Monaco – Style Post

Monaco screams fabulous! It is the city of decadence, wealth and beauty. Recently I visited Monaco for an exciting business trip and packed my own South of France glam!

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Airport Vibes

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Claudia Schiffer T Shirt – Zara (no longer available but they do have a great range of slogan tops in at the minute!)

Frilled Trousers- ASOS/Miss Selfridge – £30

Trumpet Arm Jacket – Zara – £29.99

Pointed toe sling back – Zara – £19.99

Dinner and Drinks

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Asymmetric Body Suit – Zara – £25.99

Shorts – H&M – £19.99

Mules – H&M – £19.99

Sunnies – Sienna Alexander  – £130

Business Lunch

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Tweed Feather Skirt – Zara – £29.99

High Neck Blouse – Zara – £25.99

Mules – H&M – £19.99

Tote – Chanel Grand Shopper Tote – Handbag Clinic

Sunnies – Sienna Alexander  – £130

Morning Sunshine

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Dress – H&M – £34.99

Slide on’s – £12.99

Tote – Chanel Grand Shopper Tote – Handbag Clinic

Sunnies – Sienna Alexander  – £130

Homeward bound 

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High Waisted Jeggings Jeans – Zara – £22.99

Poplin Top with Frilled Sleeves – £25.99

Necklace – Louis Vuitton Essential V – £230

Tote – Chanel Grand Shopper Tote – Handbag Clinic

Sunnies – Sienna Alexander  – £130

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I loves my quick visit to Monaco and cannot wait to announce exciting Handbag Clinic news following my meetings!

Love Lottie xoxo

A little about Louis – A few things you wont know about the timeless Louis Vuitton

Every month I write for my company’s blog and this month I chose one of the most historic brands I still love today, Louis Vuitton! I spend a huge part of my week authenticating Louis Vuitton and seeing all of the different styles that have been created over the years, the oldest being a Bisten Trunk that was over 60 years old! Check out my most recent Handbag Clinic Post below

http://www.handbagclinic.co.uk/Facts_About_Louis_Vuitton

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Love Lottie xxx

Celebrating The Life Of An Icon – Happy Birthday Co Co Chanel

Today is the birthday of my favourite designer Co Co Chanel, she was sassy, fierce and in general a bad ass bitch. She made some fabulous clothes, timeless accessories and was all about girl power!

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Last year i visited the Saatchi Gallery to see their exhibition all about Chanel and her life’s work titled Mademoiselle Privee. It was beautiful, insightful and only made me love her more. She is a true inspiration and achieved so much while remaining true to her vision and who she was every step of the way.

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After starting as a hat designer she went on to change the fashion industry for the better and always looked to empower women with her fragrance’s, clothes and accessories. Today her bags remain my favourite and the day I wear a Classic Chanel Jacket with a Medium Double Flap 2.55 my life will be complete.

Here are some facts about the amazing Co Co Chanel in honour of her birthday.

 

  • She was born Gabrielle Bonheur Chanel on August 19, 1883 in Saumur, France. CoCo regularly claimed she was actually born 10 years after that date.
  • Co Co Chanel’s life did not start out glamorous, after her mother’s death she was placed in an orphanage by her farther and raised by Nun’s who taught her to sew. This time in her life is part of the inspiration behind the iconic 2.55.
  • Chanel was a singer for a brief amount of time in Cafe’s. It is claimed her nick name was given to her by the soldiers she sang for because of two of the songs she regularly sang. Chanel claims that her nick name CoCo comes from a shortened version of “cocotte”, the French word for kept woman.
  •  Although CoCo Chanel regularly had a man by her side she never married and was a fierce independent woman claiming “I never wanted to weigh more heavily on a man than a bird.” After meeting the duke of Westminster aboard his yacht around 1923, the two started a relationship that would last ten years. But in response to his marriage proposal, she is rumoured to have said “Everyone marries the Duke of Westminster. There are a lot of duchesses, but only one Coco Chanel!”
  •  She loved to see women succeed in business and it is claimed she designed the famous ‘Chanel suit’ for women to encourage women to pursue their professional goals in style. In 1938 she retired from the fashion business with a string of success behind her. However, 16 years later she made a determined comeback. It is claimed she did this as she was “fed up” at seeing French fashion becoming dominated by men.
  • Not only did she create the ultimate women’s suit she also was the creator of the LBD in 1926, changing women’s fashion for ever.

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Happy Birthday to this amazing woman!!!

Love Lottie xxx

 

The Ultimate Summer Bag

In my opinion whether you are jetting off on holiday, hitting a festival or just enjoying the sun in your local town the ultimate summer arm candy is the Louis Vuitton Neverfull.

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Louis Vuitton has been making bags since 1892 and the brand is still creating some of the most popular bags to date, even though some of these bags have been around for since 1932. Louis Vuitton shows no signs of going out of fashion any time soon!

The Neverfull is available in several materials and colours. In my opinion if you are going to invest in a Louis Vuitton the Damier Ebene is the most versatile and durable. Working in a company that buys and restores handbags I see so many Neverfulls come through our office and the Damier Ebene is the easiest to keep looking new for longer.

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The bag its self is versatile, it can be used as a beach bag, travel bag, day bag and the pochette inside can be used as a purse or even a clutch. It’s so many bags rolled into one! The sides of the bag can be pulled in giving the bag a whole new shape too, perfect for transforming your look and as the name suggest it is NEVER full!

Although you can pile this bag with all of your essentials make sure you look after your Neverfull and don’t over load it, a snapped handle hurts as much as a snapped heel, if not more!

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The Neverfull comes in 3 sizes, GM, MM and PM. I would recommend the GM and the MM, the GM is huge, perfect for the beach but sometimes a little too big for every day. I’m currently considering getting the MM in Damier Ebene as it’s such a practical bag…you can never have too many Neverfull’s can you?!

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I’ve worn my Louis Vuitton NeverFull GM in Damier Azur all around the world. Cannes, Hawaii, LA, Las Vegas, London and ofcourse Newcastle! It’s the perfect bag for every trip.

Louis Vuitton Neverfull current prices for Summer 2016:

PM – £ 750

MM – £795

GM – £835

Love Lottie xxx

The New It Mulberry

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Mulberry have certainly been doing some revamping recently, from bringing back their vintage stamping to renovating their classics and ditching styles such as the Del Rey to make room for some new pieces. Mulberry has grown from strength to strength over the years and always seem to bounce back with new styles that quickly become a must have item.

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As I buy Handbag’s for Handbag Clinic everyday I see a huge mix of Mulberry but nothing beats the Bayswater. Bayswater’s that come into our stores fly out with in minutes of being posted online or being placed on the shelf. The one photographed below was placed into our Newcastle store and sold in just 10 minutes!!! I’m sure the new sleeker, Celine esque Bayswater will be a huge hit.

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If you are looking for a great quality, authentic, pre owned Mulberry (for roughly 50% less than in Mulberry) then keep you eyes on Handbag Clinic’s Facebook and Instagram, @handbagclinic . Bags will soon be available to buy online also so look out for that at the end of June.

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In honour of the Bayswater’s new look here are some cool facts about how it came to be Mulberry’s most iconic bag:

  1. Mulberry usually named their bags after rural locations in England but the Bayswater was one of the first Mulberry icons to venture into the city. The name Bayswater is taken from an upmarket, leafy district of London.
  2. Mulberry was launched with just £500 in 1971 by mother-and-son team Joan and Roger Saul but the iconic Baywaster was designed by Nicholas Knightly who joined the company in 2002.
  3. The Bayswater’s was inspired by a practical Doctors bag and the stylish Hermes Birkin design. This hybrid perfectly mixes practicality and style making it the perfect modern woman’s bag.
  4. The Bayswater was crowned the first ever British “It Bag”.
  5. The Bayswater has been carried by a huge range of celebs, Kate Moss, Alexa Chung, Fearne Cotton and Michelle Keegan are huge Mulberry fans and have regularly been papped with a Bayswater on their arm. The bag has even made it stateside on the like of Lauren Conrad, Blake Lively and Emma Roberts

 

Love Lottie xxx

 

 

One of a kind

This week I met with an artist who is offering his services which allows you to make your bag as unique as you are. Rocky Mazzilli is the man behind these amazing pieces pictured below and soon you will be able to book an exclusive appointment with him in our store in Islington.

Rocky is certainly one of a kind and has been taking the fashion industry by storm with his brand Year Zero for many years. His clients include Pharrell Williams, Jason Derulo and even Queen B herself (that’s Beyoncé in case you don’t worship at the church of Yonce).

I sat down with Rocky and his super cool Mum Louise Michielsens in the Blue Bird, Chelsea to see what he had created with three Louis Vuitton bags I recently sent him. I was blown away!

I know there will be some Handbag lovers who may feel this is sacrilege as these are beautiful bags to begin with but I personally think if you want to make something completely yours, make your mark, express yourself then why not. I definitely love the results and cannot wait to create my own design!

These amazing designs and many,many more will be available from Handbag Clinic very soon with prices starting at £100.

Love Lottie xoxo

 

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