Showing posts with label leather handbags. Show all posts
Showing posts with label leather handbags. Show all posts

Sunday, 24 September 2017

Choose a Colored Designer Leather Bag to Add Pizzazz to Your Outfit

Designer leather handbags are among the most functional, hard-working accessories in our wardrobe. They carry all our day-to-day items, shielding our personal and valuable items, and not-so valuables from inclement weather, damage and theft — and, in most cases, they help complete our polished look. But what I love is an accent color bag - fabulous  designer leather handbags in a glorious range of colors covering all the spectrum of the rainbow.
Now more than ever before there are so many choices. Designer leather handbags are available at so many price points and in every fabrication and colors known to womankind, it’s almost overwhelming to understand what is — and isn’t — worth the money.

The Color Bag

color bags -designer leather handbags
Black is always the classic staple. It goes with anything and it can go everywhere with you. Black is the signature color of sophistication (hello, little black dress), it dominates high-end handbag market and can even make inexpensive bags seem more upscale.
But sometimes you’ve just got to give in to the joy of color, especially when it can so greatly affect your mood. One mistake that a lot of women seem to make, when it comes to color bag is thinking that they are restricted, when it comes to colour. People think that they will be offered colours like black, brown and grey. However, this is certainly not the case. If you start looking at the different options that are available to you, then you will see that there are actually hundreds of colours to choose from. Look at the different colours that are available to you, and choose one that matches your outfit perfectly.

How do colors make you feel?

It is well known that color is a determinant of human behaviour. Color influences perceptions that are not obvious, such as the taste of food and a person’s perception of temperature. Designers, including top fashion house see color as an important part of marketing and design because color can be used to influence consumers' emotions and perceptions of goods and services.
Different colors make you feel different emotions. Colors can evoke emotional responses ranging from feelings of warmth and comfort to feelings of anger and hostility. Color may also influence a person's mental or physical state.  Warm colors – such as red, yellow and orange – can spark a variety of emotions ranging from comfort and warmth to hostility and anger. Cool colors – such as green, blue and purple – often spark feelings of calmness as well as sadness.
Brighter colors such as yellow and orange represent warmth not only with emotions but also with temperature. Cool colors are blue, green, black or any color with a dark shade. When someone is feeling down or depressed, it is said they are feeling "blue." When someone is angry they "see red."

Here are how a few basic colors make you feel:

  • Red. Passionate, Aggressive, Important
  • Orange. Playful, Energetic, Cheap
  • Yellow. Happy, Friendly, Warning
  • Green. Natural, Stable, Prosperous
  • Blue. Serene, Trustworthy, Inviting
  • Purple. Luxurious, Mysterious, Romantic

Colors can brand you

The colors you choose to wear and even brand yourself with say a lot about you individually. Take a peek into your closet and notice what colors are most prevalent. Let’s take a look at what those colors might say about you, according to the psychology of color. Imagine your designer leather handbag which could provide an  an accent color to brighten up your outfit.
  • Black is the color of authority, power, sophistication, and strength. A sombre color, it also conveys intelligence—that’s probably why most graduation robes are black. Black is probably one of the most popular colors to wear, but depending on where you live, black is also associated with grieving. It’s a serious color that can be overwhelming if you wear it head to toe—you don’t want to look self-absorbed. Black is, literally, every color in one. It covers, conceals, and obscures blemishes.
Black designer leather handbag
  • Red is a bold color that commands attention, a power color that stands out in a visual crowded environment. So, if you want to get people excited and draw attention to yourself wear red. It’s the color of energy and the symbol of life. It evokes strength, power, and creates a visual impact. There’s a reason stop lights and stop signs the world over are in red—it grabs your attention. But beware, because it is such a strong color, it can also represent aggression. Women who wear red are usually powerful women!  Red is the hot, crazy girl of colors, evoking powerful emotions such as fear, anger and passion. However, light red represents joy, passion, sensitivity, and love.
Red designer leather handbag
  • Pink is considered tranquil, warm, and loving color. The color pink represents caring, compassion and love. It stands for unconditional love and understanding, and is associated with giving and receiving care. In color psychology, pink is a sign of hope. It is a positive color that inspires warm and comforting feeling. Unlike red, pink soothes rather than stimulates. Pink calms people down. There’s a reason that the prison of some of the most dangerous criminals are painted pink—it’s been shown to calm aggression. Until recently. Pink is the most gender specific color and is often considered to be emasculating, though, now-a-days, it is quite common to see men looking positively handsome in pink.
Pink designer leather handbag

  • Yellow  the most visible color and is the first color the human eye notices so a yellow handbag will surely get people’s attention. It is the color of happiness, sunlight, laughter, and optimism. The color also has the power to bring out creativity, but can be overpowering if too much is used. The right shade of yellow can lift your spirits and evoke friendliness. The wrong shade of yellow can make you cringe. Dull (dingy) yellow represents caution, decay, sickness, and jealousy.
Yelloe designer leather handbag
  • Orange evokes a party-like atmosphere. It is associated with fun times, warmth, and ambition. Orange calls to mind feelings of excitement, enthusiasm, and is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction, success, encouragement, and stimulation. To the human eye, orange is a very hot color, so it gives the sensation of heat. Nevertheless, orange is not as aggressive as red. Orange is a combination of yellow and red and is considered an energetic color. There is nothing calming about this color at all, so if you are looking for a bold statement (and you’re sick of red) think orange. It’s easy to see and hard to miss. Orange is often used to draw attention, such as in traffic signs that’s why hunters and workmen wear orange vests. However,  dark orange can mean deceit and distrust.
Orange color bag
  • Purple is the color of royalty and is associated with wealth, prosperity, wisdom, and sophistication. Purple is used to convey the finest qualities. This hue can evoke contemplation or meditation, as well as spiritual awareness. People often describe this color as mysterious, spiritual, and imaginative. Purple tends to occur rarely in nature, so it is viewed as a rare and intriguing color. While violet occurs naturally in the visible spectrum, purple is actually a combination of blue and red. Avoid using too much purple in your outfits —unless you want to appeal to adolescent girls.
Purple designer leather handbag
  • Blue is the most accepted color, almost everyone likes blue. It is a calming and restful color. However, some shades can evoke a sense of coldness. People have been found to be more productive when working in a blue room because they are calm and focused. Blue is associated with intelligence, trust, efficiency, and serenity. No wonder it’s most peoples’ favorite color!  Colors on the blue side of the spectrum are known as cool colors and include blue, purple, and green. These colors are often described as calm, but can also call to mind feelings of sadness or indifference.
Blue designer leather handbag

  • Green is the color of money and nature—two very important things. Green is another calming color that is also associated with generosity and peace. Green is located at the center of the color spectrum and is considered the color of balance and restoration. It sparks creativity. However, dark green is associated with ambition, greed, and jealousy.
Green designer leather handbag
  • Grey makes you look completely neutral, but rather boring and depressing I think. A suppressive color, grey exudes a lack of confidence, lack of energy, and depression. Plain grey can make you feel like giving up when you wear too many clothes in that color. The color grey is an unemotional color. It is detached, neutral, impartial and indecisive - the fence-sitter. On one hand, grey is conservative, boring, drab and never glamorous, yet on the other  hand in it can be elegant and formal, especially when teamed up with contrast colors which give it a bit of pizzazz.

grey designer leather handbag
  • Brown is a safe earthy color. Brown is a natural color that evokes a sense of strength and reliability. It is often seen as solid, much like the earth. It is a color often associated with down-to-earth resilience, dependability, security, and safety. It is a warm color that stimulates the appetite. While it is sometimes considered dull, it also represents steadfastness, simplicity, friendliness, dependability, and health. Solid, reliable brown is the color of earth and is abundant in nature. Light brown implies genuineness while dark brown is similar to wood or leather. Brown can also be sad and wistful. Men are more apt to say brown is one of their favorite colors.  After black it is probably one of the most popular colors for a bag. brown can range from tan to light brown, dark brown and chocolate.
brown color bag
  • Taupe is an easy neutral color that makes a perfect foundation and subtle accent color for those that love traditional styles and cozy feeling. It’s not quite in the brown family but not in the grey either, falling in-between the two.  does Taupe does not describe a single color, rather, it is used to describe a vast range of colors from dark tan to brownish grey. Often the terms light taupe and dark taupe are used. The word derives from the French noun taupe meaning mole.
Taupe designer leather handbag
  • Beige is neutral, calm, and relaxing. It is also practical and reliable, conservative, constant, unchanging and loyal. The color itself is described as a pale light brown or a greyish tan with a bit of the warmth of brown and the crisp coolness of white. It is conservative and is frequently coupled with other colors. Both taupe and beige share many of the attributes of grey and brown but are warmer and sometimes lighter. This is a very popular neutral color used in fashion design, often as a back ground color. It is also a very popular color for bags and looks especially stylish when trimmed with tan like this .
 beige color bag
  • White is color at its most complete and pure, the color of perfection. It is is the lightest color. White represents purity, innocence, integrity, wholeness and completion. It is the color of new beginnings, of wiping the slate clean, so to speak. It reminds us of peaceful fluffy clouds. Brides wear white wedding dresses in Western cultures and thus the colour has come to symbolise purity and freshness.
    white color bag

The color wheel


The color wheel is diagram of colors that provides a useful illustration of what colors match and what colors don't work well together. The first color wheel was developed by Sir Isaac Newton in 1666, and variations on his design have been used as the basis of traditional color theory since then.The color wheel is divided into the following parts:
  • Primary colors: red, blue and yellow. These are the colors that cannot be mixed using any other colors.
  • Secondary colors: Green, orange and purple.
  • Secondary and tertiary colors: Yellow-orange, red-orange, red-purple, blue-purple, blue-green and yellow-green.
color wheel
When you’re assembling your wardrobe, it’s helpful to know which colors help each other pop and look most appealing to the eyes. You can start by looking at a color wheel and learning which colors look best grouped together. Experimenting with different color combinations will help you develop a sense of what matches and what clashes.

The monochrome look

Wearing the same color from head to toe is a striking look. The classic monochrome look is an all-black or all-white outfit, a sophisticated choice that lends an air of dressiness to your outfit. This needs to be done with some care. A black dress, heels and purse may be gorgeous, but also could accidentally come off as a person in mourning, a Gothic look, or a hairdresser.  Or an all-white outfit may look a bit too bridal. The whole outfit needs to have consideration, not just color!
If you really want to turn heads, try a monochrome look in a brighter color, like red or green.  Be careful - the key to making a monochrome look work is finding items in the exact same color. Wearing a bright white top with cream pants is going to clash, but if you find two pieces in precisely the same color, it’s wonderful.

But who says the colors needs to match?

When buying fashion accessories such as shoes or that new designer leather handbag, it is not always possible to find an exact color match for your bag. Using fashion accessories such as a designer leather handbag is an easy way and cheap way to play with color. To make a monochrome outfit look less extreme, break it up with some neutrals, like beige heels, a brown belt or choose an accent color for your purse.
A great way to use a color handbag is not to match it to your clothes, but to pick a shade that’s on the opposite spectrum of the colors you wear to create a contrast. If you're just starting out in your quest to match more colors in your wardrobe, try playing around with fashion accessories. Experiment to find out what looks good and what doesn't by wearing more belts, flats, jewelry, scarves and of course carry a color handbag. Wearing fashion accessories is also a fun way to learn more about mixing prints without splurging on expensive clothes that might not end up matching.

Match primary colors with other primary colors. 

The concept of matching is also called "color harmony," which is achieved when colors create a pleasing effect. Red, yellow and blue always harmonize. These colors are bold and eye-catching, and they never really go out of style. When you're putting together a palette for your wardrobe you can depend on primary colors to lend your appearance a cheerful and bright look.
But bold primary colors are often associated with young children, the tropics, and sports teams. So, if you want your fashion style to look more sophisticated, you might want to consider using just one or two of the primary colors, rather than all three. A red, blue, and yellow outfit might look a little juvenile, but a yellow and red combination is more sophisticated. Or you can play with darker or lighter hues.
If you wear a lot of neutral colors such as camels and taupes, try a yellow or red handbag. If you wear red often, then try a bag in a light shade of blue. It sounds counter-intuitive but it works. And, of course, you can always use color to break up solid black, navy and white. For example, red designer leather handbags work great with a black, navy, white and  even a yellow outfit.
color bags -designer leather handbags
By expanding one color versus another, it is emphasized and stands out. The further colors are from each other on the color wheel, the higher the contrast will be. Complementary colors such as red/green, yellow/purple, and orange/blue make highlighted themes pop when used together

Wear an accent color to zest up a plain outfit. 

If you’re headed to a formal meeting that requires wearing a navy or black suit, you can still add some personality to your look with an accent color. Just make sure the accent color you choose is similar in temperature to your neutral basics. For example, if you're wearing a black suit, try a red or turquoise camisole or blouse; or if you're wearing a navy suit, try a yellow or pink camisole or blouse.
Or another way of course to zest up a plain or outdated outfit is by wearing brighter colored shoes or a color bag. Add a pop of color by pairing a red heel or purse with a black or brown dress. Try a dressy shoe and/or designer leather handbag with a funky pattern, like alligator skin, if you have on a simple blouse and neutral trousers or jeans.

The top ten colors that match together

  1. Black and Red (My favorite color combination)
  2. Navy Blue and Red
  3. Yellow and Red
  4. Black and White
  5. Gold and Black.
  6. Black and Purple
  7. Silver and Black.  
  8. Black and Blue
  9. Blue and Orange
  10. Green and Black

Combinations of colours that team well together

  • White: combines with everything, especially blue, red and black.
  • Beige: combines with blue, brown, emerald, black, red, white.
  • Grey: combines with fuchsia, red, violet, pink, blue.
  • Pink: combines with brown, white, mint green, olive, grey, turquoise, light blue

Choosing designer leather handbags

If you are looking for genuine designer leather handbags, then one of the things that you are going to want to do is to make sure that your handbag matches the rest of your outfit.  Look at various colours of genuine designer leather handbags available and decide if you want a monochrome look or a fabulous accent color that contrasts with your outfit.  Take a look at the different types on offer right now to find your best fit. Our Firenze range of designer leather handbags are made in Florence, Italy and the colors they come in are absolutely fabulous. All these handbags are available from our Designer leather Handbag  and  Italian Leather Handbag collections

Saturday, 6 February 2016

Consider These 10 Tips When Choosing A Large Purse.


Celebrities are mad about a large purse. Indeed, the bigger the better. Celebrities want to be see with them and photographed with them, whether just out and about or going to the gym. In my opinion, it would make me edgy to bring a bag worth thousands of dollars to the gym and leave it out of my sight, but I am certain these elite fitness studios have luxury lockers to accommodate their patrons’ luxury items. Big bags are getting bigger and better They can be used for daytime wear, for travelling or for going to the gym. They are very versatile and can be used for several purposes.



But then I believe that many celebrities are given designer bags for free or for publicity purposes. It is a low-cost way for fashion designers and high-brands to get informal exposure when the paparazzi takes pictures of the stars for magazines. These images usually end up on social media and quickly go viral - the large purse sported by the celeb is all of a sudden the new fashion icon of the time.

Social media is the new driving force behind exposure for brand-names, and the trend to carry a large purse is catching on and the typical consumer is now also fixated about them. Fashionista’s want to be seen carrying the same bag as their favorite celebrity. There are a few things that you should consider if you want to buy a large purse, and I thought I would share these ten tips with you.

  1. Ensure the material it is made from is durable enough for carrying on a regular basis so that it will stand up to any hard knocks etc. Look out for bags with sequences or little beads or pieces that can fall off easily. 
  2. Look for water resistant material which will protect your stuff from the rain, and will not watermark if the fabric gets wet. 
  3. Pick a color that goes with most of your outfits. If the color is too flamboyant it could clash with all or some of your clothes.
  4. Quality is a significant issue to think about when ordering a large purse to carry around. Check out the stitch work, fabric and pockets to ensure that it is durable and will not fall apart after just a few outings. Ensure it is not a fake!!
  5. Check that there is room inside the bag to fit everything you need to carry. The outside of a large purse can be deceiving and not big enough inside. Some practices designers use to make the bag look bigger is pockets and pouches, the less of these attachments the better.
  6. Check that the inside is well designed with dividers and pockets so that you can organize your belongings easily. 
  7. Ensure that the weight of the bag is not too heavy for you. If it is too heavy, it could cause injury to your back or neck.
  8.  Ensure that large purse is in proportion with your body size. Petite woman should not carry a large purse which is too big and too heavy for them. It may be tempting to get into the fashion of carrying a large purse but truly how big is too big? I for one think that over-sized purses do not look good on petite woman. They look out of proportion with the rest of your body. 
  9. Make certain the bag is value for money – it is sometimes preferable to get a quality leather handbag from an up and coming new designer than to buy a low-end  bag from a luxury top brand. 
  10. Select a handbag appropriate for the event. A large purse is not the best choice for every occasion. They are perfect for day wear, business, for travelling, and for the gym, but may not be right for evening wear, the races or for going to a wedding.


Fashion and style is to some degree the realm of pop-stars and celebrities. If you are a follower of celebrities you will notice that the current trend is to carry a big, a really big large purse. But do you actually need one so big? Pick wisely and do not get trapped in the fever. Resolve what you truly need to carry around with you – cell-phone, computer, extra pair of shoes, extra clothing, make-up, personal items, water bottle, snacks or even a baby!?



But be sensible. The more you carry the heavier your large purse will become and the more at risk you are of causing yourself an injury. It comes down to what you actually need to have with you at all times. Remember that not all fashion trends will work for everyone.

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Thursday, 30 April 2015

What Are The Issues With Leather Tanning Methods Used To Manufacture Handbags?

There may be issues with the leather tanning method used to manufacture handbags, shoes, watch straps and possibly even coats or jackets. Not all leather tanning processes used to treat animal skins are safe.

Leather Tanning

Prior to the manufacture of fashion products, the animal skins are treated in factories called tanneries. Leather tanning is the process of turning animal hides into a workable fabric. Leather tanning makes animal more durable and less like to deteriorate. The customary procedures of tanning use an acidic chemical known as tannin, from which the tanning process acquired its name. Tannin, the chemical used in the process, is actually the German word for oak or fir trees from where tannin was first isolated. Leather tanning includes a process which permanently changes the protein structure of animal skin, converting hide into different types of leathers.

Leather tanning procedures have advanced significantly since the ancient generations and currently leather tanning can be achieved with either vegetable or mineral techniques which use of chrome, alum, zirconium, titanium, iron salts or other minerals.

Rawhide

The word rawhide relates to a skin which is not tanned, but treated by cleaning the flesh, fat and hair, and then by treating it with chemicals known as liming which uses a solution of lime; or bucking which uses wood ash (lye). After the chemical treatment the hide is scraped over a beam with a fairly blunt knife and then dried.

This same process can also be used as a preparation step before the leather tanning process so as to cleanse the fibre network of the animal skin to let the leather tanning agent penetrate without difficulty. Another process used to unhair, degrease and desalt the animal skins prior to leather tanning, is to soak them in water for 6 hours to 2 days. To prevent damage to the skin by bacteria and fungi, biocides and fungicides are added to the water.

Dying

Dyes are added during leather tanning to get a variety of attractive colors. In a visit to Morocco I was intrigued by the Moroccan Leather Tanning Vats located on the outskirts of the old city of Fez. These vats have been in use for centuries. Leather tanning has always been thought of as a decidedly noxious and truly smelly skill. The leather tanning vats were typically found on the fringes of a town. The odors were due to a mixture of urine, animal faeces and decaying flesh. In fact, leather tanning by these old traditional methods yields such rotten smells that tanneries still using old systems are still positioned as far out as possible. The ancient craft of leather tanning and dying is handed down from father to son and the craft is kept within the family for generations.


Toxic Chemicals

In order to boost leather tanning procedures, some tanneries use toxic chemicals which are cheaper and faster than tannins. These include
·         Mercury based biocides (Banned since 1980)
·         Pentachlorophenol (PCP’S) (Banned since 1980)
·         Cyanide
·         Chromium Salts

Chrome Leather Tanning Methods

Chrome leather tanning is a nineteenth-century development, and was implemented because it was an efficient, quick and inexpensive way of treating animal skins. The ease and cheapness of this technique has made it the economical choice of the mega-brands. A vast proportion of luxury goods manufacturers, as well as contemporary brands have chosen to use chrome leather tanning over other traditional techniques.

So why is chrome leather tanning an issue?

Chrome leather tanning is an issue because of its environmental impact. Chromium III sulphate used in chrome leather tanning is recognized as the most efficient and effective agent to treat animal hides. Chrome leather tanning is significantly quicker than vegetable leather tanning and it produces a really stretchable fabric which is great for making handbags and other leather goods.

Chromium III compounds used in leather tanning are significantly less toxic than Chromium VI. However chromium III oxidizes to chromium VI by boiling and sun-drying. Chromium VI is a very toxic heavy metal which is both carcinogenic and environmentally harmful. Unfortunately chromium VI is often found as a waste product from leather tanning. It has been detected in food chains and in the water supplies of both developing and developed countries. When chromium VI leaches into the soil it is absorbed by vegetation and/or ingested by animals. Nearly 25% of chickens in Bangladesh are contaminated by dangerous levels of chromium VI which causes a major national health concern. Toxic chromium salts residues in handbags etc. may affect your health.

Luxury brands use chrome leather tanning to manufacture handbags and shoes without appreciating the environmental impact, nor the well-being of consumers. But as long as people continue to buy chrome-tanned goods, there is minimal motivation for luxury brands to move to the safer vegetable process which takes longer, is more costly, and does not as successfully cover up low quality skins.

Vegetable Leather Tanning

Vegetable leather tanning is a slower and more costly practice, but it is much safer for the environment and safer for you! This is the leather tanning process you should demand. Vegetable leather tanning is used by Conti of Tuscany one of my suppliers of both men and women's exquisite Italian handbags.

Vegetable leather tanning uses the traditional tannin technique. Tannin is found naturally in the bark and leaves of many plants such as chestnut, oak and other trees. Tannins bind to the collagen proteins in hides and they become less water soluble, and more resistant to bacterial contamination. This process also causes the hides to become more flexible. Hides are stretched on frames and immersed for several weeks in vats of increasing concentrations of tannin. Vegetable tanned hides are used for the manufacture of handbags, luggage as well as furniture

Leather Tanning Using Other Minerals

Other chemicals such as alum, zirconium, titanium, iron salts can also be used to treat skins. This method is eco-friendly and are known as “wet white” whereas chrome tanning produces a “wet blue”.

Goods That Last a Lifetime

Leathers last for a lifetime. However, many luxury brands now manufacture goods to a much lower standard. Some luxury handbags which cost over a $1500, will last only last for a few years before they need to be repaired. Others will simply fall apart. Cost-cutting tricks in the manufacturing process include:

  • Makers compromise on the quality of leather tanning process
  • Mega-brands use chrome leather tanning rather than more eco-friendly approaches
  • The edges of handbags are finished with acrylic varnish which cause the material to crack within a couple of years. Techniques such as turned edges or burnishing which are more time-consuming should be employed because they result in a product that last for decades
  • Manufacturers use poor quality hardware on their products, such as white metal rather than solid brass or plated steel
  • Modern stitching techniques are poor quality. They no longer tend to use traditional saddle making techniques which are stronger and more robust


These cost cutting actions have damaged the quality of the designer brands. Handbags cannot be called if the brand has compromised on manufacturing processes and produce items with inferior quality. A price tag on its own does not determine if a product is luxury or not. Some brands, even some of the most renowned names in the industry, have tainted their popularity by driving volume production rather than quality.


It is far better practice for the mega-brands to use techniques and procedures that mean the products will stand the test of time. The responsibility to promote change lies in the hands of the fashion houses and luxury brands who need to be more focused on the environment rather than financial results. It would be a smart move for companies to label their garments with the leather tanning method used so that the consumer can make an informed choice.