Fashion: My Visit To The OBag Factory in London

Let's face it: most women have a hoarder syndrome and exessively collect either clothes, shoes or jewellery. I'm guilty of it as well and have to confess that I'm obsessed with watches and handbags. Well, you can imagine that the sales after Christmas came in VERY handy for me, as I had my eyes set on the one or other clutch/saddle handbag for a while, so the objects of desire finally moved into my wardrobe (thanks 50% of at Accessorize). ASOS further encouraged my hoard, as they offered a Chloe handbag dupe, so that got purchased as well. The best belated Christmas present, however, was a customised shopper from OBag which I won during Bloggerations Workshop with Penguin.

Here comes the full story: You may remember my Blogging Events - Are They Worth It? Part 2 post a few weeks ago. Lifestyle Blogger Sarah organised a workshop which was held at the OBag Factory store in Crouch End/North London. Not only did the brand support the event alongside numerous other sponsors, but they also invited bloggers to take part in a competition. For a chance to win your very own OBag handbag, you needed to give the brand a mentioning in your round-up post about the workshop. Goes without saying that this was the ideal opportunity for me to get involved and ta-dah, my dream came true and my post WON!

So after Christmas, I made my way over to Crouch End and I got to select my OBag handbag.

The brand has been on my radar for a few months now. Already a massive trend back in its country of origin Italy, they do now slowly conquer the UK. Each handbag is made of a tactile material called 'EVA foam rubber', which is warm, waterproof, lightweight and resilient. This makes the bags' body soft, flexible and adjustable to your daily needs. 

The concept of OBag is customisation on the next level: from choosing the body size (classic bucket, mini or basket), colour, interchangable handles to accessories - the combinations are endless and as everybody has a different style, each handbag reflects a unique and special personality.

The day I went back to Crouch End to claim my awesome prize was a relaxed and chilled afternoon after Christmas. When I entered the store, you could tell the festive season had been a busy, yet successful period for the shop as the empty shelves on the one side were restocked with brandnew limited editions. The other half of the store had the beautiful classic OBag on display in all its glory and diversity. Time to get my creative hat on, as it was designing time!

Most of my handbags at home are either black or brown with a classy shape. This is mainly to play it save when I put my outfits together. I rarely have anything quirky or massively over the top so when I got announced as the winner of the competition, I spent a good amout of time browsing OBags' range online. Virtually, I opted for a nude/grey shade and added simple but timeless leather handles. When I came to the store, however, there was this super chic mini OBag in cherry red (you'll see it in my very last picture to my right!). I wanted that colour but it hasn't been manufactured in the classic size just yet :(

Anyway, suddenly there was this spark and I no longer wanted a boring dark-coloured shopper, so instead I got attracted to a quirky bright yellow body. There it was in one corner of the shop sitting happily on the shelf, smiling over to me and I felt attracted to it immediately. The moment felt as magical as when I spotted that amazing sunflower field back in the summer. Since we have winter, it is dark most of the time and everyone is miserable, I thought this is perfect and most importantly the colour is fun. I had to have it! 

With the main body chosen, I went on to select the handles. They were all laid out on a table and the variety ranged from different sizes (long, short), via unusual materials (rope, leather, faux leather) to quirky styles (flat buckle, shoulder straps). I settled for a pair of brown faux-leather handles as they worked well with the bright yellow and underlined the colours of a sunflower. I then moved on and selected a light-coloured linen inner bag. 

All parts were very easy to bring together, as you simply connect them with plastic screw caps. Within seconds, you can literally change the overall look of your bag and have an entire new style. That's why I added a super soft faux fur with a touch of green which makes my handbag look cosy in winter, whereas in the summer I can take it off and it will be my 'sunflower' handbag (hope that makes sense, I'm so in love with it).

And here it is, my amazing new OBag and a happy me. I know the colour is very direct and loud, but as I've said it reminds me of summer and sunflowers, which makes me instantly smiley. This is definitely the most fun and exciting handbag in my collection and I can't wait to take it out soon or to work.

I'd like to thank Sarah from Bloggeration once again for running a fabulous blogger workshop and OBag Factory for selecting me as the winner. I had a great time designing my bag at the store.

Thank you so much for reading today's post. Have you heard of OBag before? What do you think of my colourful design? Let me know, I read and reply to all comments.

Till next time,

xx CAZ xx

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