How to get an Alaïa look lasercut handbag for less
Plus, where to find skinny-fit sailor pants and, yes, they are a ‘thing’
I saw your piece about affordable bags. Maybe you can help me. I have an obsession with those Alaïa carryalls with cut-out patterns. The one I love costs HK$21,250 (US$2,700). I will never be able to afford that! Where can I get the look for less, as they say.
Cut It Out, Happy Valley
The Dictator rules: Wow, you’ve got the lingo down. Not really. Your search would be helped by the words “perforated” and “lasercut”. There are lots of bags with holes in them. There is no substitute for the artistry and workmanship of Alaïa. With that in mind, you could indulge for less with one of the French house’s micro crossbody bags in geometric lasercut leather (HK$7,200; Harvey Nichols, Joyce, and Lane Crawford).
Should you have the funds, other luxury brands doing beautiful perforated bags include Chanel, Dior, and Burberry. Sophia Webster brings her pretty butterfly motif to lasercut Liara totes (HK$5,200) while Sonia Rykiel’s Le Baltard collection is made using an innovative laser-cutting technique that makes the calfskin mimic old school net shopping bags (HK$4,500 to HK$5,800). Barcelona-based Hereu’s Colmado cut-out leather bags were inspired by plastic shopping baskets and come with optional straps (HK$4,870).
I’m hoping you can find something crazy specific for me. I want a pair of jeans in the style of those double-side-buttoned sailor pants, but I also want them to be skinny, not wide. Am I going crazy or is there a jeans brand actually making them?
Buttoned Up, Kotewall Road
The Dictator: Oh, you fashion visionary! Actually, a wide leg would be much more au courant. Let me explain what happened. One: you saw a picture of said jeans. Two: you liked them. Three: your delusional brain made the leap to thinking you invented them.
Maybe you saw J. Brand’s Natasha, its high-rise, super-skinny-cut with buttons up the fly and on the hips. It comes in various hues of denim, as well as velvet and even leather (HK$1,786 to HK$9,384). Rather than a trend, sailor pants tend to float in and out of fashion. Similarly, Rag & Bone has its sailor style, called the Penton, currently available in black lamb leather with a buttoned bib front and back lacing details (HK$11,000).