Bags of Blog

“Nellie the Elephant packed her trunk And said goodbye to the circus Off she went with a trumpety-trump Trump, trump, trump”   I was recently revisiting some of my old favourite songs (for my son, Herbie, of course) and after thinking about Nellie and her departure from life at the circus, I couldn't help but wonder; why did she pack a trunk?!   I know that an old-fashioned trunk looks lovely and Nellie already has a trunk of one kind but I struggle to understand how an elephant can walk around with a wooden chest balancing on (excuse the pun) her trunk!   If only she could have bought herself a lovely Vida Vida Leather Weekend Bag before she ran away; then at least she could have hooked one of comfortable straps or handles around her enlarged nose.  She would then found it much easier to leave. In fact, maybe she wouldn't have made such a ‘trumpety-trump’ as she walked away!

I am not huge on designer bags. I have nothing against them, I just feel like they are too expensive to enjoy.  As a result I do not have many (except for the occasional impulse-buy at the sales!), I prefer to window shop (or late night web shop I think it should now be called).   It was during one of these online sessions that I came across a page talking about a ‘Chanel Satchel’. Given that I am satchel mad, I was intrigued. How were they going to renovate the old-school design to give it that modern, designer edge, but keep that retro look?   My anticipation grew as the picture was loading; would I be compelled to buy this bag?   [caption id="attachment_99" align="aligncenter" width="300"]        Apparently this is a satchel - er, no, it's not![/caption]   But instead of delight at the picture I was now staring at, disappointment flooded me. Chanel had not designed a satchel. It was merely a tote with a flap to shut it. No outer pockets, no strong edges, not even a sturdy top handle; it was just a leather handbag (albeit one made by Chanel). I felt defeated, that is until I looked down at the price. It was a good thing I didn’t like it. It would have cost me $600.   For a mere £80 or so, perhaps one of these real classic satchels is a better bet.  I really should send a definition of a satchel over to Chanel. [caption id="attachment_104" align="aligncenter" width="300"]                             Now this is a real satchel![/caption]  

Welcome to the Vida Vida blog and our newly updated website.

 

As you can imagine, we are extremely excited to announce the launch of our new website.  We have been working on this update to the site for the last few months (well it was a bit longer actually) and finally, we can unveil the sleeker, more informative and quicker website to everyone!

 

We have a great new payment system using our own Security Certificate (very boring but it means your data is totally 100% secure), a dramatically improved navigation system and new pictures of every single product in our range.  This means you can view, in close up detail, all the lovely features of our fabulous leather satchels, weekend bags, handbags and accessories.

 

Full details of our very important ethical policy and the history of the company are now available to show the genuine love and care which has gone into making sure we have strong friendships with all of our suppliers – from our expertly-skilled craftsmen to the family-run businesses who supply us with our leather.

 

Also, we are starting a weekly blog about bags and jewellery as well as other areas of the fashion industry, events in London and possibly book, film and theatre reviews – sort of anything that takes our fancy and perhaps yours too.

In addition to the launch of the new site, 2013 is set to be a great year for Vida Vida; we are looking to add a pop-up shop to our selection of stalls around London, more products and product ranges are on the way, we are set to support a charity to help women and children in India and Matt has begun his training for a fundraising swim across the English Channel in 2014 (news on how to sponsor him and find out more about the charity will appear soon).

 

We are launching an “occasional” newsletter which will inform you about anything exciting which is happening including new product releases, discounts, competitions and other general news.

 

Finally, we want to get YOU involved.  So, we would love to hear your reviews and stories about your purchases, additionally if you have any pictures of you with your Vida Vida item don’t hesitate to email them to us so we can use them.  There will be a section of our blog all about our customers and their travels with their bags and a competition for the photo of one of our bags in the strangest location. You can find some of the early reviews in our new Customer Testimonials section!

 

Andreya - "The Bag Lady"

 

Now, although I’ve always been a fan of the old school satchel, this style of bag has made a recent re-entry into the fashion industry. There are many reasons for this, though I like to believe that the main one is that Jack Bauer (CTU agent portrayed by Kiefer Sutherland) wears one of these timeless bags in the award-winning TV series 24.

 

Bauer is not only ranked as #1 in a list of “TV’s Toughest Men” by Sky 1, but also in “The 20 All Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture” by Entertainment Weekly. This just goes to show that the trend for satchels must be down to the fact that they make you look tough yet cool; what every man wants!

 

I must say that however cool Jack looks with his canvas satchel, he would look even better with a naturally suntanned, all leather satchel. Although Matt assures me that normally these bags aren’t used to carry Baretta 92s or Walther PPKs.

 

[caption id="attachment_80" align="aligncenter" width="241"] Is that a gun in your satchel or are you just pleased to see me?[/caption]

We were very excited to receive this lovely email from one of our customers this week.   Although there is probably more than one ‘Peter Jackson’ in the world, we like to believe this is from THE Peter Jackson (bag lover and film director famous for the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit series). If any of our customers do happen to have the same names as celebrities then be sure to e-mail us a review so we can feature you in our new “Is It Really Them” feature!   Those of you without celebrity names can of course email in too – we love to hear from everyone really. ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Peter Jackson <> Date: Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 8:29 AM Subject: RE: VidaVida.co.uk : Shipment # for Order # To: Vida Vida Sales <contact@vidavida.co.uk>   Dear Sir   My order arrived today. I must say how delighted I have been with the level of care, attention to detail and overall customer service. I love the wrapping and the note that came with my bag, most unexpected. The order was completed efficiently and quickly with no issues or delays.   As to the bag itself, it is absolutely perfect. It is well made, well designed and better than could be imagined. I imagine a lifetime of service from it, each use being a joy. Quality service is far too rare these days but your company has reminded me of how it should be.   I recommend, without hesitation, your products, your level of service and your company as a whole to anyone thinking of purchasing any of the items you offer. You deserve every success.   Warm regards Peter Jackson   -------------------------------------- One final thought, if this is THE Peter Jackson, we have a bunch of miniature leather satchels which are perfectly sized for the Hobbits and we’re sure they would be perfect for your next movie!