Put my name on it, so I know it's real.
Customisation, personalisation and putting your initials on everything you can
The Starter 🍤
Have you been personally victimised by bag charms?
Have you been tangled up in a gaggle of Labubus trying to get off the subway car and missed your Dentist appointment? Were you just trying to listen to your audiobook, and couldn’t hear over the jingle-jangle of someone’s jungle of sentimental tchotchkes banging on their bag? Maybe you are the bag charm perpetrator, and now have a crick in your shoulder from overloading your tote with miniature versions of the Miu Miu micro skirt and Prada robots?
You may be due compensation! Whatever your bag charm inconvenience please call 1-800-TREND-VICTIM.
I JEST, I JEST! I love a bag charm — I don’t love excessive bag charms, but I appreciate a little something to jazz up a bag, set it apart from someone else’s. About a year ago bag charms rose their tiny, adorable heads out of their fashion coffins from 2016, and this certainly wasn’t random.
Fashion recently has felt so…stale, what with the whole *whispers* quiet luxury epidemic. Paired with luxury feeling more ‘mass market’: we see a lot of the same pieces over and over again.
AND THUS, we are seeking ways in which to put our own spin on things, make them feel more special, help them stand out from the crowd.
There’s probably also a much more intellectual take on this, that involves the fact that we ‘own’ much less in today’s society (e.g. subscription streaming services, home ownership is down), and this is one way we can put our name on something, albeit very literally, but I’m just a light-hearted fashion girl hehe.
Hence the bag charms, but the customisation doesn’t end there. I’ve been keeping my beady little eyes open for more signs of personalisation, and yes some brands have always offered such options, but it is RAMPANT in 2025.
The Main Course 🍔
I’m going to spare us the obvious, so here are some options you may not know about (they also make great gifts)…
Customisation Key:
🔠 - Initials/Name only
🎆 - Full customisations (she’s 1 of 1, baby!)
🛠️ - DIY (you’re given the tools, but it’s up to you what you do with them)
🔠 Versace Bathrobes/Leisurewear - There really is only one robe that makes you feel like a manipulative, yet lovably rogue Mafia wife and that is a Versace robe. I’m sorry, the Missoni ones don’t make you feel the same way. I swan about my rented flat like I own the building, as soon as that Versace logoed terry cloth sits on my shoulders. Anyway, I bought mine ages ago, but I wish I hadn’t, because now you can have them personalised with up to 9 characters on the back, and 2 characters on the front. The fun doesn’t stop there, because this personalisation also stretches into leisurewear and beach towels.
🔠 Paravel Luggage - I feel like monogrammed luggage can either be done very fabulously, or it looks awful. Paravel’s is done is a very chic way - up to 3 letters can be printed just above the vegan leather stripe. My Paravel cases are very durable and crucially light (so I can max that luggage allowance), my only qualm is that they don’t do a huge trunk size. TUMI, another excellent luggage brand, also allows for 3 letter customisation on the rectangular leather tag on the front of the cases.
The ‘Aviator Grand’? Chic. 🎆 Personalised Stationary - The sky is truly the limit with this one. If you’re wonderfully creative and a graphic design genius, you could mock up a little something yourself and send it to a local printer. If you’re fabulous and vista-print isn’t going to cut it, then local stationers are a great place to explore. She’s not local to me, but Alexa Pulitzer is incredible (she did my wedding invitations), injects some classical whimsy into her designs and ships internationally. Crane also makes some luxurious items you’d gladly have your name on. If you need some form of direction (Me), then Etsy has an array of options - I just ordered this notepad with a lime green trim. Papier is also wonderful, they have some great general designs for notecards and notebooks. I was perusing the website this week and ended up with a ‘wellness journal’ with my name on it in my cart…
‘Wavy Trim’ Notecard Set via Papier 🛠️ Miu Miu’s Custom Studio - As I mentioned in my newsletter a couple of weeks ago, Miu Miu is two feet into the customisation game, but this time with shoes. There’s now a dedicated section of the Miu Miu website meant to inspire you to clip on tiny “tricks” (why have they named their charms that?) and brooches onto your sneakers.
🎆 Louis Vuitton Trunk Artists - You might already know that LV offers an array of canvas and leather pieces that can be customised with up to 3 hot stamped initials, and perfume bottles can be engraved. However, hard-sided luggage and trunks can be hand-painted in LV stores, and my gosh those trunk artists can paint.
🛠️ Fendi Handle Covers - If you have a Fendi Peekaboo, or you’ve been considering one, they now sell these handle covers so that you can switch the vibe up depending on the season, your outfit, or which boyfriend you’re seeing that day.
🔠 Guerlain Refillable Ultra Care Lipstick - I feel like this is so under the radar and it’s so brilliant. After you’ve chosen your lipstick colour, you can then choose from 9 fancy cases to house the lipstick: from leopard print and marble, to croc, and fully blinged out. Once that’s decided, you can engrave up to 15 letters on the mirror!
Sod Pokemon, I want to catch all of these. 🛠️ Charmed Sunglasses - The latest accessory that’s caught the charmed bug are sunglasses. Aperçu have designated frames with a circular cut out in the arms, and a selection of charms you can clip on. Chloé have also launched two styles complete with a tiny banana and pineapple gently tapping your temples; even Louis Vuitton has a pair.
🛠️ Loquet Necklaces - This brand is my new hyper fixation- they’ve singlehandedly made charm bracelets and lockets extremely cool. You start off with an empty Loquet, that you fill with tiny little charms - there’s everything from an octopus and a champagne glass to a coffee cup and palm tree. The charms swim around their little gilded cage and the Loquet fills up as you go through life…it’s poetic.
The sold out ‘Bee My Love Gift Set’ 🔠 Personalised Handbags - Maybe it’s a special occasion…or just because you made it through the week, but Judith Leiber has a range of styles that you can bedazzled with your name. Edie Parker also offers a range of clutch styles, vanity trays and tabletop lighters that you can emblazon your name on.
🎆 Bag Bijoux by Ashna Mehta - Just an insanely RICH way to personalise your Hermès quota bag.
Feel free to share more personalisation options in the comments!
The Sides 🥗
Things are looking up!
Burberry
The rumours are still swirling that this is Daniel Lee’s final collection for the brand, but I hope that’s not true. This collection was fab and the outerwear you know, the thing that Burberry should be known for…was excellent.
Gucci
The design team presented the FW25 collection while we await the announcement of the next Creative Director. I was disappointed by the bags to be honest, but the costume jewellery really caught my eye - the horsebit lariat and choker are 🔥. I like the focus on the horsebit throughout the ready to wear and accessories, but I have strong words to share if they do in fact scrap the Ancora Rosso colour.
Fendi
Fendi is a Pisces too! They celebrated their 100th anniversary with a show headed up by Silvia Venturini Fendi and in a word, it was: RICH. Rich fabrics like luxurious quilted satins, rich embellishments like chunky crystals and textiles that you have to be rich to buy…exotics.
Note: fur (both real and faux) is big at MFW this season.
Versace
I loved it! Versace didn’t hold back on the maximalism, and played to their silken baroque strengths. Versace bags don’t really get my heart racing, so I was purely focused on the clothes, and I was locked in from the moment I saw the opulent duvets fashioned into dresses and a coat (yes, please).
Rumours are going around that Donatella is retiring and I can’t deal with that. Say it ain’t so!
The Dessert… 🧁
What I’ve been…
Listening to: 2 Hands - Tate McRae, 911 - Wyclef Jean ft. Mary J Blige (a classic)
Reading: I finished “A Girl Like Us” by Anna Sophia McLoughlin and I would very much recommend (5⭐️). I’ve been far too intrigued by everyone going on about The Empyrean Series by Rebecca Yarros so I’ve started “Fourth Wing”.
Watching: The Gilmore Girls (yep, for the fifth time), the DSquared2 show (it was FUN).
Buying: The aforementioned Papier wellness journal and personalised notepad.
Doing: Nothing too out of the ordinary!
The Tea/Coffee… ☕️
Bose Ultra Open Ear Buds - I was sent these just in time for my birthday and have been grabbing for them every chance I can. They '“hook” onto the ears like an ear cuff and don’t actually go into the ears like we’re used to. Surprisingly, you can hardly feel them and the sound quality is great, because they’re Bose. I did think one bud wasn’t working at one point, but it turns out I’d put it on backwards, so it can take a little adjusting to a new style. I also like that they aren’t noise cancelling, so I can still be aware of what’s going on around me. It’s worth noting the case is slightly larger than both kinds of airpods cases (in case you’re a TBE girly), and you have to download a Bose app to connect them (it seems to be a one-and-done set up), but generally I’m a fan!
Note: I haven’t really used it to take/answer calls so I can’t comment on that.
Motif Renew Toner - you can feel this toner going to WORK. I’m only using this once a week at night and follow it up with a nice comforting moisturiser - my gosh she works, I wake up in the morning with a clean slate 😶🌫️.
I didn’t care much for the Dr Dennis Gross Vitamin C Firm & Bright Serum - I didn’t see a difference in my brightness, so I’m moving on from it and trying out an Allies of Skin serum (their copper repair serum is amazing) instead.
Everyone seems to love the Hanni Splash Salve, and whilst I like the concept (you put in on like a moisturiser before you get out of the shower), I hate the fact that it’s in a pot and I have to dig the product out like a mole. I wish it was slightly less thick, so it could coat the ol’ limbs a little easier.
I hope you enjoyed this one, and feel free to let me know what you thought in the comments!
Love,
Ca$$ie
And just like that…. I want a Versace robe to be the lady of the manor 👸
That golden baguette tho 😍🤤