MEI VINTAGE BLOG

The best time of the season, holiday spirit is finally back!  Pretty soon, we are leaving one year behind and welcoming a new year, 2013.  There's just something being around family, friends, good food, and reflecting on all the wonderful things that we take for granted in life.  This holiday season, I  am grateful to be able to share my blog with you and continue this journey as a handbag designer!  What are you grateful for?! This holiday season, add some sparkle to your outfit and statement accessories!  I am excited to announce that a couple of our bags were featured in the December issue of Zooey Magazine  with Nikki Reed on the cover.  Shown below, the retro flapover bag featured in the trend section of Zooey Magazine.  Isn't this the perfect outfit for your holiday party? You can shop for the retro flapover here.  

This holiday season, I've decided to be a little creative and started making cards!  Holiday season can be a bit hectic, but if there's one thing I'm going to hand make this holiday season is my own personalized greeting!  DIY greeting cards are the perfect way to send holiday cheer through the mail to loved ones.  I just love folding peace crane as they hold a symbolic meaning.  The crane in Japan is one of the mystical or holy creature and it is commonly said that folding 1,000 paper cranes makes a person's wish come true. So I think this would make a perfect greeting card to all my dear friends and family this holiday season.  It's easy and fun!  Just follow the simple instructions below. Materials: - Brown Kraft recycled cards and envelopes - size 4 3/8 x 4 3/4 - Origami paper or holiday wrapping paper  - size 5 7/8 - Craft glue - Printer Instructions: Simply use Microsoft word doc to create a holiday image for the front of the ...

'Tis the season! Support independent designers and products made in the USA this season! I will be participating in two awesome holiday sales: Unique LA and Renegade Craft Fair !  If you are in CA, please come by and check them out! You are sure to find unique holiday gifts for everyone on your list!  Hope to see you there! Mei Vintage will be at the Eco Section - T52 Look for Mei Vintage at #54

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  BE THANKFUL FOR ALL THAT YOU HAVE IN LIFE!

It was a joy to stumbled upon Luzinterruptus , an anonymous art collective from Madrid, Spain.  They carry out urban installations in public spaces and use light as a raw material and the night as their canvas.  They have been using their art since 2008 to highlight social and environmental issues.  I find their artwork to be original and thought-provoking.  I haven't seen anything quite so beautifully done with such artistic intention.  You can see some of my favorites shown below.    You can see more of their sunning work here:  http://www.luzinterruptus.com

Summer has officially ended, and the sunny weather in California is starting to cool off!  A sure sign when summer has come to an end is when I start layering clothes and gravitate my shopping purchases toward sweaters and autumn color palettes.  I'm starting to gear up for my fall purchases and I am in love with Heidi Merrick's Fall 2012 collection !  She's a California clothing designer and her Fall line was inspired by a popular 80's surfing picture of Shaun Tomson wearing  a board short and a yellow wetsuit vest.  Her fall collection is very clean, soft with poppy colors! I find her collection to be very wearable and great for layering (perfect for California weather)!  The Jeffery's coat and vegan leather skinny pants are on my wishlist and they go perfectly with our Allie Hobo ! Our Allie combines soft woven leather with 100% hemp underlay and adorned with antique brass studs throughout.  It's the perfect everyday bag that will take you from fall...

I finally made it out to the Rose Bowl flea market last Sunday!  With so many activities to do this summer, I barley had time to do any personal shopping for myself.  So last sunday, I decided to treat myself to a sunday flea market adventure in Pasadena!  I always have so much fun discovering unique finds and meeting interesting vendors with great stories to share!  Here's a glimpse of what is like.  If you love finding rare vintage goods then Rose Bowl flea market is the place to be. This is the place to find everything from obscure pieces of furniture to a vintage dress!  It happens the second Sunday of every month.  This place is HUGE so be prepared to walk alot and wear comfortable shoes! It was a super hot sunday in Pasadena.  It was at least 100 degrees so I decided to cut my adventure short and spent most of my time at the antique section of the flea market.  To my surprise, I was super excited to find a lady that was selli...

Summer is in full swing!   You know summer is here when  when you find yourself shopping for cute swimsuits, eating tropical fruits and hitting the beach and planning lots of outdoor activities with friends and family!  I'm a no fuss kinda girl!  So for me, it's essential to travel smart and look naturally put together in no time at all! Currently, my favorite bag is the weekend tote .  I've been carrying this tote for a while now and it's a great carryall bag to store all of my summer essentials.  It's a super lightweight bag made from 100% organic hemp and big enough to hold everything I need.... suncreen, towels, magazines, snacks, fins, you name it! I'm a island girl at heart, so summer just won't be summer without the promise of sun and surf. I've been making the time to go surfing this summer, so this amazing wetsuit from Roxy designed by  Cynthia Rowland is on my wishlist!  I put together a list of my must-have summer e...

It's finally summer and we have some great bags to brighten up your wardrobe!  Our Hermosa crossbody and Ashley shoulder bag are all one-of-a-kind and made from vintage kimonos.  These bold and beautiful prints will defiantly add some color to your outfit this time of year.  The Weekend Tote is another one of our customers' favorites and a great carry-all tote bag made of 100% organic hemp and reclaimed leather.  HURRY!!   SHOP NOW !  Offer Ends: SUNDAY, JULY 1ST @MIDNIGHT.  

Yay! The sun is finally peaking out!  My favorite season is defiantly summer!  For me, summer is all about exploring new places, planning barbeque parties, and wearing playful dresses.  I'm always on the hunt for great dresses.  I've discovered Lauren Moffatt few years ago, and I've been admiring her designs ever since!  Summer is here and we have some great bags to brighten up your wardrobe.  Our Hermosa mini crossbody is a great way to add some color to your outfit!  Here are some of my favorite pieces to wear with the Hermosa .  Hope you like them! 1. Lauren Moffatt dress  2. Prada round sunglasses  3. NARS Love devotion sheer lipstick   4. Sophie Monet Wood bangle  5. Mei Vintage mini crossbody  6. Rachel Comey sandal

Few weeks ago I was super excited to have my good friend Hillary perform another photo magic for me.  This time, it's for the Fall 2012 collection and the photo shoot was taken in her hometown Santa Monica.   Hillary and I met when we attended college in Hawaii and within a short time, we've become great friends and the best roommate anyone could ask for!  It was there that we learned a lot of what shaped the people we'd become later in life.  We learned about hard work, assimilating to a new environment and making friends in an international community.  Ironic enough,  we were both from LA and moved to Hawaii for college and now we are back home creating a new career path.  I am so thankful for her friendship, support and helping me since the inception of Mei Vintage.  All of the pictures on my website was taken by Hillary and what a talented photographer she is.  Some of Hillary's photographs and editorials were featured in Surfer's Jo...

I love unplanned weekend where spontaneous suggestion from a friend turned out to be a fun filled visit to an art gallery.  Last weekend a good friend invited me to check out a new artwork Exhibit at Know Gallery in LA.  I've been there before, but this show in particular was so much fun!  The exhibit took me back to my childhood where I use to watch Sesame Street with my brother and learned ABC and sang along with Elmo!  The show did such a great job at merging childhood nostalgia with street art.  There were over 40 works of art and artists from all over the world.  Thanks to my good friend, the exhibit brought a huge smile to my face! Below are some pictures I took.  Enjoy! Check out this cute video I stumble upon.... Fiest singing 1234 on Sesame Street!

We are excited to be part of the upcoming Urban Air Market where over 150 sustainable designers will be showcasing their own unique designs held in San Francisco on 5/6/2012 @ Hayes Valley Park.  It's an outdoor event that happens only twice a year!  We will be there showcasing our current collection as well giving you a sneak peak of our new designs that we've been working hard on!  Here's a list of designers that will be at this event.  Look for us at booth #57B.  The weather should be nice, so all you SF peeps, please stop by and say hello and support sustainable designs and products made in the USA! See you there!

It's a bit chilly here this morning in Cali,  so I've decided to stay home today and work on some of my new designs while chilling out to music by  Kimbra !  I can't wait to see her live tonight at Bardot .

via here I had a déjà vu moment today when I woke up and checked my inbox.  I came across this inspirational article from Ecouterre .  The topic was about upcycling tips for emerging designers.  This particular article was a great reminder that upcycling as a method for creative fashion design can still be achieved and admired. I started Mei Vintage with the vision of turning the old into something new.  The focal point of my design was to incorporate vintage kimonos and turn it into a unique collection of earthy timeless handbags .  At first it sounded like a simple idea, but the process turned out to be not so simple.  It was a challenge to find unwanted materials and keeping production methods as cost effective and sustainable as possible.  With a lot of research and determination, I finally had a clear vision.  The result was to use a combination of new, recycled and organic materials while keeping all production locally.  During...

Last week I attended the largest fashion tradeshow in Vegas called Magic !   There were wonderful leather handbag s to be seen. We were there to showcase our new collection at the POOLTRADESHOW that focused on art and design driven brands.  It was a jammed packed three day show filled with fashion, entertainment and lots of selling.  Here's a behind the scene look: Setting up our booth at Mandalay Bay Convention Center: Sharing a booth with Kori, a talanted hat designer of Flipside Hats based in Oregon. Me and Kyla from Flipside Hats showing off our trend at Style Stalker Studio A snapshot of the giant fashion marketplace at POOLTRADESHOW !  Check out the displays, fashion, entertainment and art! After a successful show at Magic, I had a free day to relax and unwind!  We spent a day walking around Vegas strip.  2012 is the year of the dragon and Bellagio created this amazing Chinese themed flower garden surrounded by dragons!  ...

It has been a busy month for me preparing for POOLTRADESHOW.  I caught a terrible cold the week before Vegas so I forgot to mention about my exciting giveaway with EcoStiletto.   Click here to enter. Today is the last day, but you still have a chance to win one of our most popular Hermosa leather Clutches .  It's a great Spring/Summer leather purse especially if you are planning on taking a vacation.  It's really lightweight and holds most of your essentials.  I will announce the winner next week.  I am excited to be back home from a long week in Vegas.  I will tell you more about my Vegas tradeshow in my upcoming blog.  There were lots of exciting new products and fashion trends at the show that I can't wait to share.  The weather is so pretty in Cali so I can't wait to relax and enjoy my weekend!  Have a great Presidents weekend everyone!

I am excited to hear about the upcoming Target collaboration with Jason Wu !  Starting Feb. 5th (yay, only few days away) you can get your very own Jason Wu designer pieces at Target.  If you haven't heard by now, Jason Wu is a taiwanese-born and Manhattan-based designer that came to fame while designing First Lady Michelle Obama's gorgeous white dress. His cocktail dresses retail from $3,000 to $6,000 and daydress are from $1,000 to $4,000.  Some of Jason Wu's dresses have also been seen on celebrities like Meester, Amber Valetta and Kerry Washington.  Check out his current collection here . He's collection for Target is very figure flattering and oh so affordable.  Lots of flirty dresses, pretty blouses, and figure flattering shorts that lengthen your legs. Can't wait to support my fellow Taiwanese and stock up on some of his amazing pieces for Spring! Pics via here   Jason Wu for Target Commercial 

What a gorgeous day in Hermosa wonderful brainstorm on my next leather handbags and wallets !  Can you believe it's 75 degrees and not a cloud in the sky! It's days like today that I am especially thankful that I live in Cali. Checking out stand-up paddlers View of South Bay  Wearing my red vintage Moschino ballet flat for my bike ride today... so cute and comfy! View of South Bay ..... not a cloud in the sky!!