better accessory that a fashionable bicycle bag. These ones are designed by yours truly and available for a limited time through Kickstarter. It is a crowd funding tool which i am aiming to raise the required sum for in order start getting the bags manufactured.

Click here for more info and to back the project: Goodordering Cycle bags by Jacqui Ma. Designed in East London, made in Shenzhen.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jacquima/goodordering-bags

The range consists of backpacks, and cycle friendly pieces that attach to your bicycle and then transform seamlessly into shoulder bags.

You can also get more information about the bags by visiting : www.goodordering.com

NOT A GOOD TRAVEL BAG

This is not really a great travel bag for when travelling across international borders. It reads "this bag contains a gun, a bomb, a very large knife and loads of drugs". Unless of course you are planning a very sophisticated version of reverse psychology.

CHALK BOARD BAG

Somewhere handy to keep the shopping list when you head out to pick up some groceries.

WOVEN PLASTIC BAG

JOSH BLACKWELL

This is a regular plastic shopping bag turned into a crafted basket with a bit of surface decoration. They are by an artist called Josh Blackwell and the project is called 'plastic baskets'. I like it alot
There are more photos to be found here: http://www.joshblackwell.com/

POLKA DOT PLASTIC BAG

Its just a plastic shopping back, but it has style. It reminds me of the comme des garcons wallet that i want. Maybe i'll have to make do with the plastic bag.

RED HANDLES. HMMM

Doing a little bit of research into handles of shoppers, I came across this bag, its from etsy, sorry lost the link. Handles are going back to being really simple with hardly any hardware to be seen. Less is more and even to the extent that the same material and colour is used in the handle as the main body material. I really love this simple red shopper with a flat construction and little darts down the bottom.

DIPPED

I like dipped coatings. I can't deny.



Jack Spade.

70s MACRAME

Here is a selection of macrame and jute bags mostly from the 70s. I was doing a little bit of research on woven bags and elastic and came across these on etsy. Don't you just love that site?!



I was extremely tempted to purchase this one which was going for just US$26, but really, do i need another bag? No!


I just love the neat rows of macrame that make up this bag and the contrast of the wood handle with the crafty feel of the main body of the bag. I also love the colours - just off whites which are so summery and fresh.


The slight deco patterning which adds a bit of subtle embellishment to the pattern.


The range of patterns and styles are just endless, and these are just a few of the images i found when i searched "macrame bag" on etsy. I wish i could do macrame, although mine would end up in a different category altogether. Perhaps experimental macrame or something like that.

My obsession with macrame continues on this previous post... http://anotherbagblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/macrame-and-stringy-bags.html

THE 90s

Did you have a stud machine in the 90s? I didn't. But i wish i had. I'm not sure why but this bag takes me back to the era of DIY decoration, the be-dazzler and such. The ultra cool, new thing about it is the wierd orderly fashion in which these little studs are arranged. It makes me imagine that some designer had received a swatch card of available studs and embellishments from the factory in china and decided to re-create the level of excitement faced when one comes across a sample swatch card.


Its like a little fishing tackle box where you have all your hooks and flies arranged in the little compartments OR some kind of wierd board game where you have to collect a certain number of stars or dome studs in order to progress to the next level.

Either way, this bag makes me feel happy. Happy in order. Happy in options. Happy in 90s embellishments.

WHAT DRAMA SHOPPER

This is the kind of drama you get to see at London fashion week. Great bag. Love a bit of typography!

PRINTED BAGS

These bags are a clever idea that i bet has been thought of loads of time, but someone has now actually done it, and done it quite well i think. Its the classic designer handbags such as Hermes Birkin and like printed onto the relatively disposable and super cheap but iconic canvas shopper.


I particularly love the quality of the print and the vibrancy of the colours that has come through.




And the printing of the base is pure class!


You can find out more about this on this fab site i found these bags at: weareselecters.com

BROWN BAGS FROM AW11/12 CATWALKS

These bags are hot off the press from the Milan and Paris men's catwalk shows. They are just a little snapshot of some of my favourites so far.


The backpack is making a huge splash, still around and in quite a formal silhouette, here is Paul Smith.


I also like this Miharayasuhiro brown holdall with the impression of buckles embossed into the side panel. Its not new but its a nice execution.


And these two bags from Kenzo are really nice. Quite understated with subtle broguing detail, they are minimalist with a personality.


Kenzo have done some nice bags this season.

RE ENFORCED CANVAS SHOPPER

Its friday yay. I found this image on the sartorialist. I'm not sure exactly what is actually going on with the canvas shopper but it gave me the idea to stitch on re-enforced leather corners onto an old canvas bag. The combination of disposable and precious really appeals to me.


I might give this a go this weekend.

FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART...

This image doesn't really need a caption.


Its a love-hate relationship.

ORNJ BAGS: ROADSIDE BARRICADE BAGS

These summery basket bags by ORNJ are handmade by Detroit-based artist and designer David Shock.


They are made of reused construction fencing, salvaged from abandoned fields and work sites.


You can buy them through their etsy shop here: http://www.etsy.com/shop/davidshockdesigns
and find out more information about them on their little website: www.ornjbags.com

I think they are elegant and decorative and not so much about recycling as they are about clever design.

METALLIC TYVEK BAGS

I had been meaning to post these bags, they are made from tyvek which is that papery - plasticky stuff that we have seen a lot of especially in white, where it really looks like paper, its the same stuff that fedex envelopes are made from, really hard to tear and super strong but really light weight.


Anyway, this is the first time i have seen it in metallics so i thought that would be worth a mention. And sorry, becuase this image has been sitting on my desktop for so long, i don't have a credit for it,... oops.

D&G SHOPPER

I don't really like floral clothes, but i like floral bags. I'm not sure why. I like this bag. Its rich in colour and texture but then the richness is constrasted with the humbleness of construction and choice of materials.


The lovely photo from the selby also helps to make this bag look really nice