My Bag Shake Brings All the Boys To The Yard

Hello deserving and lovely people!

Here is the post! About the bag! That I am in love with! Finally!

(Real Girl Beauty disclaimer: Sooooo, guess what? My weekend to-do list was way more ambitious than it should have been, so now it’s 11:30 PM on Sunday, and I’m concurrently baking cookies for my saintly editor and writing what I’m sure will be a sub-standard entry, so I will ask now for your forgiveness. Just look at the pretty bag. Also? I have the nastiest cut on my left pinky fingertip, so typing “a” or “A” (um, ouch) hurts like a motherfrigger. And…scene.)

You know what I look for in a bag? Three things. Three perfect bag criteria that I will be breaking down for you (as usual) right now. 1) Originality. Because when you’re on the subway? And the girl next to you and the girl across from you and the girl next to her are all carrying the same Louis Vuitton bag? I say: Eh. 2) Cuteness. Because: duh. 3) What I call the “c-factor,” namely, carry-ability. How easy is this bag to tote around? Is it big enough, small enough, light enough, etc.? Full disclosure here. For La Real Girl? This third criteria usually steers me away from leather bags, which I find kind of heavy. So when I see a bag that’s not leather that strikes that eternal cuteness chord deep inside, nestled next to my heart? Yeah, that bag’s gonna get bought.

Exhibit A (ouch):



See my cute bag? Want to know where I got it? From the lovely Nicole at MargaretNicole.com. I call her lovely Nicole because we emailed about my bag for, like, a week, and she is the sweetest designer I’ve spoken to in ages! I ultimately decided that I, personally, adored the brown wool with pink satin ribbon option, but here’s one of the MOST EXCELLENT things about this bag: You can customize it. Want a different color wool? A different ribbon? (Velvet’s available too, but Nicole thinks the satin falls more prettily.) Want two ribbons so you can swap them depending on your outfit colors? Everything is possible. Just email Nicole (contact info available on her website) and I’m sure she’ll answer all your questions, offer advice, and send you your bag with a smile. She be cool people.

And this be cool bag. You can get it in big bangle, regular sized bangle, or clutch. There’s lovely cotton lining. And want to see the shoes I bought way back when from Delia’s? (Remember the Delia’s post? It’s in the archives somewhere here, and I’ll look for it when I’m not busy being lame?) Let’s just take a look at how my bag’s pink ribbon compliments the shoe’s pink ribbon. I can’t tell you how happy that makes me.

Exhibit B:



I think you’re getting the picture here. I love bow trim. I love lace trim. I love most things girly and trimly. But I understand that many do not share my love of the bow. I’m hoping we’ll all share our favorite bags here, and I expect to be learning about a whole bag universe that has likely escaped my attention!

Ready for the However? Would it be RGB without the However? I’m thinking that’s a hell to the No.

My biggest pet peeve with my delicious Margaret Nicole bag is the closure. What you’re getting here is an unstructured bag with a magnetic snap closure and no zip pocket. Is that snap going to open? Probably not. But the bag can gap, and if it falls or if you’re not careful, your smaller items might find their way out. My solution to this problem has been to keep what’s usually the loose bills, change, keys, lip balm etc. that I stuff in a zipper pocket in a separate pouch or small zipper bag that I then put in my Margaret Nicole bag. Cumbersome, I know. But I think it’s worth it. And finding your keys easily because they’re already in a compact bag that’s in your bag? That’s pretty awesome.

The other thing about the Margaret Nicole bag is that it’s knit with lovely wool. However, if you’ve had wool sweaters before (and who hasn’t?) then you know wool can get a bit “furry,” for lack of a better word. So your bag may pill a bit, get a bit woolly, etc. But that’s the nature of the fabrication. (I feel so Project Runway using that word, and that makes me feel Project Fabulous.)

Surf margaretnicole.com. See if there are colors you’re dying for. See if wool and ribbons are your thing. And if they’re not? PLEASE, PLEASE tell us what is! I can’t wait to hear all about your favorite bags.

And I apologize for being your less than 100%
La Real Girl
xx

P.S. Guess who saw Carson from Queer Eye on the street the other day? And guess who went up to him and told him how much she loves his show? And then pointed to her boyfriend and said: He dresses good! (To which Carson adorably responded: "Oh, good!") Can you guess? Can you? Love me some Carson.