Friday 3 August 2018

30 Ways To Wear: Rebecca Minkoff Love Crossbody Bag (#30wears)

This month's 30 ways to wear is another handbag, my Rebecca Minkoff quilted Love bag. As well as showing you 30 ways to wear the Love bag, I've added some FAQ at the end around the 30 wears challenge.

You can see last month's 30 ways to wear a blazer here or the previous handbag edition with 30 ways to wear a Louis Vuitton Neverfull tote.

30 Ways To Wear: Rebecca Minkoff Quilted Love Cross Body Bag in Grey





Cost Per Wear


This is one of the handbags I have difficulty calculating cost per wear of - as it was a gift from my mum! I've had it for 3 and a half years now, and I've worn it over 60 times since then, so it's pretty good cost per wear considering I didn't spend anything on it! The love crossbody bag is on the Rebecca Minkoff site for $148 US / $212 AU (reduced from US $295) so I'm pretty happy with over 60 wears so far. Especially as I am planning to continue wearing it for many more years.


30 Ways To Wear Rebecca Minkoff Love Bag In Video Form:






Love Bag With Studded Guitar Strap


Rebecca Minkoff Love Bag ways to wear with studded Guitar Strap | away from the blue blog


I thought this guitar strap would be a nice addition to my bags, but had no idea how much I'd love wearing it with the Love bag! It's quickly become my favourite way to wear this bag, I love the embellishment of the strap to add a little more interest to a neutral, classically shaped bag. You can see a full review on the guitar strap here.


Rebecca Minkoff Love Bag Worn Cross Body


Rebecca Minkoff Love Bag outfit ideas worn cross body | awayfromblue


I do like occasionally wearing the chain strap at its fullest length and wearing it cross body as it was designed to be worn. This is a really good option for kid wrangling as it lets you be completely hands-free and you don't have to worry about the bag falling off your shoulder. I do wear the strap doubled over most of the time though to work with my petite frame, as you'll see from the rest of my outfit photos below!


Rebecca Minkoff Love Bag With Denim


Quilted Love Bag 4 ways to wear with skinny jeans | awayfromtheblue


This bag works so nicely with denim! Not just your standard blue either, I've worn it with printed jeans as well as metallic ones. It's a good way to dress up denim a little more.


Love Bag with Maxi Dresses


Rebecca Minkoff quilted grey Love bag outfit ideas maxi dresses | away from the blue blog


Maxi dresses are a wardrobe staple for me, and this Love bag is something I frequently wear with them. When you have a big bold printed dress, a classic neutral bag like the Love crossbody is an easy accessory.


Rebecca Minkoff Love Bag With Dresses


Quilted cross body grey Love Bag Ways to Wear with dresses | awayfromtheblue blog


It's not just maxi dresses that this bag works with! I like pairing it with all kinds of dresses - and as you can see from the middle one it still works with a simple summer dress even in winter, with the right layers of course.


Love Bag With Skirts


Rebecca Minkoff quilted love bag: ways to wear with skirts | awayfromtheblue


Just as the love bag works with dresses, it works well with skirts too. I like the feminine quilting detail paired with skirts, and I love all three of these outfits although they are so different.


Rebecca Minkoff Love Bag With Shorts


Rebecca Minkoff Love bag ways to wear with shorts in summer | away from the blue blog


You can see from the previous ways I've worn this bag, but the neutral grey is really a good all-round colour that works in any season. I do really like wearing the quilted love bag with shorts in summer though, it works with all the different kinds of shorts I have in my wardrobe.


Love Bag With Prints


Rebecca Minkoff Love Bag outfit ideas with prints | away from blue 30 wears blog post


Because it's a neutral grey, I like to wear this Love bag with prints. From something as simple as a printed dress, to a print mixing outfit or something like bright red pants and a printed tank, it's a good neutral accessory to add that won't clash with a print.



Where To Buy The Rebecca Minkoff Love Bag:





Looking For More Outfit Inspiration?


I hope you enjoyed this wrap up post with some of the ways I've worn this cute charcoal grey Rebecca Minkoff quilted Love bag. For more ways to wear it, check out my blog archives and see all 60+ outfits: more ways to wear Rebecca Minkoff Love bag.


Frequently Asked Questions About 30 Wears:


What Is 30 Wears?

It's a challenge I decided to start doing monthly after watching 'The True Cost' documentary on Netflix. One of the points raised to reduce the environmental impact of fashion was to commit to buying everything you wear at least 30 times.
Seems simple, until you do the maths. It's wearing it around 3 times a month for a year if it's something you can wear year round, or 5 times a month for a year if it's something seasonal you can only wear for 6 months of the year. Of course the longer you own things, the more time you have to hit 30 wears over the years.


How Do You Come Up With 30 Ways To Wear Things?

I don't think up 30 ways to wear things I buy! I just look in my blog archives for things I've worn more than 30 times and compile these posts. As I've been taking a photo of my outfits each day for most of the past 6 years, I've got plenty of past outfits to look back on, and I can see the different ways I've worn things over time.


Linking up with Lizzie In Lace, Weekend Linkup, Friday Faves, Mix It Monday, On Mondays We Link Up, Modest Monday.


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Wednesday 1 August 2018

Colourful Winter Outfits: Navy Dresses and Pink Skull Scarves

Sometimes on my work from home days I like to throw on a dress. It's a quick outfit to pull together to get the boys out the on time door for daycare drop off, and it's comfortable for sitting all day at home working.

I stuck to my usual easy dress outfit formula for two recent work from home days, and added in some colourful cardigans and Alexander McQueen skull scarves. Even though it's winter, it's nice to wear a bit of colour.

What I wore:

navy stripe tee dress in colourful winter outfit with pink scarf, mustard cardigan and rebecca minkoff micro regan bag | awayfromblue

Rebecca Minkoff micro Regan satchel in Harvest Gold | awayfromtheblue

awayfromblue instagram pink navy and mustard yellow striped tee dress work from home outfit winter
Jacket: thrifted SES Fashions mustard yellow cardigan
ScarfAlexander McQueen pink pashmina in skull and floral print
DressAtmos&Here navy stripe tee dress
Shoes: RMK Chester black ankle boots
BagRebecca Minkoff micro Regan satchel in Harvest Gold

Why I wore it:

Every time I wear this dress I seem to notice it's been a long time between wears! With the thick fabric and longer sleeves, it's usually packed away with my winter things which doesn't give me many opportunities in the year to wear it. It's such a comfortable tee dress though, with a slightly longer hem in the back so that I feel comfortable sitting on the floor with the boys when I'm wearing it.

You might have seen I've just posted blue and yellow outfits, and I'm wearing the colour combination again! I like yellow and blue together, and really like this mustard cardigan with the navy striped dress. Of course with the yellow cardigan, it made sense to pick out this Alexander McQueen skull scarf. It's yellow skulls on a pink background so a nice combination with this outfit. The mustard yellow Rebecca Minkoff micro Regan bag was another further bit of matchy-matchy.

The only thing I didn't like about this outfit was the tights. Having no luck finding fleece lined leggings, I tried a pair of these footless tights - you can see the little slivers of exposed ankle. They got some pulls in them on this first wear. With the boys in daycare while I worked it wasn't like I spent a long day with the kids being rough and tumble - I'm sad that they didn't have the quality behind them (and that I didn't keep the receipt!). Otherwise, this was such a great outfit.


Last worn: mustard cardigan, pink skull scarf, navy stripe tee dress, RMK ankle boots, Rebecca Minkoff micro Regan bag.

Other ways to wearmustard cardigan and little black dress, pink skull scarf and chambray dress, navy stripe tee dress and Converseblack ankle boots worn 30 ways, Rebecca Minkoff micro Regan bag and maxi skirt.

Perfect for pregnancypink skull scarf in third trimester, navy stripe tee dress in second trimesterankle boots in second trimester.



Rebecca Minkoff Micro Regan and Mini MAC Comparison:




A little comparison video of the two handbags I'm wearing in this post, the micro Regan and mini MAC.





What I wore:

colourful winter printed shirt dress outfit pink purple navy | away from the blue

 Rebecca Minkoff metallic silver mini MAC | away from the blue

awayfromtheblue isntagram skull scarf printed shirt dress tall boots purple cardigan winter work at home outfit
JacketJeanswest Peggie kimono cardigan in purple mulberry marle
ScarfAlexander McQueen modal skull scarf in white/pink
Dress: Zara printed bib front tunic dress
ShoesAsos Cleo leather boots in tan
BagRebecca Minkoff metallic silver mini MAC

Why I wore it:

Unlike the outfit above, I wasn't quite as pleased with this outfit. It seemed like a great idea, a navy shift dress layered up with fleece lined tights and tall boots to keep me cosy, with a purple cardigan and pink scarf for some extra colour, topped off with the neutral silver Rebecca Minkoff mini MAC bag.

As I mentioned on Instagram, I think the white print on the dress and the mostly cream scarf didn't go that well together. I really like pink and blue together, but I think the first outfit works better as the scarf is more of a block colour. With the cream background and the hot pink skulls on this scarf, it doesn't sit as nicely with the print of the dress. Still a great colour combination and scarf, and just maybe not the right piece with this outfit.

The cardigan also was not as thick as I needed on such a cold day. The dress is long sleeved, but it's a thin viscose material and a thin cardigan on top wasn't as warm as I needed for a colder than expected winter day. Luckily I spent most of it working from home, but having to do the daycare runs and taking my son to his specialist appointment in the afternoon made me wish I'd worn something a bit warmer.


Last worn: purple cardigan, pink and cream skull scarf, navy printed shirt dress, tall brown boots, Rebecca Minkoff metallic silver mini MAC.

Other ways to wearpurple cardigan and maxi dress, pink and cream skull scarf and stripes, navy printed shirt dress worn as a top, tall brown boots and skinny jeans, Rebecca Minkoff metallic silver mini MAC and shorts.

Perfect for pregnancypurple cardigan in second trimester, pink and cream skull scarf in third trimester, navy printed shirt dress in third trimester, Rebecca Minkoff metallic silver mini MAC in third trimester.


Skull Scarves Under $50:



They might not be Alexander McQueen, but they are still as fun to wear!


How You Can Wear It:

It's easy to add colour to a winter outfit with bright cardigans and fun scarves. A cheerful scarf with more than one colour in the print (like the pink and yellow skull scarf in the first outfit) makes it easy to pick other pieces like a cardigan that coordinates with it. Or you can go all out and pick different complementary colours like I did in the second outfit. Sticking with a neutral outfit base like a navy dress makes adding colourful accessories even simpler.



Linking Up With Style On The Daily, Fashion Frenzy, Fashion Files, Fun Fashion, Fabulous Friday, Weekend Link Up, Flashback Fashion.



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Monday 30 July 2018

Colourful Winter Office Wear: Blue and Yellow Pencil Skirt Outfits

Sharing some colourful but still very cosy winter outfits, with my favourite blue pencil skirts and a big Rebecca Minkoff MAB tote bag. When our winter temperatures dipped again, I wanted warm knits, and picked some of my bright ones to inject a little colour.

Plus, an update on how I did with my No Buy July challenge, #noBuyJuly18!

What I wore:

blue and mustard yellow knit winter office pencil skirt outfit | awayfromblue

rebecca minkoff moon navy medium MAB tote bag for work with macintosh jacket | awayfromtheblue

awayfromtheblue instagram office outfit winter colourful mustard and blue pencil skirt business casual
JacketJeanswest Monica Mac coat in Indigo
ScarfLouis Vuitton monogram shawl in bleu
Jumper: thrifted SES fashions mustard marle knit jumper
SkirtWarehouse navy jacquard pencil skirt
Shoes: RMK Chester black ankle boots
BagRebecca Minkoff medium MAB tote in moon navy

Why I wore it:

Trying blue and yellow with a mustard marle knit, blue scarf and blue pencil skirt. Decided to wear the Rebecca Minkoff medium MAB tote as I love wearing blue bags with this pencil skirt, it's a frequent go-to combination.

While I do normally like blue and yellow together, I wasn't sure if this skirt and knit would look as good as I hoped together. I ended up really liking this outfit, I think the scarf really made it perfect for me. This was such a comfortable outfit too, very much appreciated for a crazy day at work where nothing went according to plan at all!


Last worn: navy macintosh, Louis Vuitton scarf, mustard marle knit, jacquard pencil skirt, black ankle boots, Rebecca Minkoff MAB tote bag.

Other ways to wearnavy macintosh and wrap dress, Louis Vuitton scarf and embroidered top, mustard marle knit and a-line skirt, jacquard pencil skirt in summer, black ankle boots worn 30 ways, Rebecca Minkoff MAB tote bag and grey pencil skirt.

Perfect for pregnancyjacquard pencil skirt in first trimester, ankle boots in second trimester, Rebecca Minkoff MAB tote bag in third trimester.



What's In My Bag: Rebecca Minkoff Medium MAB Tote Edition!









What I wore:


Rebecca Minkoff medium MAB tote in moon navy in winter office bag | away from the blue

awayfromblue instagram blue and yellow bright cheerful winter office outfit love quotes scarf medium MAB tote bag
Jacket: Barkins beige trench coat 
ScarfLove Quotes knotted tassel linen scarf in sunshine yellow
Knit: thrifted Valleygirl blue knit jumper
SkirtAsos blue textured lace pencil skirt
ShoesWalnut Melbourne 'Ava' black lizard ballet flats (also available in silver)
BagRebecca Minkoff medium MAB tote in moon navy

Why I wore it:

Again continuing the blue and yellow theme! I really do like the colours together.  I felt like all of the blue together wasn't quite colourful enough, so I added this cosy and bright yellow scarf. This knit and pencil skirt is a combination I've worn before in the warmer weather, it was good to be able to layer it up for winter.

Unlike the previous week at work, I had to wear my trench coat when I ventured out for coffee with my boss in the morning and lunch in the afternoon. It was a much cooler winter day. While the bright yellow scarf is a fun summery shade, the big size makes it very warm and very cosy to wrap myself up in during winter! I like blue and yellow together so it seemed like a fun choice for a cold morning to repeat the colour combo again.

Usually when it's cold I'll add ankle boots to my outfit, but I felt ballet flats were better for all the running around I had to do in the morning. It was one of those days where you come into work with an idea of what task you're going to do, then the afternoon rolls around and you realise you've been pulled in so many directions you hadn't started your task!


Last worn: camel trench, yellow scarf, blue marl knit, blue lace pencil skirt, Walnut Melbourne flats, Rebecca Minkoff MAB tote bag (above).

Other ways to wearcamel trench and burgundy pants, yellow scarf and maxi dress, blue marl knit and skinny jeans, blue lace pencil skirt and grey tee, Walnut Melbourne flats and skinny jeans, Rebecca Minkoff MAB Tote Bag and maxi dress.

Perfect for pregnancycamel trench in second trimester, yellow scarf in second trimester, blue marl knit in first trimesterblue lace pencil skirt in third trimester, Walnut Melbourne flats in second trimester, Rebecca Minkoff MAB tote bag in second trimester.



No Buy July Results!


It might not come as a surprise, after I mastered 7 months without shopping last year, but I made it through #noBuyJuly18 sticking to my goal and not spending anything on fashion. July is such a busy time with all of the sales, but I'm pretty content with my winter wardrobe now (even after halving my winter pieces from two storage boxes to one), and that makes it easier to avoid the sales. Some of the sales were extremely tempting, but even with the $5 sale at Jeanswest (!) I didn't buy anything. For full disclosure, I did add a few things to carts but decided not to buy at the last minute.


I shared more tips for how to survive a no shop challenge after completing 6 months without shopping: lessons from a former shopaholic.


Bright Knits Under $50:




How You Can Wear It:

Winter wear works well in neutral colours, as you can layer without worrying about colours matching. It's a fun idea to add some colourful pieces though, from bright scarves to colourful and cosy knits, you can still be cosy and warm! Sticking with colour combinations you know you love, or adding a contrasting scarf to a monochrome outfit, is a good way to try it out.


Linking up with Modest Monday, Trend Spin, Turning Heads, Confident Twosday.


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