Handbags

Belen Echandia New Clutch Initial Review

RaeBelle

A few weeks ago I was looking for a new clutch.  I already had a Plum Crash Clutch Me from Belen Echandia.  I love the Plum Crash, but it wasn’t really going to suit my need for the clutch.  I needed something understated enough for an interview.  I work in the technical & financial worlds.  I want them to remember me for my amazing skill set and talent, not because my bag stood out.  I was thinking a Black Crash Clutch Me would suit my needs, so set myself up for a notification in one came back in stock.  This prompted the wonderful Rose from Belen Echandia to contact me.  After a few emails back and froth, she mentioned a new clutch design and I perked up.  Over more emails back and forth, I got a picture, settled on a leather, patiently waited for it to be made and arrive in my hands.

The selected the Aubergine Glossy leather with Silver hardware for my new clutch, and I’m very happy.  It looks great and has that signature Belen Echandia smell.  As I’m writing this review the clutch is nameless, so I’ll call it New Clutch for the review.

Since the Clutch Me has been around for a while.  I thought some comparison shots could be helpful.

Bottom (Aubergine Glossy bottom, Plum Crash top)

Side (Aubergine Glossy left, Plum Crash right)

Top (Aubergine Glossy top, Plum Crash bottom)

The Clutch Me is shaped like an elongated hexagon.  The New Clutch is shaped like an isosceles trapezoid.  The New Clutch also has a wider base, which means I can carry a little more in it.

There is some amazing detailing on the New Clutch.  The threading on the flap is one of my absolutely favorite features!  The clutch looks much darker here than in real life.

Here’s another great view of the New Clutch from above.  You can really see the detailing of the threading and the shape of the bag.

Inside the New Clutch, there is a key strap, zipper pocket and the mobile and PDA pockets.  I was very happily surprised that the mobile & PDA pockets were added.  The larger one is perfect for my iPhone.  The pocket should make it a bit easier to grab my iPhone when I’m out.

The New Clutch holds my necessities and looks great while doing it!  I can get everything I need for an interview or a night out inside it with some extra room.  While holding my all of my kit, the profile of the bag stays slim and neat.

What I put inside the New Clutch

Here’s the New Clutch holding my kit.  All I have to do is close the bag and the New Clutch is slim and streamlined.

I’m going try the New Clutch for the next few days.  I’ll be sure to post my further thoughts on it after some usage.

Falling for Pewter Crash

RaeBelle

Since my post, Taking a Chance on BE ….. Pewter, I’ve really fallen for Pewter Crash.  I’ve carried my Rock Me Midi with everything.  Dressed up or dressed down, it always looks good.  I’ve also added a beautiful Pewter Crash Kiss Me Clutch and an adorable Pewter Crash Angel Purse to my collection.  I bought them both from a wonderful person who sold them on Bonanzle.

Pewter Crash is really a great leather as it changes its appearance with the colours that are around it.  It’s this wonderful chameleon that always looks good.  I feel glamorous and attention grabbing when I wear Pewter Crash.  It’s definitely not the leather for the wallflower who wants to blend in.  I’m so very happy I listened to all the encouragement I received to try to Pewter!  It’s been a great addition to my collection and I really like how I feel when I carry it.

Here are some action shots of my new Pewter Crash additions.  You can click on the pictures to view them in large versions.

My Angel Purse

My Kiss Me Clutch

Taking a Chance on BE ….. Pewter

RaeBelle

“If you change your mind, I’m the first in line.  Honey I’m still free.  Take a chance on me”
Those great opening lyrics from ABBA came to mind when I took a chance and ordered the Pewter Rock Me Midi from the BE 3 day sale in January 2010.  Frankly, Pewter scares me.  It looks so blingy and bright.  How is it going to work in my wardrobe?  Rather than completely freaking out and running away, I took advice from some great ladies on twitter (MommyMentor, Moonfancy and of course JackieCawthra).  I’m taking a chance on BE … Pewter!

Jackie said that it takes a week or so of use for the shine to wear in and softens up.  This post is a diary of 13 days of using the bag. The pictures are thumbnails, click on them for a full size version.

Thanks to all the snow the Mid Atlantic of the United States received in the beginning of February (Snowmageddon), my Rock Me Midi was delayed arriving.  I was getting impatient to receive the bag, but knew that it was no one’s fault and I’d get it soon enough.

…

Day 1
My Pewter Rock Me Midi arrived today.  Holy Moly is the pewter bright & blingy!  What on earth was I thinking?!  Can really carry something that attracts this much attention?

Refocus.  Everyone said that I can pull this off.  I just need to try it out.  So I fill the new bag up with my items and snap a few pictures.  Now that I’m looking at the pictures, it really doesn’t look that bad.  I can totally do this.  Major plus, the Rock Me Midi comfortably holds all my stuff!

Without Flash

With Flash

A close up of the tags

…

Day 2
Today in the filtered sunlight the pewter isn’t quite so shocking and rather pretty.  In the direct sunlight it looks more silver than I’ve seen before.  So maybe my first step is to avoid direct sunlight.

My husband surprised me with a trip to the mall to get a new iPod Touch.  I took my Pewter Rock Me Midi with me.  With my leather winter coat on, the Midi doesn’t comfortably fit on my shoulder.  Wonderfully the midi came with a messenger strap.  I was able to carry the bag on my shoulder with the strap and it worked great!  Wonderfully I didn’t feel like people were staring at me like “look at the freak with the shiny bag”.  Rather the looks my bag received were appreciative like “nice bag!”  This really helped me feel a little better about the pewter.

A plus, my new iPod Touch matches my bag.  It has a purple case 🙂

…

Day 3
I’m starting to appreciate the shimmer to the leather.  It looks really pretty in many lights.  I’m still a bit shocked by the intensity of the leather in direct sunlight.  But in the filtered sunlight or indoor lighting it’s not as bad.

Direct Sunlight

Filtered Sunlight

Natural Light

…

Day 4
I’m getting more accustomed to the pewter, though it still shocks me quite a bit.  Tonight while I was watching hockey, I saw the fairy lights reflecting on the bag and was stunned by it’s beauty.  All of the colours reflected on it, but it wasn’t pure reflection.  The leather took the colours and made them it’s own.  It was a stunning effect, and sadly impossible to accurately capture with my camera.

…

Day 5
A full day planned today and my Pewter Rock Me Midi is going to be by my side for most of the day.

Up first, lunch!  My husband and I went to one of our favorite restaurants, Fennici’s of Hershey.  Since Italian food can sometimes get a little messy, I covered by bag with my leather jacket.  I highly doubt marinara matches well with pewter leather, and I’d rather not learn.  Lunch was very filling and delicious (as it always is at Fennici’s) and neither my Rock Me Midi or leather jacket met marinara.

Next, a very short drive over to Zoo America. Zoo America features animals found in North America, so no tigers or monkeys here.  The Rock Me Midi with the messenger strap (worn on my shoulder) was great for walking around the zoo and carrying everything I needed, including my camera so I could grab some great pictures.  Visiting the zoo in the winter is such an experience.  A lot of the animals are more active in the winter, which does make for a more enjoyable time.  On this trip I saw a prairie dog alerting it’s colony to a predator, a hawk.  I’ve never heard a prairie dog issue a danger alert before.  It was rather fascinating.  I’m happy to report that after the alert, all of the prairie dogs hid and the hawk didn’t make off with any!

After a lovely time at Zoo America, we were off to the Hershey Lodge to check into our hotel room for the night.  We live near Hershey, but it’s always fun to have a night away from home.  It was a very Belen Echandia trip!  I fit everything we needed for the weekend in my wonderful Port Take Me Away Weekender.  I had to snap a picture of my bags together.  The pewter is starting to grow on me.  It’s looking a bit more muted now.

With Flash

Without Flash

Our last big adventure of the day was a trip to the Hershey Bears vs the Lake Erie Monsters game.  My Pewter Rock Me Midi got to spend that part back at the hotel room.  New bag and nachos are not a combo I want to risk.  I emptied the Rock Me Midi out and transferred everything to my Hershey Bears bag.  The Bears game was unbelievably fun and I’m very glad I didn’t have my Rock Me Midi with me.  The nacho cheese was very messy!

After the Bears game (they won!) we went back to the Hershey Lodge to grab a little dinner at the Forebay.  Dinner was excellent and I was able to catch a little Olympic hockey on the TV at the bar.  While I was without my Rock Me Midi, I had my Red Glossy Protect Me was safely tucked into my bag all night to keep a little BE with me.

…

Day 6
The Pewter really isn’t scaring me as much today.  I didn’t feel out of place yesterday and this morning the shine didn’t shock me as much.  This is great!

I switch everything back to the Rock Me Midi, which is really a great size.  I have some extra room so it drapes nicely, but it’s also so easy to find everything in the bag.  And we’re off to check out and grab some breakfast.  In the lobby I spot some of the Hershey characters.  I wish I had the courage to have my picture taken with the Hershey Kiss.  It would have gone so lovely with the pewter!  Another time perhaps.

As we were getting into the car to head home, I spilled hot chocolate.  My coat took the hit of hot chocolate, and my bag was saved.  I do know that some Belen Echandia leathers stand up quite nicely to hot chocolate, but I’d rather not test out the pewter.

I noticed today that the messenger strap is starting to mold nicely to my shoulder.  Since it looks like it will be chilly here for quite a while, it’s lovely to see this happening.  It makes carrying the bag on my shoulder that much more comfortable

After we get home, I settle my Rock Me Midi beside me for a long day of cupcakes and hockey (3 of each).  It makes quite a pleasant companion and I do find myself looking over to admire it.  YAY!

…

Days 7 – 11
I’m still using my bag every day.  I’m really getting used to the leather.  I haven’t found that it clashes with anything I’ve worn it with yet, including my newly highlighted hair.  Unfortunately with the snow and feeling sick I haven’t been able to get out as much as I’d like with my lovely bag.

…

Day 12
Today was a busy day of chores and my Pewter Rock Me Midi was by my side all day.

We had to make a trip to the Post Office, where I had all of the paperwork I needed in my Rock Me Midi.  This was super handy as I was also carrying 3 packages to mail.  Unfortunately the post office was so crazy busy, it was almost scary.  We decided to come back later.

Off to the local ice arena to sign up for some lessons.  The pewter did look nice with all of the shiny skate blades, though I think next time I go I’m leaving this bag at home.  It looked much too dangerous for a lovely bag like this.

Next up was a lunch, it’s becoming habit for me to cover up my bag with my jacket when there is a food danger around.  I don’t want anything to happen to one of my beautiful Belen Echandia bags.

After a very filling lunch of eggplant parmigiana, we went to Dicks Sporting Goods so I could buy a tool to help me lace skates.  Last time I tried to lace my skates, my fingers hurt for days.  This small, inexpensive tool will save my fingers and help ensure a good fit.  And it fit perfectly in my Rock Me Midi.

We were off to Best Buy to browse.  I found a movie I’ve wanted for a while on sale!  Which was great.  After checking out I popped my it into my bag so I didn’t have to worry about it further.

Back to the post office to send the package and finally home!  I really didn’t think about the pewter part of the Rock Me Midi other than to think how nice it looked.  So I really think I’m less scared of the leather.  It’s still very shiny, but I have learned to appreciate it.

…
I’m very happy I took the wonderful advice and went for it. Some final pictures from my learning experience

How to Contact Belen Echandia

RaeBelle

The Purse Forum recently changed its rules to no longer allow Designers, eBoutiques or their companies to interact with members via their site. Their site, their rules, I’m not going to comment further.   For some people this may make contacting one of my favorite companies, Belen Echandia, a bit more difficult. I’m here to help!

There a bunch of ways to contact Belen Echandia and to make it easier, I’ve broken it out by type.

Twitter
Jackie – http://twitter.com/JackieCawthra
Belen Echandia – http://twitter.com/Belenechandia

Facebook
Jackie – http://www.facebook.com/jackiecawthra
Belen Echandia – http://www.facebook.com/pages/Belen-Echandia/177222840983

email
So that no one gets spammed, I’m not posting anyone’s email address. But you can still reach Belen Echandia via email or the Contact section of the website.

Comparision for Moonfancy – Belen Echandia Rock Me & Make Me Smile Midi

RaeBelle

Moonfancy, one of my friends on Twitter is interested in the Belen Echandia Rock Me.  I have a gorgeous Dark Purple Pebbled Rock Me and I’m happy to share information about it.  Moonfancy and I both have Belen Echandia Make Me Smile Midi’s so we decided to use this as our comparison point.

The Rock Me is a bigger bag than the Make Me Smile Midi.  I like to use cubic inches as a comparison point for some of my bags.
Make Me Smile Midi: 11 (h) x 13 (w) x 4.7 (d) = 672.1
Rock Me: 15.2 (h) x 15 (w) x 5.5 (d) = 1254 (I used the standard width, not the max width)
Which makes the Rock Me almost twice as large and the Make Me Smile Midi.

Since numbers don’t always tell the whole story, it’s important to include some pictures as well so you can really get a feel for difference between these two bags.  My bags are the Dark Purple Pebbled Rock Me and the Petrol Sheen (I think) Make Me Smile Midi.

The two bags sitting beside each other.  I took a picture of the back of the bags not the front.

And now the bags side by side for another comparison view.

Because as pretty as the exterior is, you sometimes need to see the interior, these are the items that I have inside the bag. These are some of the items I carry just about every day.

Here are those items inside my Make Me Smile Midi

And those same items inside the Rock Me.

The Rock me has a ton more space left after adding those few items. Most of the bag was available to add a long sweater on top if I wanted to.

I hope this post helps Moonfancy out and anyone else who’s interested in the full size Rock Me.

Cheetah: A Surprising Neutral

RaeBelle

Recently I was talking to one of my friends about a particular bag I’d choose for an outfit. Based upon what she told me, I nominated my L.A.M.B. Cheetah Mandeville for the outfit. And then gushed at why this was such a good bag for the outfit.

This Cheetah print contains black, brown, and white in the pattern, three neutrals. And since it has all three I’ve always felt fine wearing it with any colour in my wardrobe. I never thought I would use an animal print so often, but it really feels like it could go with almost anything!

And because a picture is worth a thousand words, my Cheetah Mandeville.

Handbag Styles and My Thoughts

RaeBelle

There are so many different handbag styles out there and everyone has their favorites and dislikes.  I thought I’d pick a few that come to mind and share my thoughts on them.  These are the bags I thought of initially.  If I think of some more, maybe I’ll add another post 🙂

Hobo – I really love the way some hobo’s look!  Bags like the Belen Echandia Enchant Me and the Tano Minilisa are a pleasure to look at and I’m sure they’d even look good on me (I’ve never tried either).  But something about every hobo I’ve tried just doesn’t seem to work in my life.  Really don’t know why.  I wish I could find one that works for me.  I guess I just need a super lenient return policy to find the hobo that works for me.

Tote – I love a good tote bag.  One of my favorite times to carry a tote is on the weekends when going to one of our many local farmers markets.  They are so useful!  Just sling it over my shoulder and I can carry all of my normal purse kit and my purchases.  I can even carry a few extra fabric grocery bags in my tote!  I even use my totes as a daily bag when I want a bunch of extra room for items like a pair of flats and a chunky sweater.  Some of my favorites are the L.A.M.B. Wiltshire / Williamsfield and the Belen Echandia Rock Me (which I can’t wait to receive!)

Satchel – I adore satchels.  This is my absolute favorite handbag style!  FAVORITE!!  Everything about the satchel makes me happy.  Depending on the bag, I can hand, arm or shoulder carry a satchel and it’s the only type that really works for me.  I like how most of the satchels I’ve seen have some structure and don’t fall all over themselves.The Belen Echandia Charm Me (Currently only available through BE Couture, I own 2), Belen Echandia Make Me Smile Midi and the L.A.M.B. Mandeville (I own many Mandeville’s)

Clutch – I don’t go where only a small bag like a clutch is required, but I figure this is a classic item to have in your bag wardrobe.  To that end, I just ordered my first clutch, a Belen Echandia Clutch Me.  I figure this will be great when I don’t want to carry a large bag, or when I’m traveling for business and need to carry a few important items with me.  I might be going to some business meetings with high ranking executives and I’m hoping the clutch will make me look like I ‘fit in’ a bit more.  I can’t wait to see how I use it!

Laptop Bag – A laptop bag is a must for me.  I travel for business and always need to bring at least my work laptop and sometimes a personal laptop as well.  While my laptops aren’t huge, they definitely don’t fall into the tiny category either.  One of my favorites that I already own is the McKlein Willowbrook.  I love the fact that I can attach it to my carry on, roll it, or remove it from the wheeled base and carry it with the handles or shoulder strap.  Talk about multitasking!  It’s probably my most used laptop bag.  Because all of my business travel involves a laptop, I’m always on the look out for another great addition to my collection.

Messenger/Crossbody – Since I’ve been blessed with large breasts, these bags can be a bit of a challenge.  To date, I haven’t found a messenger style bag that is both comfortable and looks good when worn crossbody.  But bags like Belen Echandia Surprise Me look so darn appealing, it’s really hard not to buy the bag even if I can’t wear it like it’s intended.  I’m thinking about doing some more experimentation with these bags to see if they could work for me.  Or just wear the bag over heavy coats and sweaters so it doesn’t break oddly overly my torso.