Another bag with a print from Utagawa Kuniyoshi

I can't quite decide if I would ever wear this one or not. We notice that our Japanese "Gothic" bags tend to sell more to men than almost any of our others, and I have a hunch this is a bit of a "boy's bag".Great fun to do - and more Japanese bags on the way soon we hope.Not yet on the shop - but it is listed newly on Etsy here http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=13839983

Another photo shoot with Aida

She is a natural model really - great fun to work with. This time it was all a lower-key affair with Alex, Aida and some nice summer weather. We wanted a slightly more relaxed look. I think these worked out incredibly well, so you'll see them gradually appearing on the shops - and a few as updates on the slideshow on the front page of baba-store.This is at the John Lennon wall - and I love the sentiment written there.
The Faith, Hope and Chocolate bags look so good when they are actually photographed being worn - I still want one but am temporarily banned from "testing" more bags. The poodles were courtesy of an art event - here they are in glorious scarlet close-up -

Alice adventures in Wonderland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBUZhNZE4yU
THE most wonderful Alice film ever?I've finally decided to buy the DVD, I've been meaning to for years.

Mad tea party (part 1)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vwi9Yn2aF4
And another. Sorry, a bit Alice-obsessed right now.

Alice in Wonderland - White Queen Court

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUUCY1fReWA
This is great. Miranda Richardson is just so good in this kind of role.

Looking Glass cushions pair

Well, we got the first samples of the Tenniel cushions today. They are very well made - it's the workshop who we work with regularly and they are good - but there are a number of things that need to be changed. The most obvious is that the print is too large - the text sort of vanishes off the bottom once the cushion pad is put in. That we can sort out right away. Less obvious perhaps is that the "stripe" of black (it's black Irish linen) down the side, should be on the RIGHT on one cushion, and the LEFT on the other - Looking Glass world and everything is reversed right? They are supposed to work as a witty pair.We also think that the background colour (it's actually a pale inky blue) just seems like white. In fact, this version was meant to do with indigo linen anyway - another thing that was done the wrong way round (this black linen should have been with a sepia/black print).Anyway, these are fairly easy things to put right. What does bother me a bit is that they really ought to be able to do a sample more accurately than this, given that we sent mock-ups. I know, I know, I should just accept this. But the great thing about working with Romana is how she deals with lots of very complex variations with amazing ability to get it right. But she does not want to make cushions. Oh well - we'll get there. The basic idea is great and I suppose at least this way I get to keep the samples and dot them around the flat.

New bags arrive

The first full samples of our new shoulder-bag/handbag designs arrived today. Again, we are having these part factory-made to our specification, then we will do the printing, sewing on the flaps and the finishing here. These will gradually replace our current silk shoulder bags (they are much smaller and dressier than the messengers) and we've put an awful lot of thinking into getting them just right.I realised the other day that the buzz-phrase for this is of course "mass customisation" - I'd never quite termed it that before. Then I realised (hey, two realisations in one day!) that it's something I've been interested in for many years. I think it's the way much good product design will go next - instead of mass-production versus small-scale hand-production it provides a potentially fantastic way of combining the two.The samples are beautiful - this is a whole new level for us as these are up there with 150GBP ($300) designer bags - in fact better than some I've seen. It means lots of hard thinking about the kinds of imagery and fabric to use for the flaps. Hugely exciting but also quite demanding. Price? I don't want to go for real high-end designer prices. I'm more interested in being accessible - I like the notion of people being able to just enjoy these bags - than being exclusive. On the other hand we may think about doing the odd really lavish "special" with lots of antique fabrics and components and embroidery. I'd love that.I won't post pictures as we have a lot of small tweaks yet (the strap is not quite right, and one internal pocket is too big) and also the bags are of course only part-made. However, expect - with luck and a good shipping service - to see these appearing on our shop in early October.Meantime, well, I suppose I am just going to have to get a couple of samples - one in black, one in silver - made up here and complete with flaps. Then I will have to wear them to test them out. A hard task but you know, I'm dedicated.

Alice offer ends tomorrow

Just a reminder that the offer of 20% off all our Alice bags (excluding the messengers) ends tomorrow.http://baba-store.com/

Oh- virtual tour of the gallery at the Schwarzenberg

http://www.virtualtravel.cz/national-gallery-in-prague-schwarzenberg-palace/2397.html It's not brilliant (and you need to hit the button that stops the automatic rotation as it goes far too fast - on my machine anyway) but it does give a good overall feel of the place.

Another from the museum

I just liked this one very much. Good frame too.