handbags

Angela & Roi handbags that give back

April 29, 2013 by kristen 3 Comments

I love so many things about these handbags from Angela & Roi that I have to list them out:

The bags are adorable. The vintage-inspired looks are so classic and will be in style for decades.
The company’s mission, Donate by Color, revolves around donating a portion of each bag sale to a non-profit health organization to increase awareness of each cause by color. For example, buy a pink bag and Angela & Roi will donate $5 of the sale to support a breast cancer research nonprofit.
The bags are made of vegan leather and made to last. Read more about their craftsmanship process.
The company is based in Boston.
It was founded by a couple, Angela and Roi.

Please look around their online shop and let me know if you love the bags as much as I do!

Filed Under: work accessories Tagged With: angela & roi, Boston, handbags, nonprofits, philanthropy, vintage, vintage inspired

Sword & Plough bags that help veterans and the environment

April 21, 2013 by kristen 3 Comments

There are so many good things to say about this brand new company, Sword & Plough, which is proven by the fact that they have already surpassed their Kickstarter goal! This handbag and accessories company was founded by 2 sisters, one is an active duty military officer. They start their process by sourcing surplus military materials then they work with a non-profit that employs veterans to sew the bags in the US.

On top of the ways Sword & Plough helps veterans and the environment, the bags are also super stylish and durable. To support the company’s launch and to be one of the first to own one of their items, give to the Sword & Plough kickstarter campaign.

I’m really considering giving enough to get this tote bag!

Filed Under: work accessories Tagged With: handbags, kickstarter, messenger bags, nonprofit, sustainable fashion, sword & plough, veterans

independent designers in sunny florida!

September 21, 2010 by kristen Leave a Comment

i’m on vacation later this week, going to florida with my boyfriend and our friends. i can’t wait for sun, the beach, drinks, relaxation, friends, food. (sorry if i’m making you jealous!) i have only been on one other vacation this year to the cape and we got a tropical storm the whole time, so it was very unsatisfying. anyway, in honor of the sunshine state, here are some florida based independent designers:

The Karma Tree (jewelry) – tons of handmade jewelry, including everything from nature-inspired feather and turtle charms to pretty stones like sapphire and amethyst.

Ice it by Bebe Z (tees) – designed and manufactured in the US. their designs have even been licensed out to one of my guilty pleasures, LA Ink!

Maddie Kay (handbags) – these cute bags are handmade by a mom of twins.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: accessories, casual, florida, handbags, handmade, independent designers, indie, jewelry, la ink

thank you reiter8 for the recycled sail bag!

September 6, 2010 by kristen 1 Comment

about a month ago, i contacted katherine at reiter8 about purchasing a custom recycled sail bag. she was very responsive and accommodating – getting back to my questions quickly and giving me choices on color and layout. reiter8 takes sails that are no longer being used and recycles them into unique bags, pillows, wallets, luggage tags and more.

the bag she created for me had a blue number 30 on it with green organic cotton lining. this week is my parent’s 30th wedding anniversary. when they first met, they went sailing a lot and they recently started picking it up again. so my sister and i gave the custom sail bag to them this weekend for their anniversary and they loved it! i was thinking they can use it as a beach bag or for when they go sailing, but my mom loved it so much that she brought it out to dinner that night.

so thank you very much katherine! if you are looking for a unique gift, i recommend you check out reiter8!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: accessories, eco-friendly fashion, gift idea, handbags, independent designer, recycled, reiter8, sail bag

what to wear to a bbq

June 21, 2010 by kristen 4 Comments

happy summer! i don’t know about you, but one of the things i love the most about the summer is getting together with friends and family at cookouts, enjoying good food, drinks and weather. but..what do you wear to a bbq? here are some ideas from casual on the left to more formal on the right.

hat – onnesti

floral tank – bird apparel

shorts – daal

bag – pansy maiden

green and orange dress – ES one of one

white dress – nixxi

bag – pansy maiden

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: accessories, casual, eco-friendly, handbags, independent designers, summer, summer fashion, what to wear to a bbq, what to wear to a cookout

all types of denim

June 6, 2010 by kristen Leave a Comment

lucky for us, denim is big this summer. bigger than jeans and jean skirts, denim is showing up in all forms – dresses, bags, denim on denim, colored denim, and the list goes on. for more on how to wear denim, please read denim: the trend of the season and if you want to add some denim to your wardrobe, buy one of these pieces from some great independent designers:

100% vegan denim bag by Pansy Maiden

cotton denim dress by Dainty June

one shoulder woven twill denim shirt by daal

chambray denim romper by Dear Creatures

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: casual, denim, eco-friendly fashion, handbags, independent designers, summer, summer fashion trends

support adult education and literacy week

May 20, 2010 by kristen Leave a Comment

last week was adult education and literacy week in boston. i know this because i am a volunteer for the literacy volunteers of massachusetts. for the past year, i’ve been meeting every week with a girl my age who moved here on her own from Africa 8 years ago. i help her with her writing skills so that she can confidently take the GED test and pass. it has been an absolutely amazing experience seeing her improvement and dedication over the year and learning about her family and culture.

i can go on for a long time about my experiences, so please feel free to email me if you want to hear more. please visit the LVM website to learn more and donate and i encourage you to find a literacy volunteer program in your city. if i haven’t convinced you enough, here are some astonishing stats about literacy (from proliteracy.com):

- there are 774 million adults around the world who are illiterate in their native languages

- two-thirds of the world’s illiterate adults are women

- in the U.S., 30 million people over age 16 — 14 percent of the country’s adult population — don’t read well enough to understand a newspaper story written at the eighth grade level or fill out a job application

and because this is a fashion blog after all, here are some cute letter inspired tees and totes!

DaDaDa studio

art2theextreme

Bonbi Forest

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: adult education, adult literacy, casual, fashion, handbags, tee

this makes me smile

August 10, 2009 by kristen Leave a Comment

this is a fun project from designers paperwhite studio about how no one can really tell how other people compare things to something else. i love you more than _________. there’s a site where you could enter in what you love more than ________. and see what other people wrote. some of my favs are:

i love you more than rice and beans.

i love you more than you.

i love you more than lots of mini cupcakes with sprinkles.

i love you more than the cold side of the pillow.

i love you more than there are stars in the sky.

i could go on forever with these..definitely check out the site to browse through the full collection and to buy some of these cute tees and totes that go along with it.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: casual, fashion, handbags, independent designer, indie, inspiration, shopping, tee

great new finds from tortilla girl

July 30, 2009 by kristen Leave a Comment

i’ve featured tortilla girl before here on the clothing menu and i just stopped by her etsy store again and am loving some of the new summer designs. i first fell in the love with the seersucker bubble dress..kind of reminiscent of carrie’s candy girl outfit in sex in the city, no? then i saw the linen printed bag..and then i saw the lace tunic top. they are all so pretty!