The Bag I Never Knew I Wanted

 

When specific holidays and milestones are approaching, I don't hint at the items I'm interested in. Instead, I make sure to give very strong suggestions, complete with photos, reviews, and links. Leading up to this past Christmas and my January  6th birthday, I sent my husbae photos of many many crossbody/camera bags. The top two on my list were the Gucci "GG Marmont" small  shoulder bag and the Saint Laurent round "Vinyle Matelassé " leather crossbody bag.  

     

Christmas and my birthday came and went and neither of these beauties had been gifted to me. Which was fine! I received some amazing Christmas and birthdays gifts so I was completely satisfied. 

As red balloons, pink hearts, and roses filled display windows and store shelves, I focused my attention on what I would get my valentine for his birthday, which is on February 14th.  I make it appoint to make the 14th about him, because we can celebrate our love on any day.

To my surprise Damien decided he wanted to give me a big gift on valentines day. He handed me a huge bag, with a huge box inside. When I had gotten through the beautifully wrapped gift, I discovered a white, black, and beige  "Rive Gauche" Saint Laurent tote. I gasped! I am a crossbody bag girl all day, but when I saw this lovely piece in linen and leather I was- gone! 

Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Tote

I screamed "Babe this is a summer vacation bag, Saint-Tropez me, please!!! He laughed and said "You can either get a trip or a bag, but you can't have both!" Dame went into to explain that he knew the tote was outside of my norm, but he wanted me to try something different. He also said he looked forward to seeing me style it, which I thought was very cute. 

Here are some photos from my first time wearing, The bag I never knew I wanted.

It's so chic! I can't wait to take her out on the town or maybe to the beach.  I'm thinking cream or tan flowy or draped oversized summer dress with huge black sunglasses. Sounds so yummy! If you love the bag as much as I do, and want to snag one for yourself, here's the link. How would you style it? Let me know in the comments. 

Kima and the Leopard Spotted Dream Coat!

I’ve been obsessed with Norma Kamali sleeping bag coats since the first time eyeing André Leon Talley draped in his infamous red cloak years ago.

The style maven, Solange cinched in the same fire red coat on the cover of Elles’ March 2017 issue. 

Then the street style stunner, Rihanna slaying in camouflage. 

Because these puffers can retail $800-$1400, I started searching eBay to see if I could find a vintage or previously owned one in my budget, to no avail. 

My search became even more vigorous after reading The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir by André Leon Talley mid March of 2020.

In late June, as I was searching for various items on Shopstyle.com, I came across this leopard beauty.

Available for $475 Here

Originally $940, it was on sale from $376 at MatchesFashion.com. I immediately saved the image and texted it to my best friend. “I feel like I need this coat, but can I justify spending $400 dollars?” She then gave me many many reasons as to why I needed this coat, because that’s what friends are for! 

I ultimately decided not to buy it. We were still in pandemic quarantine with no end in sight. Making an extravagant purchase just didn’t feel right. 

It still didn’t stop me from sharing the photo and the deal of a price with anyone who would listen. 

Everyone who knows me knows, leopard is my favorite color! So naturally everyone was telling me to invest in the coat. I just couldn’t pull the trigger. 

I was still checking the site almost everyday to make sure my size, M/L was still available. Eventually, there was a low stock warning posted. At the same time I noticed Matches Fashion was offering an additional 20% off  already reduced prices. 

I immediately plugged in the promo code, because the coat was already in my cart, and watched the price go down to $300.80. I went to checkout and received an error message because my size was no logger available. I was crushed. 

Early July,  because I was still very disappointed about the coat, my mother sent a nice “Christmas in July” gift to my cashapp to cheer me up. This gift, prompted me to check to see if the coat was back in stock,  and to my surprise it was.  It was still on sale, and the 20% off promo was stilling going on. I placed my order right away!

I was so hype, I decided to share my good news with my friends who appreciate a good fashion find. Next thing I know, one friend cashapps me and says "I’m going to pay for half of the coat!" Coupled with my moms gift, the coat was almost fully paid for, when my little brother decides to cashapp me as well. Now the coat was completely paid for and I was overjoyed! 

Not only is this my dream coat, in my favorite pattern, but I didn’t pay a single red cent for it. Wow! 

I’m so happy with this piece, it’s a show stopper!