Trilogy of Subtle Luxury

Christian Louboutin’s Pigalle pumps in patent leather

Since my foray into fashion, I knew I didn’t want to fall into the traps of trends. Once when I was working as a hostess in a sushi restaurant, my manager had commented on my style choices. I was in a rock chick phase and he said to me “You know it’s a shame, you have the potential to really carry off a classic look.” He was not particularly a man of style, but he was a man of taste. I hadn’t thought about his words much until I started blogging about fashion. All the seemingly trivial bits of sound advice I had learned over the years started to sink in.

Classic I did end up favoring. My clothes had started to reflect my love for office chic in tailored dresses and pencil skirts, however it didn’t quite transcend yet into bags, wallets and shoes.

I have a 15 year old Ann Taylor shoulder bag, a gift from my aunt so that I would get rid of my chained wallet. I still use it because it’s small and compact and gets the job done. It’s because of my Ann Taylor bag that I had decided it was finally time to buy a new purse. The handle is on its last legs, the glue is so old that the handle had split into two and cannot be reglued together (had an attempt to have it fixed in Venice last year, didn’t last long though).

Thus began my search for a replacement, and it wasn’t  easy. My first choice for a luxury handbag is the Birkin bag by Hermès. A classic trapeze shape with an unmistakable clasp, mostly hand stitched together to a flawless finish. Its hefty starting price of $6000-7000 is enough to put off most casual shoppers, including myself. The Birkin is the Holy Grail of handbags and will not be attainable for me for a few more years to come.

The Speedy Louis Vuitton in Epi Leather

I began looking for alternates, but there was really only one remaining choice: Louis Vuitton. I have two of my own sartorial theories about when to buy Louis Vuitton:

1. For their trunks and briefcases, Monogram only
2. For their more subtle designs, namely the Epi Leather and the Taiga Leather (for men)

As fashion goes, nobody wants to end up with what everyone has. I had never thought the LV monograms to be particularly attractive and I’ve always hated the brown and gold colors. Strangely, I find the men’s line to be much more in suited to what I’m looking for: subtle, luxurious and deceptively minimalistic. Their Targas leather would be my leather of choice for a handbag, unfortunately they don’t make women’s handbags in Targas. Why trunks and briefcases should only use monograms, or vice versa is simple. The monogram is a reference to LV’s past as trunk makers. Therefore, classic Louis Vuitton in its truest sense, is always luxury.

I have no reason to pick a trunk at this point, so let’s go for subtle designs in Epi Leather.

A classic Louis Vuitton shape that I have grown to love is their Speedy handbag, which comes in 25, 30, 35 inches, much like the Birkin bag. It’s near bowling bag-like shape and top handles just make it look very compact, cute, and simple. With an Epi leather, it keeps it under the radar. I usually pick black for all handbags and wallets, as I’ve learned over the years that my items always seem to miraculously pick up dirt along the way, and that having a colored bag simply is not practical. At an entry level of $1000, I’d say it’s a highly affordable choice that won’t go out of style. After all, I am looking for classics here.

Hermès’ Kelly Long wallet in black goat skin

A replacement to my red leather wallet would be the Kelly Long wallet by Hermès. Again, the classic clasp and craftsmanship are worth its price tag. I know, the production cost of the wallet is probably about 1/4 of its retail price tag ($2500), Hermès’ craftsmen are paid much more than your $0.10/hr Chinese workers, and about 50% of the price goes to Hermès itself. It’s their business model. Can we be angry for paying so much for a wallet? Of course we can, but let’s not forget that Hermès spends a good deal of money on research and development, along with other business transactions that would be too numerous and complex for consumers to understand. Yes, we know that a synthetic wallet at $20-$40 could do the same job in holding your credit cards and coins, but that wallet was also mass produced in greater numbers by poorly paid workers and probably rotting somewhere in a landfill. I could go on about ethics, but for my piece of mind, paying workers what they should be earning (way WAY above $0.10/hr) is worth it. Craftsmanship here is what comes first.

Finally, I cannot find a better shoe designer than Christian Louboutin. The unmistakable red soles, the sexy shapes of his shoes are, season after season, reinvented in new skins, colors and materials. But classic Louboutin, like the patented black leather Pigalle high heeled shoes, will simply never go out of style. I personally can’t wear anything higher than 85cm, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a good pair of high heels when I see them. His work is so iconic that he even has a classic shoe line of Very Privé, Pigalle, and Simple Pumps, which are like Hallmarks of stores like Neiman Marcus’ shoe collection.

This trilogy of subtle luxury defines elegance and style, and most of all is in tune for a classic look suitable in all social scenarios including my favorite – the office.