Flash of Skin

I haven't had a real shopping trip to Holt Renfrew since Christmas, but I went there last week to a joyous welcoming.  It was Mother's Day weekend, and Holts had transformed into the land of mother-daughter bonding.  With the saxophonist's tunes echoing throughout the store, it made tasting the complimentary gelato, cupcakes and lemonade all the more enjoyable.  Although we decided against it, we also could have received a free caricature to commemorate our day of good (window) shopping. 

And boy, good window shopping it was. I waxed lyrical about shoes last post, but don't think for a second I forgot about handbags, my second favourite accessory.  Handbags this season follow closely behind the shoe trends - retro colour blocking and refined luxury.  A notable handbag from my shopping trip was the Jimmy Choo Justine L:

The bag takes many cues from 1970s sportswear, seen in its rounded shape and duffel bag handles.  While I would prefer the shape of the bag to be less casual, the bright anaconda skin is just too irresistible.  The way the bag looks like it's revealing its inner secret with a single open flap keeps onlookers wondering how many tantalizing layers your bag actually has.

The snakeskin is so soft both my dad and I had thought it was textured leather, but a quick Google search confirmed that it is in fact real anaconda skin being unzipped and displayed.  The clean metal bar securing the flap in place adds a whiff of industrialism, dressing up the otherwise insouciant bag.

It's a coy bag made for a coy woman.  While I don't normally advocate gaudy flashes of skin, in this special case, flashing skin couldn't be classier.

Image Source: Jimmy Choo, Net-a-Porter