30 Ways To Wear: Red Rebecca Minkoff Saddle Bag - #30wears Series

This months #30wears post is a bag I've been loving lately, my Rebecca Minkoff unlined saddle bag. It's been a few months since I did a 30 wears post with a handbag so thought it was a nice time to do one again.

I'm enjoying my #30wears series. The 30 wears challenge is committing to wear everything you buy at least 30 times. Since I have this blog with an archive of what I wear each day that extends over 6 years, it's been interesting counting up how many times I've worn things and fun to be able to put a post together showing how I've done so. There are other bags I've worn more than this one, I just realised this was over 30 wears as I've been wearing it frequently recently and so it was perfect timing to do a post on it.

#30Wears: Rebecca Minkoff Red Saddle Bag

I bought this saddle bag in the Shopbop sale in April 2016, so it's just under 2 years old, and I've worn it over 30 times since then. In terms of cost per wear, it was $154.88 and I've worn it 33 times so that's $4.69 a wear. Higher than the often-aimed-for 'cents per wear' but considering I'll have this bag in my wardrobe for a long time yet, it's not too bad, it's going to get a lot more wear.

Red Saddle Bag With Blue Outfits

Red and blue are such a nice combination and red and navy is one of my favourite versions of this combo. You can see in all of the pics in this post that it's a colour combination that pops up frequently. I just love the touch of colour a red bag gives against a blue outfit.

Saddle Bag With Monochrome Outfits

Sometimes you just want your bag to be a pop of colour with your outfit. This bright cherry red bag is the perfect touch with a monochromatic neutral outfit. Black really makes the red shine, any neutrals do really. While I love this red bag with other colours, like the blue outfits I featured above, I do love the simplicity of a monochrome outfit of neutrals and a tiny pop of colour with a statement bag like this.

Red Saddle Bag to Compliment Other Red Pieces In An Outfit

Sometimes I like a bit of matchy matchy, and if I'm wearing something red in my outfit I'll reach for this red saddle bag. The shades don't have to match exactly, as you can see from the red maxi skirt outfit which is slightly more yellow than the cherry red of the bag. It's still a nice combination though. This is a good way to wear a colourful bag if you're unsure how to style it as you're used to more neutral ones.

Saddle Bag With Flares

Pairing this red saddle bag with flared jeans has such a retro vibe, and it's probably the most worn accessory with these jeans since I started my blog. I expect this combination will pop up a few more times over winter when it gets cold enough to wear these jeans again.

Red Saddle Bag With Jeans

It's not just flared jeans I wear this bag with though. Skinny jeans are my favourite jeans style, and make up the majority of my denim collection. The red saddle bag pairs so nicely with any kind of denim, from the traditional blue jeans, classic black or fun printed pairs.

Saddle Bag with Maxi Skirts

Maxi skirts don't have to be tricky to accessorise. A small cross body is my usual go-to with them, but I've worn large bags with them too. This cute cross body saddle bag is the perfect pairing with any of my maxi skirts, from a plain chambray one to a printed striped skirt.

Red Saddle Bag In Winter

Red is a trending colour this winter in the northern hemisphere. There's something about any winter that makes me reach for red accessories often though. Maybe it's because of all the blacks and greys you layer with, as red is a wonderful pop against them. This spring/summer bag still gets worn frequently in winter with cosy layers. I like to wear my dresses and skirts year round as much as my bags too.

Saddle Bag in Summer

Of course, a red bag works just as well in summer as it does in winter. There's no need to keep a bag hidden away in your wardrobe for a season. I love the way this red bag looks with shorts, it's often worn with my denim shorts in summer. While it's a little small to carry all the summer pieces like hats and sunscreen, I carry the baby bag for that and just have the essentials on me like my phone, keys and wallet while I'm running around with the boys.

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Where to Buy Rebecca Minkoff Unlined Saddle Bag:

More Rebecca Minkoff Saddle Bags:

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30 Ways To Wear a Red Saddle Bag Video:

For something a little different, I thought I'd do a video version of this post too, so you can hear a bit more about why I chose the bag for each outfit and what my favourite outfits were. Would love to hear what you think of the video format - good or bad!

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Looking for more outfit inspiration?

I hope that this post inspired out and gave you some outfit ideas for ways you can wear a red bag. If you want more inspo, you can read 30 ways to wear a red Balenciaga velo bag, or all the 33+ times I've worn this saddle bag in my blog archives.

Want to know more about the bag and what fits inside?

Linking up with Weekend Wear, Flashback Fashion, Passion for Fashion, Lizzie in Lace, Friday Faves, Shoe & Tell, Mix It Monday, Modest Monday, Hello Monday, Trend Spin.

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30 Wears: Pink Maxi Dress From Mothers En Vogue (Maternity/Nursing Dress)

Happy New Year!

The 30 wears series will continue in 2018, as I had so much fun doing it last year. Each month I'll show you 30 ways I've worn one of the pieces from my wardrobe in an effort to wear more of what I already own, and enjoy what I have instead of constantly buying more.

Kicking off this year's posts with a favourite, my 'Havana' pink maternity/nursing maxi dress from Mothers en Vogue. I'm surprised it's taken me so long to hit 30 wears with this piece, if you've been a regular reader you'll know I wear it often. Through 2 pregnancies and afterwards it always makes me feel great. It's one of the pieces heavily featured in my pregnancy style book too! One of those maternity pieces I'm keeping in my wardrobe, even though my pregnancy days are behind me.

#30 Wears: Pink Mothers En Vogue Empire Waist Maxi Dress

It's tricky to calculate cost per wear on this dress as I received it courtesy of Zibibo back in February 2014. It's nearly 3 years old. 'Courtesy of 'means I didn't have to pay anything for it, although as I said when I got it, it made me rethink my normal budget for a maternity piece as it was certainly worth the $129.90 retail price. 30 wears in almost 3 years means wearing it about once a month on average, which is impressive for such a statement piece and given how many dresses I have already.

All dresses that come into my wardrobe are judged against this dress. If they don't make me feel as good as this dress does, they don't stay! To have a piece that works for pregnancy and breastfeeding, for casual through to more formal events, is such a lifesaver when you're having the 'don't know what to wear' panic before an event.

Pink Dress and Gold Belt

This gold belt is a very common accessory! The gold glitter belt works perfectly with the bright pink of my maxi dress, and you'll see it pop up many times in the photos below. Belted over a baby belly, or even just belted over my left over mum-tum, a belt is a frequent go-to with this dress.

PInk Dress Unbelted

The best thing about a maxi dress is that it's an instant outfit. While I do like belting this maxi dress, sometimes you just want the simplicity of a maxi dress and not worrying about accessorising or belting it. As the empire waist on this maxi dress is elasticated, the belt is more for show than function anyway.

Scarf as a Belt

When I do want to belt this pink maxi dress but I want something other than the go-to gold belt option above, I try to mix things up a little with this Louis Vuitton bandeau scarf worn as a belt. I love how the colours in the scarf compliment the pink dress, it's got pinks and purples and orange in the print.

Pink Dress and ColourFul Bags

A bright pink maxi dress sounds pretty in your face, and when I ordered this I considered the grey one instead as I wasn't sure I could pull off so much pink. Every time I wear it though I'm so grateful I went with the colourful option. It's just so cheerful with all that colour. You don't need to stick with neutral accessories when wearing a bright dress. I like pairing the bright pink dress with colourful bags! Blue, purple or yellow, a colourful bag works nicely. As you can see I particularly love the pink and purple colour combination.

Pink Dress and Denim Jacket

I like this combo a lot, as you can see by my wearing it 4 times! The outfit with the printed snood is easily my favourite of all of these ones though. It was the first time I wore this dress without a baby bump, and I found it perfect for those early postpartum days. In spring or autumn a denim jacket is a great layer with a maxi dress, and you can add a printed scarf to keep you cosy if it's really cold.

Pink Dress and Layers

It's not just denim jackets that make good layers with maxi dresses! I like to wear cardigans with my maxi dresses, and for something different, a kimono. You can even try belting the layer over the top of the dress too, as I've done in two of the photos above.

Pink Dress in Pregnancy

This Mothers En Vogue dress is a combo breastfeeding and pregnancy one, and it does both those things so well. With a nice bit of stretch, it easily covered a growing baby bump, even right through to the final days of pregnancy. It was nice to have something pretty I could pull on and feel good about in, no matter the size of the growing belly!

Pink Dress and Special Events

Pregnant or not, this beautiful dress has become my default for special events. Christmas day, birthday parties, date nights. I think everyone needs that one staple piece in their wardrobe they can pull on for an event that makes them feel special. For me, this pink dress is it. I love how it turned out to be the last thing I photographed for the blog before giving birth to baby boy, it's such a cherished piece and that makes it even more so.

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Pink Maternity Maxi Dresses Under $50:

Some of these are nursing ones too!

Non-maternity Pink Maxi Dresses Under $50:

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Hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane and the chance to see the baby bumps across two pregnancies. This dress really has been worn to so many things, and accommodated all of the pregnancy and breastfeeding related body changes so well 😂 Want more outfit inspiration? Browse through all the times I've worn this MEV dress on the blog.

2017: A year of 30 wears posts

• 30 ways to wear a black maxi skirt
• 30 ways to wear red Balenciaga velo bag
• 30 ways to wear gladiator sandals
• 30 different ways to wear striped maxi skirt
• 30 different ways to wear skinny jeans
• 30 ways to wear a grey Rebecca Minkoff MAM bag
• 30 ways to wear a printed leather jacket
• 30 ways to wear black ankle boots in multiple seasons
• 30 ways to wear mustard yellow Rebecca Minkoff bag
• 30 ways to wear a classic denim jacket
• 30 ways to wear white and navy stripe maxi skirt
• 30 ways to wear a floral kimono

Linking up with On Mondays We Link Up, Turning Heads, Trend Spin, The Style File, Style Sessions, Confident Twosday, Fashion Frenzy, Oh Hey Girl, Style on the Daily, Fashion Frenzy, Fun Fashion, Flashback Fashion, Weekend Wear, Passion for Fashion, Modest Monday.

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December Purchases and 2017 Spend: Yearly Budget

Not too many purchases to share with you for December! I hope 2017 has been a good year for you, and 2018 is even better!


I did end up purchasing something off my wishlist from Rebecca Minkoff in the Cyber Monday sale, but as it didn't arrive until December I've included it in this monthly wrap up instead of November's purchases. With an extra 35% off and the items I wanted already reduced before the discount, I got a bargain! Both items together and shipping were still much less than the bag at full price. I love the Rebecca Minkoff sales!

What I Bought:

Rebecca Minkoff Regan Satchel Tote in moon worn 4 times
Rebecca Minkoff Crystal Star Shoulder Guitar strap worn 3 times
Jeanswest Brianna basque hem tank in black (gift card purchase, worn once)

How I Wore It:

It's easy to achieve my goal of wearing things twice in the month I buy them with accessories, they are frequently reworn. While I technically bought the bag and guitar strap in November, as they didn't arrive until December I count that as the month they arrive. Since I bought the tank in the post-Christmas sales at Jeanswest I didn't get a chance to wear it twice, but a good basic black tank like this is sure to get a lot of wear over the coming months.

Fashion Spend For The Year

See what I bought in August, in October, and in November.

In January I set myself the goal of 6 months without shopping. And I exceed that, managing 7 months without shopping in the end. I was curious how much more I'd save this year as a result. This year I spent $1,696.53. Only $127.58 less than last year.

Not the massive savings I'd expected, but I did excitedly splurge on an expensive bag that to be honest made up most of the total spend! I'm still pleased I managed to spend less this year, even with the splurge on the drool-worthy bag!

What I'm doing in 2018

I'm not doing another 6 months without shopping. I did have a lot of fun with it in the end. It was amazing that I could change my shopaholic ways and not only achieve but exceed the goal I set myself.

While I'm not setting myself another no-shop challenge, I am continuing with my #30wears goal. This means continuing to blog my daily outfits so I can look back and tally up how many times I've worn things, with the goal of sharing monthly something I've hit 30 wears on. The only way I can continue to do this with my clothes (I've hit it with so many of my shoes and bags already!) is to buy less.

So 2018 will be a buy less and rewear more year. You're likely to keep seeing the same few pieces on frequent rotation as I get closer to 30 wears of them. Also going to try to spend less in 2018 than I did in 2017, and continue the reduction in my spending.

Blogaversary

2018 also marks 6 years of blogging for me and 1165 posts, wow! Hope you're having as much fun reading as I am writing. I don't see myself stopping blogging any time soon, it's nice to have a little relaxing time to myself each day to browse blogs and write posts while the boys sleep.

Thank you all for your clicks, comments, shares and follows over the past few years. Have a happy new year!


Linking up with Weekend Wear, Flashback Fashion, Friday Favourites, Style Elixir.

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