So first off is a little update on my job and some random photos I’ve worked on since I last posted. If you just want to jump to the favorite things part of this post, scroll down until you get there. 😉 Here we go!

This was an attempt to take a photo in front of a green screen and then mask it out later to replace it with a more interesting background (in this case, a background of the stained-glass windows at the Ruah chapel). I’m not impressed with how it turned out. 

June has been an unexpectedly busy month for me – I tend to still operate on “teacher time,” meaning my year ends in May, and starts in August, with June and July as off months where not much happens. But as a tutor, June and July are months where, if I am working with any students, they require a lot more planning and preparation on my part than they do during the school year, when I can just follow the lesson plans of their classroom teachers and help them with their work.

This was an attempt to take a pic of myself in ponytails. I’m not impressed with how this one turned out, either. But I am impressed with that necklace – it’s Hermes, and is actually a silk scarf accordion-folded and rolled into necklace form.

All of the kids I was working with by the end of May have stayed on for the summer, which is good of course (with the exception of one student I felt needed more help than I could give; I found her a specialist to work with instead), but the increased workload took me by surprise. I knew I would keep tutoring in the summer, but subconsciously I was looking forward to a summer break anyway; 14 years in public education have trained me to anticipate the summer months as ones of rest and recharging. I’ve also picked up two new clients recently, so that’s added to the workload. It’s still a completely manageable workload, mind you, so not having the summer as a work-break is more of an interesting surprise than an actual problem.

Re-worked photo from an old shoot

July is shaping up to be more calm. One of my longest clients (the second one I picked up back in September of last year) is taking the whole month off to travel with his family, and another one will be gone for at least half the month due to travel as well. So, that will free things up a bit – in fact, it will give me just about the right amount of time to get a bit of a breather without getting bored or feeling panicked that I’m losing business. One of those students I intend to cut loose at the end of summer anyway; he’s much younger than the usual age I tutor, and I’ve decided to focus solely on students at the secondary or college level. I’ve also decided to fine-tune my services to focus on advanced-level students such as Honors or AP and college preparatory work. It sounds like snobbery, I know, but in working with the various kids I have in the past year, I have really found this is where my strengths are. For example, the two kids with reading deficits I worked with in the spring still failed their state exams (which is why I found them a specialist) but the Honors-level middle-schooler I tutor improved his state reading scores by 50 points. And the juniors and seniors I worked with on literary analysis and essay writing last year all saw their grades go up at least ten points after working with me, while my elementary kids saw little improvement at all. So the evidence is pretty conclusive at this point.

I definitely overdid the editing on this one. Sometimes I just can’t help myself.

But enough about my job, let’s talk about pants. But before we do, let me just add that I fully intended to include photos of me wearing the different pants I’m going to talk about, but there’s really only one or two areas of the house that are good for me to take full-length shots unless I’m going to set up for an entire shoot, and there are people working on various aspects of our house right now and I both cannot get to the easy places to shoot quickly OR move my office around to set up for a full shoot. So, stock photos are going to have to suffice this time. Sorry.

And by pants, I mean jeans. I love jeans. One of the things I love about jeans is that they go with everything, so you only need a few pair to be set for your wardrobe, if you’re someone who can get away with wearing jeans every day, which I now can do. However, that doesn’t stop me from buying WAY MORE of them than I need; even though I could get away with only two good pair of jeans and be set, I have instead become obsessed with finding the most awesome jeans possible and then, acquiring more.

A pair Stitch Fix sent me about a year ago that I did not keep; these were by Kut From the Kloth, which I do mention a few paragraphs below. Now that I’m looking at these, I wish I’d kept them!

My requirements for labeling a pair of jeans ‘good’ can be pretty particular. I do not like heavy or stiff denim; the lighter, stretchier, and softer the better, as far as I’m concerned. And for the most part, I am not a huge fan of dark washes, even though I know they are more flattering for my body type (pear shape, meaning light colors widen me up top and dark colors make me appear slimmer down below). And I love my denim ripped, torn, frayed, and full of holes – I can’t help it, I’ve always been drawn to beat-up jeans.

Jumping for jeans! Although these are not beat-up in any way. I don’t even remember which ones these were; this photo is a few years old.

I do have some standards, though; while I have no problem wearing a pair of lighter wash denim with a few strategically-placed rips and tears to a tutoring session (I didn’t get into this self-employment gig to follow a dress code) I do draw the line at something completely faded, worn and torn. But the fact that I can wear faded, worn and torn jeans more often than I could when I worked in a school (where jeans were often allowed but had to be hole-free) has encouraged me to buy some seriously busted ones lately, like these:

Free People Harem Jeans

These jeans are just insane, and I honestly don’t wear them out of the house much because of that, but they are ridiculously comfortable, and in spite of the fact that they make me look like an oompah-loompah I love them. I love them so much that when I bought them in a size 28 and discovered they were WAY too big, I decided to keep those to wear around the house and got a second pair in a 27 for those times I felt adventurous enough to wear them out. I love having a pair of jeans to wear at home that feel every bit as comfortable as my sweatpants, and these suckers are so soft and light that I can do everything in them that I can do in sweats – workout, do chores, work in the yard – I can even do yoga in them without feeling constricted. Wearing them out of the house, however, is a real challenge; I found I needed a few very simple, snug tee shirts I could tuck in to make these work; anything flowy up top that I leave untucked makes me look like the Michelin Tire Man. They’re still weird with the tucked-in tee – there’s no way around the fact that the harem cut means my crotch not only hangs down to the floor but also tends to poke out strangely when I stand still – and while I wouldn’t say these jeans get compliments, they do get looks. And those holes come quite close to being too revealing, but whatever. I make it work. And sometimes in life you just gotta wear the harem jeans, even when you know other people will think you’re a disaster when you do.

Levi’s 501 CT Jeans

Now, these jeans were a surprise for sure – I bought them for two reasons: 1) So many reviews online claimed they ran big and fit weird, and jeans that fit this description almost always look good on me; and 2) they were on sale for $60 down from the original $98. These are actual, honest-to- God Levi’s, which I haven’t worn since the nineties, and I never found the brand to fit me all that well back then. These were also 100% cotton, which for me is never ideal. I like stretch in my denim for the most part. Since these were full-on cotton of a fairly heavy weight, I went with my larger size – 28 – especially since this was called a ‘boyfriend’ cut, which is a cut that not once has ever worked on me. Well, these worked surprisingly well; on me, the waist is still a bit too big, but not enough that I have bothered to get them tailored, and other than that, they are just the right amount of loose without being shapeless. They are also ridiculously comfy, and they’ve quickly become my one of my go-to pairs, as I feel they are nice enough to wear to tutoring sessions where I might encounter parents.

Kut From the Kloth Destroyed and Patched Boyfriend Jean

Kut From the Kloth is a brand I’ve tried on a lot but never purchased before; this past winter I tried on a great pair of skinny cords from them that I liked but never bought (mostly because it never felt cold enough to need more corduroy) so I’ve kept the brand in mind. I was wandering the Galleria one morning when I stumbled across these and tried them on; I tried them in a size 4 since that was the size of the cords I tried on earlier, and they really looked frumpy and odd. I was relieved I didn’t like them, because they were $99 and I really did not need another pair of light wash holey jeans, but when the saleswoman suggested I try the 2 they looked smashing (I’m telling you, the right fit does make all the difference). I held off, though, because I still wasn’t convinced I needed them, but over the coming weeks they kept coming to mind, so I figured I probably did. They’re stretchy, and although the patches underneath the holes mean they’re on the heavy side, they are still comfortable, and they’re actually quite flattering on. I’m also surprised at the length on these; usually ankle-length is horrible on me but maybe because of the added cuff at the bottom, these seem to work. I do also love the frayed hem here; in fact, frayed hems are my new thing – which has gotten me into trouble a few times, unfortunately, with another new jean obsession – FLARES!

No, not these kinds of flares – although I love them, too

Free People has consistently sold flares, boot cuts, and bell bottoms throughout the entire skinny jean craze that still rules the runways and shopping malls, and many of their styles are well done. The truth is, as a pear shape, a bootcut or wide-leg jean will always be more flattering on me than a straight or skinny style, but the downside is (aside from possibly being off-trend) my short legs always require me to tailor a wide-leg jean because they’re always way too long. With skinny jeans this doesn’t matter, especially when so many are now cut to ankle length anyway, but an ankle-length flare is not a good look on anyone, and it seems such jeans are always made ridiculously long even on women with legs of a more proportional length. I mention this because, in buying a few pair of flares this spring, I mistakenly thought the whole frayed-hem trend meant I could just grab some scissors and snip these jeans wherever I saw fit to trim the length, and I’ve now realized why that’s not a good idea. Even the frayed hems you buy from a store have an actual hem, it’s just frayed beneath it, and when one just whacks off the denim without adding a hem, the jeans fold or roll up at the bottom instead of lying flat. Perhaps part of that has to do with the fact that the denim has stretch and is fairly light; I seem to remember being able to whack off the hems of my Levi’s back in the day without ever having to worry about adding a hem, but that was before denim had lycra or spandex or any stretch in them and was generally rather heavy. So now I have two pair of flares with jacked-up hems that I’m not sure I can repair; I cut them exactly where I wanted them, length-wise, so trying to hem them now might make them too short. Boo. On the plus side, for both pair of flares I purchased, I ended up with them in two sizes (I often buy a 27 and a 28 when I buy online because I’m never sure which one will fit) and when I jacked up the hem on one pair, I was able to salvage the other (and even with the jacked-up hems, I can get away with wearing them).

Free People Penny Pull-On Flare

Anyway, in spite of that little snafu, I am loving both pair of flares I bought recently. The denim is super-stretchy and the cuts are really fun and flattering. I thought the first pair above had a pretty radical flare to it before I saw these ‘super flares’ online later; I decided because these were so crazy I’d go for a darker wash, and I actually really like them in this color.

Free People Denim Super Flare

My first super-flare pair was a size 27 and is a touch too tight, but I found them on eBay for cheap so I’m not too bothered by it. The second pair is a size 28 and fit me better,  but I haven’t trimmed or hemmed them yet and the length is ridiculous. I want to take them to my tailor to get them hemmed but I feel a bit embarassed about it; I know she’s going to think I am crazy for wearing a pair of jeans with a flare like this and I do think they kind of make me look insane – but in a good way, right?

Simon agrees, I do look insane.

That’s about all on the jeans front, so what other faves are floating my boat this summer? Well, first of all, to go with my new cut and color I decided I wanted a funkier pair of glasses. Enter Zenni online, as usual, with a really affordable pair of fun cat-eyes:

These are a much more dramatic shape than I’ve ever done before; I honestly think they’re a little wide up top for me and may make me look slightly cross-eyed, but other than that I do love them (I seem to have an I-really-love-this-but-it-makes-me-look-insane thing going on today, don’t I). I also decided to try the 1.74 index lenses instead of the usual 1.67 Zenni always recommends; the 1.74 index is a bit thinner and lighter than the others, but not so much that I think anyone other than me would notice. I do think they’re a little lighter, though, and I feel like my vision is good in them. The only down side, other than the cost being more per lens, is that this lens is more reflective and I definitely see more light reflections in them when I look in the mirror. Not a big deal, and probably not noticeable to anyone else, but it is something I’ve noticed. As I’ve mentioned before when it comes to Zenni, a pair of glasses at a Lenscrafters would, for me, cost around $700, but at Zenni these only cost me $160. Sure, it’s a bit of a crapshoot to buy frames online, but I’ve found that once you find a frame you really like and get the measurements for those down, you can easily find similar measurements in other styles, which for me has done the trick. And I’ve never had trouble with the prescription being bad whenever I’ve ordered from them (which I’ve done A LOT; I’m always switching between several pairs and also have prescription sunglasses).

And by the way, since we’re speaking of favorite things here, I still LOVE my Voloom. 

Now, take a look at my lipstick in the photo above (see, there’s more than one reason why I added that pic), because that’s my next new obsession: Kylie Jenner’s metallic lipstick in a color called King K; it’s the color I’m wearing in the Zenni shot above, also. I saw a waitress in a restaurant wearing this shade a few months ago and it looked so great on her I chased her down to ask what it was; I had no idea Kylie Jenner had a cosmetic line, so it was news to me. The lipstick is one of those paint-on kinds that come in a liquid form that dries onto your lips and is long-wearing; I generally dislike the feel of such lipsticks as they are very dry, and adding any gloss to it to moisturize them, of course, makes them rub off. Although I am not a fan of how such lipsticks feel, I’m not opposed to wearing them; Lime Crime has come out with an extensive line of them over the years and I’ve liked some of them just fine, and back in the day Cover Girl made a shade that I loved and wore for years (that one had an included clear gloss that you could put over it, which was very helpful). So, I’m not all that jazzed about the formulation, but the COLOR, y’all. The color is everything. This is my perfect color, and I have become so obsessed with this shade that I am afraid it’s some sort of limited edition which will run out soon, and I’ve already bought four extra tubes of it and am considering more. I have not worn anything else since trying it.

King K by Kylie Jenner

I’ve always been a sucker for a metallic, bronze-y brown, even though my skin tone and hair color seem to dictate I should look better in pinks and reds. In fact, I see olive-skinned dark-haired women wearing red lipstick all the time and I think they all look amazing, but I simply hate it on me. And trust me, y’all, I have tried. For at least 15 years, MAC made a color called Coconutty that was all I needed, and when they finally discontinued it I was heartbroken. Then I found a color called Almondine by Estee Lauder that’s really close to it – I still love that one (and unlike the King K, it’s very moisturizing) but since finding the Kylie Jenner lipstick I haven’t worn the Lauder once. The King K just has a touch more copper sparkle to it that has me in love with it right now, and I”m willing to put up with the dryness to wear it. I loved it so much, I thought I’d try out a few more of Kylie’s lipstick shades, but I had the same problem with them I have with Lime Crime’s long wearing colors – all the earth and neutral tones turn a shade on my lips I’d describe as “greige” (some combination of gray and beige), and all the red shades turn the tackiest coral red ever. Plus, these longwearing, dry formulations are usually matte, and matte never looks great on thin, dry lips like mine; as a metallic, the King K takes care of that with the added sparkle.

OK, to close this post off, here’s a random shot of my pets – not a great photo, but I liked the triangle they created:

By the way, Simon’s tail really is short and stumpy like that; he came to us that way. The shelter said he’d had an injury as a kitten and it was easier to shorten it than try to fix the problem. On the flip side, Violet’s tail is crazy long; you can see it peeking out from under the cat castle. Maybe it’s actually a normal length but being used to Simon’s wee little stump it just seems long? I’m not sure.

I mentioned in my last post that I might snap some shots of my latest Oh My Gauze purchases, and this past week I ended up with about an hour to spare wherein I could throw on some clothes and shoot a few outfits. So, here they are:

It’s been unseasonably warm here this winter – it was over 80 degrees outside when I took these shots, and it was humid as hell. To avoid messing with lighting and dealing with the small space in my little office/studio, I ventured outside to use natural light, which made things move more quickly, but it had its drawbacks. The heat, first of all, meant I got sweaty and tired pretty early on and by the third outfit change I was pretty much over it. And, as usual, my ability to take decent shots out of doors is still low, and as I tend to do I chose to shoot at the worst time of day (around 1 PM). The light wasn’t TOO much of problem this time, because it was overcast, but it sure would have helped both the light AND the heat situation if I’d thought to take pictures earlier. Anyway, the only thing Oh My Gauze in this leap shot is the skirt – it’s the Mahi skirt I showed a screenshot of last time. Obviously you can’t see it well here, but the shots I took just to show off the skirt were terrible so I didn’t edit any of them. Here’s another screen grab of the real thing (it’s better than the last picture I showed, I think):

The gathers at the side are a nice touch and as with all of OMG’s clothing, it’s well-made and very attractive on. I’m wearing it with one of many Free People items I’ve bought lately; there was time when FP had terrible sales (10% off orders over $300, crap like that) and so my purchases were fairly restrained. But in the past year, they’ve really upped their sale game, and I’ve gotten some nice deals recently. Unfortunately, my favorite thing to do in the morning while I sip my coffee is peruse the FP online store on my iPad, and damned if they don’t keep putting things on sale that I really want for a good price. I’m not a huge fan of stripes at all, or collars for that matter, but the panel of multi-patchwork-floral cutting through at the middle really sold me. Also, it is made of the softest material that’s really comfy, and the sleeves are overly long, which I happen to like. The shoes are my Ugg hightops that are lined with sheepskin; they were a bit pricey and I waffled on buying them for several weeks before taking the plunge, and I’m glad I did. They’re really comfy, and I’ve been wearing the hell out of them. Hard to do when it’s 85 degrees outside, but I finally  just started wearing my winter shit even though it wasn’t cold enough for any of it. I bought winter shoes and I’m going to wear them, dammit.

You know, there was about a ten-minute period of time when I was outside when the damn sun peeked out of the clouds, and it was when I was taking these shots. So, the color is blown out and overall it’s just a meh picture, but I did like the flow of the dress. In fact I had a hard time choosing which one to process because this dress makes some great shapes when it’s flung about. When it’s not being flung about, however, it looks like a big sack on me. In fact, when I was taking these pictures I had the tags stuck into the sleeve because I figured I would return it – after seeing the pics, though, and liking the way it flowed, I decided to keep it. This may have been a mistake, because it really is way too big for me, and it was $93, but I figure I can either give it to my mom (she is a sucker for big, flowy clothes just like I am) or use it as a cover up. And yes, I did manage to take all these shots without falling in the pool. I actually tried to orchestrate a levitation shot here, but when i went to edit the shots it just didn’t come together.

This is called the Alex dress, even though I’ll probably wear it mostly as a tunic. The color looks lavender here, but it’s actually a very soft gray called Ash. While I love this, it may be a smidge too big on me; I’ll wear it around for awhile and see how I feel about it, but I may end up getting it altered a bit. On several of these new tops the neckline on me was very wide and tended to fall off one shoulder. I put a cami on underneath them all for the shoot, but I’m picky about such things and in a lot of cases it kind of ruined the look. i did order a few interesting cami tops recently that I haven’ t got in yet – with some detail at the neckline like lace or a laser-cut pattern – but I don’t have them in yet to see if they will work better showing up top than a plain cami does. Anyway, I love the hemline of this and the big unique pocket on one side; I also really love the ruched sleeves even though, again, i think they are a little wide on my skinny-ass arms.

One reason I don’t feel like these shots turned out looking as nice as I wanted was that I used my wide-angle lens, which tends to flatten things out a bit. I used it both because I was still working in some tight places and needed to be able to zoom out (our pool takes up a lot of space in our backyard) but mostly because I wanted to take the opportunity to do some leaping shots since I haven’t done  them in awhile, and the 17-40mm works best for those. Still, I should have just used my 50mm for the clothing shots and switched to the 17-40 for the jumping ones – I was just too lazy to bother. Moving on.

Ooooh, now this top I love. On the website it looks interesting, but not nearly as pretty as it in in person, and that color is a new one called “blonde” that on the site looks much more beige/tan. I took a chance on the color anyway, because I really was curious about it, and I’m glad I did because in reality, the blonde is a lovely soft yellow that goes great with all  the new colors I tried. It also fits perfectly on me and the arm holes aren’t too big – usually a problem for me. The pants are called the Polo pant, and I bought two pair of these because I just love them. This is the Flamingo color here. Oh, and I had to bust out my new Louis for a few shots, of course. I am in love with that bag!

That skirt is another Free People steal; I think I paid maybe $30 for it at the store and was flabbergasted at how cheap it was for how nicely it’s made. It’s fully lined, not that mini-liner crap that barely covers your butt and all the stores seemed to be pushing now. I do NOT like my legs to be showing through the material of my skirt; it’s not that I’m a prude, I just think it ruins the look of the skirt. Anyway, I paired this with a newbie from OMG called the Kitty blouse. This is one is also in the Ash color, and it’s much better represented here than in the previous photo. I’ve learned that with OMG tops only certain cuts suit me; in general staying shorter is better than going really long (although obviously I make exceptions) and avoiding tops with the sharkbite shape (shorter in the middle and longer on the sides) is best because it’s a cut that’s really overwhelming on me, and makes my already-long torso look longer and my already-short legs look shorter. That said, if I do get a top that isn’t tunic-length, I also tend to avoid tops that are cut to fit narrow, because on me they are still much too big and even altering them doesn’t help with that. If the top, like this one, is meant to be loose but isn’t too long, though, I’ve found it will work for me.

Last one – and oh MAN was I hot, sweaty, and grouchy by the time I took this photo  (remember, in each outfit after I took some normal shots to show the clothes, I then did some leaping shots)! The top is called the Stingray blouse, and as you can see the neckline is REALLY wide. I don’t like the cami I put underneath it as it distracts a lot from the blouse,  but like I said, I’m working on it. The pants are another pair of the Polo in Ash (the top is in Flamingo).

That’s everything I bought from OMG this last round, but wouldn’t you know in looking on the website while writing this post to be sure I named things properly, I now see several more new styles I haven’t tried yet and of course I want to buy a few of them. I also see two more new colors – Washed Black and Washed Blueberry – that of course I want to try as well. So, you may see a few more new things on the blog soon. “Washed,” by the way, means “subtly tie-dyed” in OMG-speak. I have a sleeveless top in the Washed Reef color already; it’s not my favorite effect but the Washed Black looks pretty awesome.

I intended to shoot some of my Free People stuff, too, but it just got too hot to do so (it’s about 80 degrees here right now, by the way, and when I wake up in the morning it will be about 35. Welcome to Texas). It’s mostly been really cute and comfy tee shirts, but I did finally give in and snag this one dress I agonized over for a week or two (well, not really agonized over, but you get the idea). Free People is a tricky store; while they have a lot of awesome things, sometimes their materials aren’t the best and can be quite flimsy, and they tend to throw in some little detail that rules it out for me, like a really cute top that’s backless (which is a no-go for me) or a great dress that utilizes teeny tiny shell buttons all the way up the damn back (who in the world are these women who can get someone else to button them into their clothes when wearing this stuff? Because there’s no way you can do it yourself). In the case of tee shirts, I can buy an extra-small and I know I’m fine (in part because FR tends to run a little large on me) but dresses are another matter. So, I waffled because it was a dress, and also because in the pictures on the site the fabric looked like it might be really thin and transparent (FP does that a LOT). I decided to give it a go in the end, because I just couldn’t get it out of my head no matter how hard I tried, and I am so glad I did because it’s GORGEOUS. I don’t have any photos to show you, but here’s a screenshot I snagged to give you the idea (I couldn’t fit the entire model into the screenshot, sorry):

FP makes several different styles of henley dress (this one is called the Wildflower Maxi), and I’ve always wanted to try one, but the generally narrow cut of them through the hips and thighs has made me hold off. This one, though has a looser fit as you can see, and I really loved the panels sewn into the skirt to make it flow better. And again, the arms are super-long, which I really like for some reason (not sure why, I don’t have overly long arms, I just like the look of too-long sleeves. I’m a long sleeve gal overall, really, and there isn’t much in the world of fashion I don’t think would look better if it had long sleeves! But I digress). It’s long, but even though it touches the floor on me I still don’t think it will need hemming, and I was happy to see that the fabric was sturdy and not as transparent as I feared it might be; I will still wear a slip under it because I always do, but in reality one probably isn’t needed. I also got another Stitch Fix box in and only kept one item from it which was – you guessed it – a Free People sweater! (Speaking of Stitch Fix, funny story I came across here – SF sent a woman a pair of shorts in her Fix with a Nordstrom Rack tag attached to it along with the price, which was about $45 cheaper than what Stitch Fix charged her. LOL. I think the kerfuffle was overblown, IMHO, but it made for interesting reading nonetheless).

Anyway, so there’s my post about clothes. Happy week before Christmas, everyone! At least when I wake up tomorrow it will finally be cold!

Since buying my first Louis Vuitton as a Christmas present a few weeks ago, I’ve been on a bit of a binge. I’ve been scouring eBay for deals and snagging a few up here and there; I’m not out any huge amount of money on these items, and I’m starting to calm down a bit from the purse-shopping frenzy I was in for a week or so.

The reason I even mention this, though, is because a few of them need some refurbishing, and I decided to document the process Sunday. I’d spotted a ridiculously cheap LV Papillon 26 bag on eBay, and it was just too good a deal to pass up; it didn’t cost much and was in fairly good condition. I’d been reading up on how to care for and clean Vuitton bags since buying the first one, and had also run across instructions for how to clean up and repair an older bag that needs help. So Sunday afternoon I decided to try out these techniques on the little Papillon and see how it turned out (you can click the small photos to see them bigger).

A before-and-after shot of the leather handles. The one on the right has been cleaned; the one on the left has not.

With all my love of before-and-after transformation blog posts in mind, I photographed each step of the process, as well as taking some shots of the bag before I started, with the intention of writing a little instructional post about what I did to spruce it up. The entire time I was buffing and cleaning, I was certain this was going to be an interesting post and the improvement to the bag would be impressive – it definitely did look impressive to me as I was working on it. And what’s more, I actually enjoyed cleaning and polishing it up, which may be a sentence I’ve never uttered before in my life. It was fun to watch the brass grow shiny and the leather deepen.

Before and after of the brass buckle and more leather. Unfortunately, I was not astute enough to realize I needed to photograph the same exact buckle, so this is a bit of false comparison.

But. When I uploaded and combed through the photos, I found that none of them captured the magical transformation I thought was taking place. I think there are two reasons for this: 1) I used my cheap camera because it’s lighter and easier to manipulate, but it doesn’t have near the color rendition or clarity of my 7D, and I think the subtle changes to the leather and the canvas didn’t translate.  And, 2) the bag actually was in pretty good shape to start with. I do have a second bag with more water damage to the bottom (the bag in the foreground in the group shot), so it may show a greater transformation that this one did. And, when I work on that one, I’ll be sure to use the 7D to photograph the process and write a proper “how to spruce up a Louis Vuitton bag” then.

The zipper before cleaning is on the left, on the right is zipper after cleaning. To me, this was the most noticeable difference. Plus, it was fun – seeing the brass come to life right away was gratifying. 

There are other things I need to do differently next time, photographically. I made sure to take shots after every step, but I didn’t pay close attention to, say, which handle I photographed before buffing, to be sure I photographed the same handle after. And, when I got all the shots onto the computer, I actually couldn’t  recall what photos were taken at what stage, so it’s not possible for me to give much commentary about them. I took 139 photos and was unable to tell which shots were taken right after leather cleaning, for example, and which were taken after leather conditioning. Next time I try this, I’ll have to make notes along the way so I know where I was in the process when I took each shot.

Before (left) and after (right) of the side of the bag – at least this time I photographed the same side for both shots! If you click on it I think you can see the subtle difference in cleanliness a bit. Also you can see that the piping looks more even in color. 

As far as what I did here: First I used Brasso brass cleaner, applying it to the brass on the bag with a Q-Tip. This led to a mid-day panic wherein I realized Simon had made off with one of my discarded, Brasso-drenched cotton swabs and I had to dash around the house trying to find him before he ate it and poisoned himself; since he is a cat, he knew I was looking for him which meant he made himself hard to find. In not too much time, though, he was discovered under the kitchen table, staring at the Q-Tip he’d obviously just been knocking around the floor. Cat crisis averted.

After the Brasso was buffed off, I used Apple Guard’s leather cleaner on the handles and straps, followed by Apple’s leather conditioner. While that was drying I used an organic makeup wipe to clean down the canvas, then used a damp rag to wipe that off (all of these suggestions I’ve read repeatedly online, so I feel OK trying them all out). After the leather dried, I buffed it a bit and was good to go. It took about two hours, partly because of all the stopping and photographing and chasing of cats.

Almost no editing of these shots, BTW. Just some added contrast and sharpening. Wouldn’t be fair to snazz these up in photoshop when the purpose is to show the results of cleaning the bag.

The above, then, was the end result. Don’t be surprised if you can’t tell the difference between the before and after – but I promise you in real life it was a more dramatic reveal. After cleaning and conditioning the leather, supposedly, it takes a few days for the true effects of it to show, so I’ll see if in a day or two if the leather looks different or not. For now, it’s at least done, and I enjoyed the project. And since I did the work and took these damn pictures, well, I’m going to write a blog post and make you look at them even if they aren’t impressive.

One more week of vacation! Oh and by the way – I have password protected yesterday’s post, because I definitely do not want that to be seen by the relatives in question. If you want to know the password, email me and I’ll send it along.