My apologies for this newsletter being a day late! ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ Also…there’s 5 Mondays this April? So today is another fashion-based newsletter, and next Monday ‘10 Things’ will be back!
A year or so ago I clipped a cap to my handbag and felt like I’d had some sort of totally unique and groundbreaking idea. I couldn’t believe how handy it was and how I’d never thought of it before! I’m aware of how glaringly obvious this little trick is, but maybe because I only recently became a cap wearing girlie, it only just crossed my mind. Besides being practical, it looked ridiculously cute. So I started looking at the little metal rings on my various bag straps differently, and wondering if my never ending collection of trinkets, lip balms and nik naks could be hung off them. Then as all great creative ideas do, the concept totally slipped my mind - and honestly I just couldn’t be bothered to actually find a way to attach everything.
Anyway, I didn’t really think about this again until recently when my boyfriend bought me the cutest ravioli keyring for Christmas, and I immediately attached it to the Ganni bag he very kindly also got me. Now I’ve been switching that little ravioli between all my different bags and purses because I love how it looks dangling off the straps! Fast forward to April, and my Pinterest board is FULL of bags absolutely bursting to the seams with cute bits and bobs hanging off them. Just like the one below.
Now please don’t get me wrong, I am definitely not claiming that I was the originator of this trend because obviously that’s down to the one and only Jane Birkin, who often covered her Birkin bags in everything from jewellery to ribbons and politcal badges.
However until this trend resurfaced, the only discourse I’d see around Birkin bags online (mostly Tik Tok) put them on this insane pedestal. Often trapped behind glass cabinets in celebrities or influencers wardrobes, unable to be touched without pristine gloves. This couldn’t be further from the way that Jane wore her bags, and I think her approach is much cooler. I am a big advocate for wearing our favourite pieces and loving them till they fall apart, not saving them for special occasions. Which is exactly how she wore her Birkins, plus her love for dogs - specifically English Bull Terriers - makes me love her even more.
The trend cycle used to be on average around 20 years, but now with the insane rise in fast fashion and micro-trends it’s basically halved and we’re seeing things come around so much quicker. Which made me think back to what was trendy around ten-ish years ago when I was 14-16, and I couldn’t believe what popped into my mind…