Yes, I could have made the title shorter but what would be the fun in that? Anyway, it basically captures the gist of the post. So.....to carry on with the topic at hand.....
Despite my fruitless search for the LeSportsac Lexie Tech Tote in Bangkok this past weekend, I'm not at all short of a stand-in that is completely spiffy yet totally functional. The weekend before my Bangkok sojourn, I was, as usual, making my normal rounds of the mall after a Sunday lunch meeting at a pizza joint with the team and the visiting boss. Earlier in the week, I had gone round to this handbag boutique that sells high quality and semi high quality replicas of luxury handbags. I had spotted this gorgeous blue shoulder bag with a cute lock and chain accent and all round ruching front and back, supposedly a Miu Miu inspired piece. The exterior was made out of fake leather (PETA friendly) and the whole ruching effect made the bag really cushy to touch, giving off the impression of mild padding. The interior was cloth, my favourite kind, and featured a shallow back compartment with a zippered pocket, a zippered middle compartment and a spacious front compartment with 2 pockets, one for cell and another for your other bits and bobs. The interior is secured by a large zipper with a flap that goes over and completely covers it, giving no access for any sticky fingered activities that might otherwise have succeeded. On the outside back, there is a zippered pocket.
I found the bag was adorable, light, stylish, spacious and comfortable to carry but the colour did not appeal. I mean the current laptop tote substitute is already blue and getting this other blue piece would just be oxymoron-ish. I got negative answers when asking if they had the bag in diffferent shades. So I thought, okay, nevermind, I'm still cool with carrying my fake-out Dana tote a while longer although the whole size of the bag was an issue in itself (the large nature of the bag meant my stuff would get lost in the vastness of the interior, not to mention my lil netbook gets jostled around quite a bit plus the blue kinda irks me when it clashes, in my mind and despite the fact that navy blue is also a neutral shade, with the colour of the clothes I'm wearing). So on this Sunday, I go visit the handbag boutique again with my colleague who was looking for a new work tote to replace her year old but peeling bag. And whaddaya know, apparently over the last couple of days from my intial visit, the shop restocked and now the bag I had looked at came in a black as well as light gray.
I wasn't particularly in the mood for a tech tote purchase but considering those were the only 2 pieces left, I finally took the plunge and put down USD23.40 for the gray one. Yup, it was cheap which was a deciding factor in my decision to get it. The colour choice was a toughie as when it comes to handbags, black usually grabs me more due to its "fits in with everything" nature but I already own so many black bags and was hankering for any other neutral shade that would be work appropriate and match with my clothes so gray was definitely the choice that fit with this criteria.
I've been using the bag for a week now and have found that it is serving its purpose well. It's large enough that it can fit my netbook, my copy of "I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell", my work notebook, my Zen, my E61i all in the front compartment. I stuff my cords (zen, phone, computer), external hard disk and earphones in the middle zippered compartment and put my long wallet in the shallow back compartment. In the back zippered pocket, I stuff my medicine-on-the-go and other pharmacy related items (read: girl parts related items, don't want to be caught out when Aunt Flow comes to visit!). The front 2 pockets I stuff my card case, keys and pens and in the outside zippered pocket I keep my tissues and mints. The bag manages to fit all this and still look great. No bursting at the seams apperance here! The strap is a double strap that is kept together as a single strap by a handle cover. It is elastic in nature and drops to about waist length when filled with everything but bounces back up to under the arms when semi-filled (i.e: no netbook and cords but just your regular purse items). Considering the cheapness of the price, I dunno if its elasticity is a long-term thing or within the next few weeks that it will simply remain at waist length. Either way, I am not bothered about it, waist-length or armpit length, still looks great. Anyway, instead of going on and on extolling the virtues of my Miu Miu inspired shoulder bag, I'll let the pics do the talking.
As can be seen, the colour on camera looks more like baby elephant skin gray but in person it ain't that.....stark(?). I'm happy I went for the gray though, adds flavour to my bag collection.
The bag's exterior is easy to clean, just wipe over with a damp cloth (don't you just love pleather) and the lightweight nature of the bag makes it easy on the muscles. The fact that the straps don't dig into the shoulders is a big plus in my book. Well, I'll be using it till it breaks, god knows when that will be. Hopefully it'll last me a long time cos I'm simply too lazy to look for the Lexie anymore. It's a lost cause at the moment and if I'm honest, I was simply asking around for the tote just to satisfy that part of me that needs proof that the bag is basically uia (unavailable in Asia). Perhaps when I'm feeling more up to it but for now I am mighty satisfied with my substitute stand-in laptop tote. Sure as hell beats your common nylon laptop cases and furthermore, it makes me look great for work AND play!
Despite my fruitless search for the LeSportsac Lexie Tech Tote in Bangkok this past weekend, I'm not at all short of a stand-in that is completely spiffy yet totally functional. The weekend before my Bangkok sojourn, I was, as usual, making my normal rounds of the mall after a Sunday lunch meeting at a pizza joint with the team and the visiting boss. Earlier in the week, I had gone round to this handbag boutique that sells high quality and semi high quality replicas of luxury handbags. I had spotted this gorgeous blue shoulder bag with a cute lock and chain accent and all round ruching front and back, supposedly a Miu Miu inspired piece. The exterior was made out of fake leather (PETA friendly) and the whole ruching effect made the bag really cushy to touch, giving off the impression of mild padding. The interior was cloth, my favourite kind, and featured a shallow back compartment with a zippered pocket, a zippered middle compartment and a spacious front compartment with 2 pockets, one for cell and another for your other bits and bobs. The interior is secured by a large zipper with a flap that goes over and completely covers it, giving no access for any sticky fingered activities that might otherwise have succeeded. On the outside back, there is a zippered pocket.
I found the bag was adorable, light, stylish, spacious and comfortable to carry but the colour did not appeal. I mean the current laptop tote substitute is already blue and getting this other blue piece would just be oxymoron-ish. I got negative answers when asking if they had the bag in diffferent shades. So I thought, okay, nevermind, I'm still cool with carrying my fake-out Dana tote a while longer although the whole size of the bag was an issue in itself (the large nature of the bag meant my stuff would get lost in the vastness of the interior, not to mention my lil netbook gets jostled around quite a bit plus the blue kinda irks me when it clashes, in my mind and despite the fact that navy blue is also a neutral shade, with the colour of the clothes I'm wearing). So on this Sunday, I go visit the handbag boutique again with my colleague who was looking for a new work tote to replace her year old but peeling bag. And whaddaya know, apparently over the last couple of days from my intial visit, the shop restocked and now the bag I had looked at came in a black as well as light gray.
I wasn't particularly in the mood for a tech tote purchase but considering those were the only 2 pieces left, I finally took the plunge and put down USD23.40 for the gray one. Yup, it was cheap which was a deciding factor in my decision to get it. The colour choice was a toughie as when it comes to handbags, black usually grabs me more due to its "fits in with everything" nature but I already own so many black bags and was hankering for any other neutral shade that would be work appropriate and match with my clothes so gray was definitely the choice that fit with this criteria.
I've been using the bag for a week now and have found that it is serving its purpose well. It's large enough that it can fit my netbook, my copy of "I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell", my work notebook, my Zen, my E61i all in the front compartment. I stuff my cords (zen, phone, computer), external hard disk and earphones in the middle zippered compartment and put my long wallet in the shallow back compartment. In the back zippered pocket, I stuff my medicine-on-the-go and other pharmacy related items (read: girl parts related items, don't want to be caught out when Aunt Flow comes to visit!). The front 2 pockets I stuff my card case, keys and pens and in the outside zippered pocket I keep my tissues and mints. The bag manages to fit all this and still look great. No bursting at the seams apperance here! The strap is a double strap that is kept together as a single strap by a handle cover. It is elastic in nature and drops to about waist length when filled with everything but bounces back up to under the arms when semi-filled (i.e: no netbook and cords but just your regular purse items). Considering the cheapness of the price, I dunno if its elasticity is a long-term thing or within the next few weeks that it will simply remain at waist length. Either way, I am not bothered about it, waist-length or armpit length, still looks great. Anyway, instead of going on and on extolling the virtues of my Miu Miu inspired shoulder bag, I'll let the pics do the talking.
The many facets of my miumiu-ish bag
As can be seen, the colour on camera looks more like baby elephant skin gray but in person it ain't that.....stark(?). I'm happy I went for the gray though, adds flavour to my bag collection.
The bag's exterior is easy to clean, just wipe over with a damp cloth (don't you just love pleather) and the lightweight nature of the bag makes it easy on the muscles. The fact that the straps don't dig into the shoulders is a big plus in my book. Well, I'll be using it till it breaks, god knows when that will be. Hopefully it'll last me a long time cos I'm simply too lazy to look for the Lexie anymore. It's a lost cause at the moment and if I'm honest, I was simply asking around for the tote just to satisfy that part of me that needs proof that the bag is basically uia (unavailable in Asia). Perhaps when I'm feeling more up to it but for now I am mighty satisfied with my substitute stand-in laptop tote. Sure as hell beats your common nylon laptop cases and furthermore, it makes me look great for work AND play!
