it all leads back to prada

not too long ago, ucla hosted the annual l.a. times festival of books. as an undergrad at ucla, i would go because it was convienent and i had a parking pass. nowadays, if i want to go, i would have to make a real effort to do so because it's on the other side of town and driving on the 10 freeway is not my idea of fun...not so much going there, but the going back home traffic. though i technically don't drive much since my fiance does the chauffeuring, but my butt still gets numb from sitting too long. either way, BAD...and yes i do ramble.

anyways, when my sis found out that an artist she jocked was having a signing at the festival of books, she suggested that we go. not wanting to say "no" to my little sis, the whole pack of us piled into my fiance's car and off we went to ucla. oh my, i forget how lovely this place is!

walking around the campus sure brought back a lot of memories....

and the day was crazy crowded. look at the human ant hill we have here. i'm just amazed people still read given the fact that every day in my teacher life, i struggle to GET children to read.

but seriously, reading for entertainment has gone down the dumps as people trade print for other distractions no? oh sadness if that is the case. there is something magical about getting lost in a book...which reminds me:

as we milled about, the sheer number of people closing in on us made our decision clear and quick. do we book ass to the signing and then GO HOME? boring? probably. sane? most definitely yes.

we finally found her artist, james jean. he looks like a young dude, but probably not. you know what they say about asians looking young right? he is no exception. this mofo is 30 years old! but holy crap, he looks like a baby.....anyways, he creates some pretty amazing artwork. disturbing, yet beautiful, with a touch of disneyland. it's hard to describe so go google his work and you decide for yourself.

i was pretty taken by this particular print that was available on site, but did not want to cough the $80 to take it home, even if it meant he was going to sign it which would have made it extra special. it is rather clear to me the things i choose to spend my money on. but pretty though, don't you think?

after the signing, we visited the ucla student store to pick up some gear. during the ride home in horrible traffic, i asked my sis if james jean ever did anything else because his artwork looked so familiar to me but i couldn't figure out why. as soon as she uttered out, "he designed some bag..." i yelled out PRADA! of course, james jean designed the fairy bags that i was drooling over in 2008 but it was too late for me to nab a bag during that time because it was so popular (check out post 1 and post 2). dude, if i had that bag, i would have TOTALLY asked him to sign it...and i wonder if it would have looked weird if i did. anyways, what i wouldn't have paid for a picture, i would have certainly paid for a bag and that fairy bag james jean designed was hawt!

well, no bag or picture for me, but i got charlie a new ucla collar and leash. he looked sooooooo collegiate with his ucla gear on. smart doggy.

don't ruffle her bag!

many bags share similar qualities. sometimes you see this quality prevalent in all the design houses in one season, and some linger and overflow to the next. i don't know if that's called staying power or just persistence. i think designers do find a fashion pulse though and they design a lot around a certain inspiration. OR, they see a particular style that they like and then they replicate it because they ran out of ideas themselves. who knows.... in my classroom, i call that COPYING. nooooo bueno!

in the past season, dior came out with a "gypsy bag." i believe the red ruffles you see adorning this bag is suppose to make you think of the tons of ruffles that a "gypsy" might rock with her skirts.

hot cartoon gypsy chick. notice the bellowing skirt.

in january of this year, dior came out with a red ruffled "gypsy bag." i don't think it's very cute. love the red color, but the ruffles are TOO much. don't they look like oversized panties? it also looks like you're carrying a frock. and for the price...ick. put that frickin' frock down!

i saw it sitting by its lonesome at a dior store. i did not go in to inquire, but the bag looked pretty big and i think the ruffles are made of leather.

fast forward 9 months later, another frickin' frock shows up. say hello to the prada pizzo sachel. it appears to be covered in lace and again it has RUFFLES. this bag is a straight up school-marm-with-a-tight-bun-about-to-attend-a-funeral bag though. this is no, no, no.

i think we should leave the ruffles alone. this is one fashion detail i don't mind disappearing with the dinosaurs.

fairies, fairies, everywhere!

i mention these prada fairy bags many months ago. as expected, the design drove many prada lovas into a frenzy and a ton of things spun out from this one design. it's actually pretty cool to look at and the fairies grow on me. they are pretty darn cute. anyways, the time to snatch them up was in january but they are still great to look at. very funky and fresh.

fairy pouch

fairy shoes

fairy small pouch

fairy wallet

fairy wristlet pouch

fairies, fairies, everywhere. it does look like a work of art. very whimsical.

pondering prada

when i was on my wallet hunt last november, i had already seen this wallet. i LIKED it, was about to purchase it, but i discovered something fundamentally wrong with prada. they have horrible quality control issues...well, at least with their red wallets in this particular style. the inside coin pocket for this red colored wallet was not sewn well because it buckles inside or there would be a few loose threads here and there. after checking the few they had at saks, i had to walk away. can't pay that kind of money for sub par quality snoot. aigh, that was back in NOVEMBER!

funny thing is, since november and even after i purchased my chanel wallet, i ALWAYS visited this wallet style at saks whenever i went to scp for other goodies. it's like that really cute puppy you see at the pet store and you try to go by and pet it whenever you're around. alas, i've petted this wallet several times now over the last 6 months. i really like the red color and the compact design. it's super slim but can fit a lot and for that, i always had the heart to buy it....i was just waiting to find the "acceptable" one.

well, i finally found it!! the coin pocket doesn't buckle but there IS still a flaw (one of the holes on the corner of the triangle is missing its gold filling. it's not that noticeable unless you look for it. ack!) but i know what you're thinking....why get it then for an outrageous price when it's not 100% perfect?!?! ahhh...i had to ask myself that same question too, but after going to the saks and prada store on rodeo drive and returning to saks at scp looking for the perfect one but not finding it, i decided that 6 months of this pondering needs to come to an end. i either have to purchase the "best" one they have there or let the wallet go because seasons will eventually change and styles get phased out. i know i wanted THIS particular prada wallet so i decided to purchase the best one....the one with the missing filling. i didn't want to have any retail regrets since it's obviously been on my mind for so long. and to make myself feel more "ok" with this purchase, i did have $51 in gift card credit at saks.

the SA told me that they are trying to phase out the triangle label for prada products other than the black colored ones. they are trying to use just their name in script as the logo instead because the triangle shape has been reproduced on too many fakes. anyways, they had two red wallet styles with both logos. i preferred the triangle one because it's actually a hair smaller than the one with the new label.

New Label Old Label

anyways, i could have probably waited around some more and not "settled" until the perfect red prada wallet showed up but i'm not much of a prada fan anyways and i'm not hooked on this brand, i'm just hooked on this particular red wallet. but since this is a wallet and NOT a man, i thought settling is fine in this situation. i think the wallet is sturdy and i can really abuse it, even throw it against the wall if i wanted to...and come on now, it's been 6 months!

so this is my prada. i still heart my chanel and would have gotten a chanel wallet anyways...i like the idea of matching my wallets with my purses. it's resting now while i use my prada for my school days, lugging its redness in my lesportsac bag.

the wallet that kept me hooked.

2 of 4

it's not a chanel, but it's still pretty awesome. whoo hoo!

tramp stamp

so if you have a tramp stamp like everybody else, then it might be a butterfly, or a flower....or a big green godzilla. come on now, show me your godzilla! j/k.

but it might also be a fairy right? britney spears anyone? i think she has a fairy tramp stamp. anyways, when i think of fairies, i think of tattoos and tinkerbell. sometimes a tattoo of tinkerbell. i also think of adults dressed up like one when they want to be skankalicious during halloween. well, regardless, when i think of fairies, i think of something very youthful and not anything i would have emblazoned on any of my current possessions.

i don't mind possessing this hot fairy bag though! this is a couture bag from prada. it's mesmerizing to me...i can imagine wearing a solid black outfit to highlight this pretty white bag with the fairy design on it. cute.