Outfit Details: 

vintage hat
Lily Ashwell Hana top – c/o Lily Ashwell

skirt – thrifted and hemmed shorter 

over the knee socks (old)

Old Navy trench (old)

belt – thrifted

Illesteva + Zac Posen cat eye sunglasses

Seychelles Ampersand heels
Patricia Nash tote (c/o) – $198, available at Macy’s 

I’ve long admired tooled leather bags; I’ve wanted one for as far back as I can remember. Back when I was a child, it was all about matching my little western belt which had my name on it, and fitting in with the “horse girl” culture I was so fond of. But later in life, the desire for a tooled leather purse continued, and after writing about it on my livejournal (oh, nine or ten years ago), a very nice reader surprised me with one. She saw it at one of her local thrift shops and remembered me posting about it, so she picked it up and sent it my way. It was such a warm and thoughtful gesture, and I carried it for years – until it was somehow lost in one of my moves. That happens a lot. Perhaps it was the childhood want, or maybe the overwhelming kindness that the last purse represented to me, but when Patricia Nash sent me this tooled floral leather tote, it was like Christmas morning. I can’t believe I didn’t immediately pair it with my matching belt, but there’s still time (you know I can’t resist a little bit of matchy-matchy). The beauty is in the little details of scalloped edges, metallic inlay, and peekaboo fuchsia lining – and it can fit everything this crazy bag lady carries around. I know I’ve done a “What’s In My Bag” feature before, but sometime I should probably do a “What’s Really In My Bag” feature. It’s practically its own convenience store – but a lovely little detailed one, at that.