Tag Archives: Botkier

Fashion Shopping

Apple Leather Care

Don’t you think that the following things should really count as “income”?

  • Merchandise returns

 

  • Flexible Savings Account claims

 

 

  • Expense reimbursements

 

 

  • Discounts from sales and using coupons

 

If I ran the world it would be a very different place.

Now if you’ve funneled all that “income” into a new leather bag, you probably want to extend the life of the bag as long as you can (or at least til you get sick of it). Being that Botkier bags are currently the core of my existence, I did a lot of research on products that would be appropriate for use on this most exquisite lambskin. There are leather conditioners / cleaners out there that should not be used on soft or exotic leathers.

The best source I found for information on fine leathers were the discussion boards on The Purse Forum. And pretty much unanimously, people like Apple Leather Care. I bought it from Paradise Pen, with whom I had a great experience — not only did the product ship quickly, but enclosed was also a thank you note for my purchase written in calligraphy. Uh huh. Nothing says “thank you” like summoning the image of a bunch of monks in the Sistine Chapel slaving over your note. The Apple Leather care doesn’t leave a residue (which is apparently bad for leathers by preventing “breathing”), and as a side note, my hands were silky smooth after I rubbed the lotion on my bags. They were probably embalmed, but I’m a glass-is-half-full type of person.

Fashion Shopping

Ode to Botkier

To the right is a Botkier Stevie Hobo. It is on my current To Stalk list, but I want it in persimmon instead of black. Isn’t it lovely? Don’t I need it? Wouldn’t my collection be almost complete with a Sasha convertible duffel as well?
Before you judge me, let me throw one of my friends under the bus first. This friend, who shall remain unnamed, was so struck by the beauty of the Botkier that she composed this poem (cue lute music in the background):
I love Botkier handbags you see
If you could feel and see them, you’d agree with me
They are beyond description
Sometimes I think I need a prescription – to get over my addition
I am like a jaguar, prowling the night…
on eBay and other sites, willing even to fight
Today I stalked the FedEx tracking
first twice, then five times, now my mind is cracking
For you see, a new Botkier arrives – hooray!
it left the local facility at 4:40 AM today
Now it is 9:30 AM, i am tempted to drive around to look for the FedEx Man
What if he’s lost, can’t find my house, drunk at the wheel…or in the Can?
Somebody please help me!
A work of beauty if I must say so myself. My husband says that when he sees me he can hear my thoughts very loudly: “Botkier…Botkier…Botkier…”
My friend Patricia just bought her first Botkier today – an Emily tote (cute!). Now she’s watching a Nomad satchel and a Sasha duffel. See, they’re like Pringles…you can’t have just one.

Fashion Shopping

Julia Child Was a Spy!

So Julia Child was a spy! Can you believe it?!?
I guess things aren’t always as they seem. One of our vendor partners at work was telling me last week about a hire they recently made. His VP of Ops interviewed her, said that she presented herself very well, and asked permission to make an on-the-spot offer. He granted it, but they still ran a background check afterwards. Lo and behold, she did have a criminal record — prostitution. My vendor partner asked for the date of the charge — perhaps it was ten years ago, and she’d had a life change since then? Charge was in April. He asked his VP of Ops, “Well, how does she look?” and he responded, “Between $75 and $100.” Nice!
Anyway, on to the more important things in life: to the right is a family portrait of my Botkier bags. I’m thinking about putting it in a frame for my desk at work — you’re supposed to do that with loved ones, right? (From top left: Botkier Stirrup Hobo, Botkier Bianca Small in Metallic Silver, Botkier Bianca Medium in Nude Python; Second row: Botkier Sophie in Honey Tan, Botkier Sophie in Raisin, Botkier Bianca Medium in Cherry.)
A couple of weeks ago, I got this email from my friend Nina, who had just purchased her first Botkier:
It came today. It is absolutely stunning. I am speechless. I have Louis. I have Guccis. There is no comparison. The soft leather. The new smell. The nice “thank you” note that came from the seller. I am absolutely in love.
The indigo blue, is a nice, dark (denimy) blue. It is absolutely perfect. Now, I am officially addicted.
This is all your fault.

She wasn’t kidding about being addicted. Over the next couple of weeks there was an eBay emergency (I got texts while I was at work), another Botkier purchase, the spread of the Botkier addiction to an unnamed local news anchor, the neglect of children in the incessant and desperate online search for out-of-production Botkier styles. I am familiar with all these symptoms. (Nina, by the way, also recently sent me a family portrait of her Botkiers.)
If you’re not willing yet to shell out about $700 for a new Botkier (or $300-400 on eBay), check out the Botkier collection at Target. In particular, from the research I’ve done, the Satchel in Gray Python seems to be the best in the collection, both from a design and quality perspective (comments indicate that some of the other PVC bags look and feel cheap). In fact, I pondered ordering one of these just because it’s only $49.99, but my fellow Botkier lovers talked me down so I resisted. I guess for me (a real Botkier addict) it would be like having fake boobs — there’s nothing really wrong with it, but even if the fake python looked real, I would know, and other Botkier addicts would know (in the words of my friend Alice, “Don’t forget — these say Botkier for Target — true Botkier lovers will notice right away!”). And for me, part of the joy is the quality of the leather — and the smell of the leather. I remember the first Coach bag I bought for myself in the ’90s. I think I went around smelling it more than I carried it. I’m currently stalking a Botkier Stevie Hobo in Persimmon — lovely!
I feel like I need to say something about the Olympics too, which I’m watching in the background. Synchro diving: who made that up?!? It’s so amazing to watch, but isn’t it nearly imposible to do? Wow.

Fashion Popular

When you know, you know

Remember when people would tell you that you’d know when you found The One? It happened to me last month. Suddenly, with no warning, I fell fast and hard for Botkier handbags — until the pure supple lambskin-y, design-y perfection of them was too much for me to handle.

I first saw them online during a sale. On sale they were about $475, so I hemmed and hawed about the Botkier Bianca until they were sold out. I then proceeded to kick myself for missing out, for the Biancas are nowhere to be found on the primary market, and I began scouring eBay for them, losing several auctions in the last 5 seconds because apparently other Botkier obsessed are faster typers than I am. Determined not to be defeated yet again, I actioned on a Buy It Now for the Sophie bag in Raisin (pictured), which is now in my possession. It arrived at my door during a particularly bad my-career-is-in-the-toilet-now-that-I-have-kids kind of day, and as my friend Jenny so aptly pointed out, it would match perfectly with the bottle of vodka I’d be carrying.

Still outbid though on the Botkier Bianca (I wanted it in nude snakeskin), I desperately settled and pulled another Buy It Now on a Cherry colored one. That one is coming on Tuesday, the day before I leave town (it also involved begging the seller to expedite the bag so I’d get it before I left). I then set an auto-search on eBay to show me daily all the new Botkiers that were on the market. This has resulted in two additional bids for Botkiers, as well as a membership in The Purse Forum.

And I can’t stop talking about them. I dragged a gay co-worker into critiquing a few I was considering. I email my friend Alice (who just gave birth two days ago) updates and opinion requests. It is truly an illness. Weirdest part is that I was never that into bags.

But then I made a startling discovery: there seem to be a bunch of purse addicts out there, who buy new purses, carry them for a couple of weeks, and then stow them in their original dust covers with their authentication tags, and resell them on eBay once they’re back in season again. Brilliant! I felt enabled. Like I had an excuse to buy more bags.

Continuing to troll the net for Botkiers, I stumbled upon the Chloes. Whoa. If Botkiers were my Ivana Trump, Chloes are my Marla Maples. So I’m just waiting for those Koobas to hit me over the head…