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Bloggers & Vloggers Views of Vida Vida

We were lucky enough to be featured by The Blogger Programme recently, in a project where some lucky bloggers and vloggers got sent a huge box of goodies to review and consider promoting to their network of fans. In the last week or two I have been keeping my eye out for their blogs and video responses and I have not been disappointed!  

Although watching twenty minutes of someone else open amazing presents that you can’t have sounds like it might not be too fun, it was strangely entertaining! It was really nice to see not only the lovely feedback on our bags, but also other small companies’ products – I had my eye in particular on the gorgeous looking chocolates from zChocolat.  

I was also really interested in how big YouTube and blogging has become, with people gaining millions of followers for posting beauty tutorials and gaming videos. With so many people now online, there’s endless blogs and vlogs (a video blog) to choose from, so it can get a bit tricky, but if you’re looking for some interesting people to follow then here are two that I really enjoyed watching/reading.  

Kate Louise, or ‘KateThisIsWhatIDo’, is just a little busy with quite a few accounts; she’s on Tumblr, TwitterInstagram, YouTube and of course she also runs an entertaining blog.  

We sent Kate Louise a personalised leather weekend bag to see what she thought of it and she was lovely enough to not only write a blog post about it but also to feature it in her ‘Current Favourites’ video. I really enjoyed having a quick read through her blog which is a mixture of fashion and beauty posts and recipes; her style is fun and interesting and her tattoos are amazing – I would definitely recommend giving it a read!  

Tasha Green has a blog, a YouTube channel, an Instagram account and of course Twitter, so she’s also a pretty busy lady! Not only does she run all four accounts, but she has thousands of people following each of them – almost 34,000 followers on Instagram and over 78,000 subscribers on YouTube.

She posts make-up tutorials, fashion look books and generally chatty videos that are easy to lose track of time watching!   She seemed really excited to receive our leather duffel bag (as well she might) in her video opening all her presents, and I am so glad she likes it as I’m sure she will find some gorgeous ways to style it!

On her blog, she posts some great outfit ideas alongside chatty posts that are great fun to read!   tasha green with a vida vida duffel bag   So, if you need some inspiration then take a look at some of the above links.  If you have your own blog, vlog or any other sort of interesting channel that you think the Vida Vida audience might be interested in then to get in touch and we might be able to feature something from you on here too.   Until then, I'm off to watch just one more about what to wear at festivals this summer.

Vogue in Bhutan - a road less travelled

am absolutely loving the Tim Walker photo shoot in this months Vogue. I am a huge fan of Tim Walker’s work, having been to his amazing exhibition at Somerset House last year and owning two of his gorgeous coffee table books. This however is even more magical as its shot in Bhutan which I have been lucky enough to visit. His pictures from this Vogue in Bhutan convey the beauty and intrigue of this magical Kingdom perfectly. bhutan3 I visited in 2007 after our yearly visit to our workshop in Rajasthan. We made our way right across India and up into Bhutan. We felt very privileged as they only let a small number of visitors in a year as they are trying to restrict tourism so it doesn't ruin their incredible culture and landscape. Who cannot love a country who talks about Gross National Happiness (GNH) rather than GNP. A phrase coined as a signal of commitment to building an economy that would serve Bhutan's culture, based on Buddhist spiritual values instead of western material development.   The Bhutanese people are amazing. They still all wear their traditional national dress on a day to day basis but they also have very modern views on subjects such as the roles of women in society, which are far more liberal than their neighbouring countries. It was a pleasant change form India to be able to chat freely with women in a bar who were having a beer!   bhutan2   The Tim walker shoot takes them to some of Bhutan’s most special places. In the Vogue article the photos are accompanied by a written piece by the model who is in the shoot who mentions the hard walk up to Tigers Nest Monastery .   bhutan1   The photos from this location are stunning and it brought back lots of memories from our visit there. Not nearly as glamorous but me in a similar spot wish my backpack had been filled with anything so fabulous. 

Such a special place.

Father's Day Gift Ideas - What Type of Dad Is Yours?

So with Father’s Day soon approaching (June 21st in the UK in case you didn't know!), I thought I would lend a hand to any of you who don’t know what to buy your dad by writing about our Father's Day gift ideas. Similar to the one written for Mother’s Day, I have tried to pick a different leather bag (or accessory) for different types of dads. So whether your father is constantly hitting the gym or prefers to dabble in all the latest gadgets, there should be something for him here!

The Out and About Dad

First up in the mornings, the man on the move; whether he’s constantly on business trips or sneaks off for a weekend playing golf, he will definitely appreciate one of our gorgeous leather travel bags. These bags get better the more they are used as the leather begins to soften and darken, and so the gift will be appreciated for many trips to come. My personal favourite is our special leather laptop bag which works perfectly for business or pleasure, with enough space for documents and a 15” laptop, as well as fitting an array of your bits and bobs: clothes and cameras and whatever else you may need.

special-16-x-12-leather-laptop-bag_Large-Leather  

You could also go for our leather weekend bag or one of our larger duffle bags as they have all the space he could need while looking extremely stylish!

 

The Sporty Dad

Next we have the gym-obsessed father who spends his Saturday mornings trying to get the family out of the house and beat his personal best. If this sounds like your dad, then worry no more, we have the perfect bag for him to drag to the gym in the early hours of the morning – one of our leather duffle bags. Ranging in size from 16” to 24”, there will definitely be the right one for all his gym clothes and fancy running trainers, and, because of how great it will look, he will never want to go anywhere without it! travel-bag-large-leather-duffel-bag-16_1

Gadget Man

If your father is constantly upgrading his tech and always downloading the latest apps, then one of our leather iPad covers would be the perfect gift! Whether you choose to protect his iPhone with a lovely iPhone cover, his iPad , Macbook or even iPad Mini, his gadgets will look great and be protected when he’s on the go. In both tan and black leather, and with three styles to choose from, I think one of our leather iPad covers is a particularly good choice, especially the beautiful black leather iPad case organiser (my personal favourite). ipad_organiser_black_inside

The Workaholic

For the corporate dad who is always making deals and dashing to meetings, our large black leather messenger is a great present. It’s sleek and stylish, and its simple design looks good with everything, and it has enough space for endless documents, folders and even a 15” laptop! We do have a smaller version as well as countless other laptop bags if this isn’t the one for him! large-leather-laptop-bag-vintage

The Cool Dad

Last but definitely not least we have the cool dad; always on trend and down with the kids, he is (or at least he thinks he is) the least embarrassing father, using the latest slang and wearing the latest fashions. If your dad is a little like this, and perhaps you want him to tone it down, then our leather laptop bag is a great gift to make him look effortlessly stylish, and as the design is so timeless, he will impress everyone with his classic style! mens-leather-weekend-bag Hopefully this has somewhat helped you with the difficult task of finding a good Father’s Day present, and to add an even more special touch, you can get the gifts personalised with a short message embossed into the leather like his nickname, initials or something a bit original perhaps.  What more could you (or he) ask for this Father's Day?
large-leather-laptop-bag-vintage

Summer Festival Fashion - 2015

With the first weekend of Coachella over and the summer festival season officially underway, I thought I would have a browse through some of the best outfits from the Californian sun for a bit of summer style inspiration. With Coachella attracting countless celebrities and models each year, it’s no wonder it has become so fashion-forward, and with too many outfits to choose from I thought I would pick out my three favourite festival fashion trends from 2015!  

 

  1.  Dressed all in white

  The first trend that seems to have spread like wildfire is the ‘all in white’ look. From Paris and Nicky Hilton’s formal and put-together look to Victoria’s Secret model Alessandra Ambrosio and friends’ coordinated and casual style, everyone has been wearing the neutral colour! Definitely a favourite of mine and white is the perfect colour to wear to bring out your (probably minimal if you live in England!) summer tan! coachella-fashion-2015-paris-hilton_resize     Coachella 2015 - Week 1 - Day 3    
  1.  Boots, boots and more boots!

  Next up was the constant trend of working boots into your summer wardrobe. Boots are the perfect shoes to wear with everything as they’re stylish and comfortable, especially good for festivals where you’re wandering around and dancing your nights away! While I tend to go for ankle boots in the sun, like Kendall Jenner, you could brave the knee-high trend like Hailey Baldwin; whatever you choose they will be perfect for summer! tassles-vest_resize HaileyB    
  1.  Tassels everywhere!

I think one of the most popular trends of this year’s festival has been the gorgeous leather tassel. Seen on everyone from Fergie to Gigi Hadid, both wearing cut-off shorts with sleeveless tasselled jackets and even Cody Simpson in a tasselled cape, this trend was hard to escape from. What’s great about tassels is that you can go as out there as you’d like, simply wearing some ankle boots with tassels or going all out with tassels everywhere – you’ll look stylish whatever you go for! cody-2015-fashion_resize festival-fashion-2015_resize Fergie-Festival-Fashion2015   Obviously, with all these trends taking hold, you need a handbag to go with the outfit and that's where VidaVida are able to help.  Our range of vintage leather satchels, saddle bags and wonderful tan brown leather handbags all add a finishing touch to these casual summer looks.  You really do need somewhere to hide your festival essentials and we have bags in every shape and size whether you are a light traveler or someone who likes to be prepared for anything.