In My Shopping Bag // March

While the weather outside may not be reflecting it juuuust yet, every single online shop has declared the arrival of Spring with all of their newest collections dropping.

And while I typically try not to overspend and overshop, something about the change in season and all of the ‘New New New’ emails flooding my inbox has gotten me in the mood to shop. My poor wallet and bank account are terrified by the amount of abandoned carts I have lined up on all of my favorite shops – and probably even more afraid of some of the packages coming in.

Since most of my favorite places to shop online are small businesses that tend to only make a limited number of each piece, I have reached the point where I am now ordering multiples styles and sizes to try on at home before making any final decisions. It means that while I am spending more initially, I am also sending back at least half of what I’ve ordered. I know this is obviously not something that everyone can do (and I feel very fortunate, believe me) but since a  good portion of my job is about styling clothing and talking fashion, I have decided it’s okay to indulge just a little bit more than usual.

French Dressing

Of course there are a good amount French brands – you know my love of Sezane and Rouje, but a new shop that I can’t decide on what to buy first from is Mirae. I’ve never shopped their site before, but once I saw the dresses and blouses, I was so excited. Eric and I were cooking dinner (okay, he was cooking, I was sipping a cocktail and shopping on my phone) and I remember exclaiming to him “I haven’t been this excited about a shop in ages!”. Of course I have my go-to sites, I think we all do. But to stumble upon a shop out of the blue that feels so very me was an exciting discovery. Like finding the lost city of Atlantis, except in the form of sheer blouses and sexy French dresses. You get it.

Which is not to say I didn’t go absolutely gaga over Sezane and Rouje’s new spring styles – in fact I was up at 5am on both of their sites on launch day, waiting for the new styles to drop. I’m a diehard, what can I say. From Sezane’s latest collection I fell for this simple camisole (purchased in both brown and cream) as well as this darling button-up dress. I did choose a few other styles as well that I’ll be packing along for Italy and Morocco to shoot. They just always seem to nail those styles that I want to wear on vacation. Ditto Rouje, from whom I picked their newest styles of the Gabin dress in both blue and a dark floral. I’m not sure which color will work for me (and cannot justify keeping both) so we shall see when the package makes its way here.

Morocco Picks

I haven’t mentioned it yet, but our upcoming trip to Morocco is a press trip with other bloggers, with one of my favorite brands. I’m not sharing the full details just yet, but I can say that while I am SO excited, press trips can be a bit daunting. Everyone is trying to get the best photos and video captured, and sometimes it feels like I’m competing with the other girls on the trip. Obviously that isn’t the case, and for the most part everyone is so kind and open to helping each other out. But like I said, there can be a lot of pressure. You’ve been flown to this gorgeous location, but there are so many factors to getting the right shot, like the background and lighting, and does your outfit look right. I’m doing my best to quell my anxiety now (and am planning on writing a bit more soon on the ups and downs of being around other bloggers), but shopping for pieces that feel will make me feel like me really help. I’ve turned to my favorite local brand, Doên for one of my looks, with the Garnet dress. I’m not sure about the shoes or the accessories just yet, but I do know I’ll be bringing along this rope bag by Mehry Mu because how perfect will it look out amongst the sand dunes?