wanderlust: simone handbag museum @ seoul, korea

The Simone Handbag Museum, which is located in Gangnam area, houses one of the finest collections of handbags in the world. The architecture of the museum is indeed an interesting design; in the shape of a bag. Who would have thought of this? Clever idea, isn't it?

 Entrance of the building

 

Entrance of the museum on the third floor

 Its collections include bags dated back to the 1500s and the latest 'it' bags of the 21 century. The museum is divided into two themes; third floor - modern gallery and fourth floor - historical gallery. Photos are not allowed to be taken in the museum but a booklet with information of each bags is given when purchasing an admission ticket. The collections are available on the museum's website as well; click here. 

I was drooling over some of the lovely vintage bags. The collections are well curated and definitely worth a vist for any fashion or bag lovers.
 
Museum details:

Address: 17, Dosan-daero 13-gil, Gangnam-gu, Seoul
Hours: Tuesday to Saturday: 10 am to 7 pm, Sunday: 11 am to 7 pm
Admission ticket: 5,000 KRW
Website: http://simonehandbagmuseum.co.kr/     
How to get here: Sinsa station, exit 8 or Apgujeong station exit 5

Till my next post, stay chic and have a great weekend!

essential accessories of the little black dress - a le french may event

I love May because of Le French May event in Hong Kong. This year there is an interesting exhibition on accessories to complement with little black dress at Elements, Kowloon. Members of the public and fashionista alike would enjoy this exhibition - well, I know I did. Picture says a thousand of words, so I let these photos do their work...

 

 

What do you think? Did you oh or ah at some of these photos? I was drooling over the vintage hats, vintage bags and of course Chanel bracelet.

If you are happened to be in Hong Kong, do check out this exhibition at Metal and Water Zones in Elements, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. Alight at Kowloon station and head to exit C. Exhibition ends on 2nd June 2014.

Have a good weekend and stay chic!

Bags, bags, bags...

Photo taken from: http://www.etsy.com/listing/72105977/nice-vintage-70s-floral-raffia-straw

Photo taken from: http://www.etsy.com/listing/29659328/vintage-1960s-bone-white-macrame-and

Photo taken from: http://www.etsy.com/listing/26841402/sale-vintage-1960s-bermuda-bag-purse

Photo taken from: http://www.etsy.com/listing/59812808/formal-white-beaded-and-sequin-purse

Photo taken from: http://www.etsy.com/listing/75221207/1960s-no-label-rattan-handbag

Just like shoes, I wonder how bags does a woman need? Drooling over these lovely bags. Wish I could buy them all. Oh how I wish...

Weekend is around the corner - Yay! What are you plans? I will be window thrifting (if such term exists).I will be hitting to a flea market to de-stress and to check out stuffs and all. It has been a tough week at work.

Vintage bags hunting

During my trip back to my hometown, Ipoh, I tried my luck in searching for vintage bags. With little knowledge of second hand or thrifted shops in Ipoh and purely based on my recollection of memories of a closed down departmental store, I further pursued my quest with little hope.

My memories did not disappoint me. I found several second hand stalls which sell used items - electrical, clothing etc. I was thrilled to find couple of vintage bags and without hesitation, I bought five bags in a go. I bought two more bags from other stalls respectively. There were good deals and I could not get such good offers back in KL or from blog shops.

After back in KL and checking through my purchases, I have summed up the following points when purchasing vintage bags directly from second hand or thrifted shop or jumbo sale:

Check the condition of the bag
Check every bit of the bag - zip, pockets and strap. Look for scratches and other faulty bits.

To restore or not to restore
Ask yourself; are the scratches acceptable? Can you clean the bag yourself or do you need to send it to someone professional to do it? If you need professional, how much would it cost?

Resources
Have contacts of shop or someone who can assist you with the cleaning or repairing the bag if there is a need. Leather cleaner or polish or any other tools required if you want to DIY.

Budget
Do you have the budget to repair or restore the bags? If yes, does it worth it to do so? I mean, we have to be realistic and practical at times, say the bag was purchased at less than RM20 but to restore or repair it cost more than RM20. Need to work out the maths here: repair or restore cost vs the aesthetic value of the bag.

Well, the above pointers are few things that you may would like to think about. Vintage bags hunting can be fun but do not let the fun and excitement blinded you. I have few vintage bags which need to be restored and I am still contemplating about it and trying to find more affordable means to do so.

Fashion notes:
Top right: dirty condition inside of a bag
Bottom right: need to be glued

New Obsession - Vintage Bags

Lately I have diverted my attention from vintage dresses to vintage bags. Perhaps in my mind I thought I have enough of vintage dresses, from sheath dress to chiffon flare dress to lace collars dress, I should focus on other items, say vintage bags.

It all started early this year when I purchased my very first vintage bag at a flea market. It was a very good bargain - RM10. The design of the bag is very simple but there are metal fringes at the bottom of it, which makes it a unique bag.

Second bag was purchased from Thrifty Bunnie. It is a black sling bag with safety feature of combination lock. How cute is that? In a jumbo sale, I purchased another black sling leather bag at a very, very cheap price.

My favourite vintage bag is a tooled leather bag which I purchased from Vintage Packstocks. I recall the night of endless emails to the owner of VP to inquire about the bag. I even took few days to decide. Well, finally I decided to purchase it. I have always attracted to unique things. And it was hard to resist this one of kind vintage bag. At the same time, it was on sale. Now, I wonder were there any interesting stories behind the bag or the owner of the bag...hhmm...

With the so-called new obsession, I think I will be busy looking for one of a kind vintage bags. Next on my list is a brown, camel or tan colour sling leather vintage bag.

Notes:
Top right photo: from left to right: black sling vintage bag with combination lock, black leather vintage bag, maroon-ish vintage bag
Bottom right photo: tooled leather vintage bag