Inside My Bag: Michael Kors Travel Edition

Hello my lovelies! As anyone who follows me on Instagram or Twitter may have noticed, I’ve spent the past month back in Australia (via Bangkok) seeing all my favourite Australian people for the first time in two years (which explains my absence on here; I’m sorry!) and living out of a suitcase in the process.

After hundreds of flights and countless visits to far-flung locations in my lifetime, I’ve got the act of packing down to an art form (although my boyfriend – who points out that my shoes alone weigh as much as his entire luggage every time we travel – would beg to differ).

So when Michael Kors asked me to be a part of their new Instagram campaign (#WhatsInYourKors), it felt only appropriate to share the secrets of my travel bag (the contents of which are still scattered around my living room). Because I want something I can carry on the plane with me (and actually lift into the overhead compartments), but which is still chick enough to land a seat upgrade (if you’re lucky), an oversized handbag is perfect, and this Michael Kors Hamilton tote is about as luxe as travel can get.

I fret at the thought of being without any creature comforts for the duration of a long-haul flight, so my bag is packed with: a paper, book and magazine (a long-haul flight is good for one thing: finally having time to catch up on my reading!), two passports (in a glittery Jimmy Choo cover), tickets and a Luxe travel guide for my destination, a notebook for offline inspiration and scribbling, my iphone (in a Lulu Guinness case) and ipod, Miu Miu sunglasses (for disembarking in style), Jimmy Choo metallic pink purse and Anya Hindmarch golden coinpurse, business cards, spare jewels, Jo Malone perfume, Chanel nailpolish and lipstick, Clarins concealer pen, Aesop face mist and hand cleanser, snacks and a few random souvenirs collected from my travels.
(Not pictured, but also essential: a Louis Vuitton leopard cashmere scarf for snuggling on chilly planes, lip balm, baby wipes, body lotion and a packet of beauty samples for in-flight hydrating and pampering (because cabin air is horrid), water, sleep mask, ear plugs and socks.)

Win a Michael Kors bag!

To be a part of the #WhatsInYourKors campaign yourself, just snap a picture of your handbag and its contents, share on Instagram and tag @MichaelKors. The team at @StylistMagazine will be hosting a gallery of all their favourites on their site, and the best picture will win a gorgeous Michael Kors Selma handbag.

Michael has also selected his favourite spring essentials for the season, and they could be yours; just sign up here for a chance to win (because after all, a girl can never have enough bags). Good luck!

I’d love to know what you all take with you when you travel? Do you have any savvy tips to make packing and flying a more glamorous affair?

Love, Miss B xx

Disclaimer: this is a sponsored post in partnership with Michael Kors

October in Pictures

Jumping in piles of crunchy leaves and all my other favourite autumnal pursuits. The arrival of autumn bringing out my Cambridge-centric preppy wardrobe. Bike rides and second hand bookstores. Buying big bunches of roses at the flower market. My first little orange Hermes box in the form of this vintage ‘H’ cuff from Vestiare Collective. Cambridge looking especially beautiful as the leaves change colour. Cosy evenings indoors as the nights grow longer.

Dressing up for black tie dinners and theatre dates. Tim Walker’s marvellous London exhibition. My favourite view view of the Thames from the terrace at the Houses of Parliament. Dandy embroidered slippers at Penelope Chilvers. Appearing in a new London campaign for Michael Kors. Tea, cake and excellent people-watching in the teeny covered arcades of Brixton Village. Sparkly Miu Miu ballet flats that I wish were in my wardrobe.

Flying to New York for adventures with my NY BFF Nicolette (see my New York adventures from last year here). Yellow taxis, Broadway and the bright lights of Times Square. Pumpkins and Halloween decorations on every block. Halloween parties in Chelsea. Laduree macarons and picnics in Central Park. Rowboats on Central Park Lake. Walks all over the Upper East Side. Window shopping on Madison Avenue. Riding out Hurricane Sandy in the most positive way we knew how: with candles, cocktails, card games and Audrey in How to Steal a Million.

I hope you all had a wonderful October! (And to all of you on the East Coast, I hope you and your loved ones are safe and sound after the Hurricane).

Love, Miss B xx

A Girl, A Style for Michael Kors

There have been a great number of truly exciting highlights for my blog this year, but being invited to be a face of a Michael Kors campaign is surely to be included at the very top of this list. A few weeks ago I was asked if I would be involved in a new campaign to celebrate the opening of the brand’s new London store, which is how I came to be photographed on the banks of the Thames one beautiful autumn day last week.

Obviously, I am neither a model or a celebrity, so the gravity of being involved in another campaign for a luxury brand (you may remember my Jimmy Choo collaboration from earlier this year) is not lost on me. I find it wonderfully refreshing when major players in the fashion industry choose ‘real women’ as well as supermodels to represent their brands, and to be one of those women myself is a truly a great honour.

And truthfully, these photos from the campaign could not be more ‘real’. Taken one Wednesday when I was working in Parliament, I dashed out of the office on my lunch break (sans professional hair, makeup and primping; Michael Kors got me just as I am in my real life) and spent a fun 15 minutes skipping along the river opposite Parliament as the autumn leaves swirled around us before racing back to my office once again.

Yes, it is a strange double life that I lead (I’m sure there aren’t too many other political advisors slash fashion writers slash Michael Kors models in the world), but I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Wearing: Michael Kors cape (borrowed), Hamilton bag (c/-) and watch, Mimco gloves, Wheels & Dollbaby dress (from this post), Mulberry boots, bow headband (just seen) from Tokyo. Photos by the lovely Michelle Bobb-Parris.