My Stella Falabella

I went to Vegas last weekend without a Stella McCartney Falabella Deer Flap Shoulder Bag, and thanks to the Rob the Best. Husband. Ever., I came home with one :)

Yes, Rob the Husband will now go by his new moniker, Rob the Best. Husband. Ever.

Actually, that takes too long to type. Screw it.

The journey to my Stella Falabella was long and frought with peril (ok, not really...unless you look at my current bank statement), and it began many moons ago (more like six months ago, but whatever).

Back in January, when I decided to take steps towards flirting with a kinder lifestyle, one of the things I was struggling with was rationalizing the concept of never eating meat again. Allow me to give you some insight into what my animal product consuming self was thinking at the time:

Limiting meat...sure. Giving it up entirely....insane. After all, I'd be doing this first and foremost for ethical reasons, and I wear leather, so how does it make sense to give up meat if I wear leather and sleep under a down-filled duvet and retire to my study every night to admire my collection of moose heads? 


It's kinda dumb, right? Ergo, so is the idea of giving up meat. 


That settles that.


Unless...


Oh shit. 


Shitshitshitshitshit.


No more wearing animals or sleeping under them or admiring their decapitated heads on my wall. 


Shitshitshitshitshit.


Then my animal product consuming self tried to approach this predicament from another angle...

Leather Is Not Bad. I would never wear fur, of course...fur is just evil. But leather is efficient. It's about not being wasteful. Use the whole cow. Otherwise you'd just throw the skin away and what good would that be? After all, I eat cows, so it doesn't make sense not to wear them.


Unless....


Oh shit.


Shitshitshitshitshitshit.


The whole eating cows thing was a rational justification for wearing them. It was such a natural part of my life and upbringing....I eat them, so what's wrong with wearing them? And of course I want the real leather shoes...much better quality after all. Of course I want the real leather purse...fake just looks cheap.

But it didn't make sense. If I wanted to live a kinder life, I'd have to recognize that it involved more than eliminating certain things from my diet. I'd have to eliminate certain things from my closet and household as well. And that sucked. I'm surrounded by a lot of animal products.

It sucked even more when I had my Petunia Piglet epiphany around Valentines Day and realized that I really didn't want to ever eat meat again. I started feeling a bit guilty about all the stuff in my home (and closet, especially) that came from exploiting an animal.

But then, right on cue (I tell ya, timing has been on my side in this Kind lifestyle shift), I came across something Alicia said: Use what you have, and don't buy any more.

I was totally down with that. I could still strut in my Cole Haan boots, lounge on my leather couch (I'm currently typing this while sitting on my leather kitchen chairs), and wear my ivory tiarra...I just didn't need to buy any more.

I started looking up vegan designers, and was instantly drawn to Matt & Nat and Stella McCartney. I got super excited when a few days after learning about them, I found a Matt & Nat purse at Winners.

Score!

This has become my every day purse, having replaced my go-to leather purses. I am still deciding what I want to do with them. In the aforementioned Alicia post, Alicia states that while she will buy secondhand stuff that has leather in it, she's not comfortable sporting something that screams, "I was a dead animal." I totally get where she's coming from here, as I'm really no longer into wearing my leather jacket or purses.

Yah, I love my Matt & Nat :)

And this brings me to the story of my Stella Falabella.

Stella McCartney, of course, is vegan. For her contemporaries in the high fashion industry, using fur and skins is the norm. Stella is definitely one of the pioneers of her industry, applying a philosophy based on ethics and sustainability to her clothing and accessory lines.

I heart her :)

I was super excited to discover that there was a Stella McCartney store in Vegas, cuz we were going to Vegas for the bff's b-day. AND we were staying at Aria at City Centre, where Crystals was located, where the Stella McCartney store was.

Perfect.

So on Saturday 24.0 Rob and I moseyed into the Stella store, where I was immediately drawn to a gorgeous pair of nude pumps...but I knew I'd get much more use out of a purse, so I moseyed over to the purses and fell in love.

There were SO MANY beautiful bags, large and small. I couldn't pick which one I loved most, which ended up being a non-issue really because even the cute little ones were all beyond my tax bracket. I stuck around and touched and caressed and fondled the bags in what I'm sure was an inappropriate manner, hoping to find an elusive sale sticker or something. Finally, dehydration from drooling set in, and we left the store, saddened that I wouldn't be giving one of the Stella Falabella bags a good home.

Rob and I discussed the possibility of winning a sweet slot machine jackpot before the end of our trip and coming back for a bag, and while we certainly enjoyed our share of ups on the casino floor, on our last night in Vegas we ended up retiring to our room $230 down (boo).

I tried to put Stella out of my head and enjoy our last day in Vegas poolside, and succeeded. It's amazing how a little eating and drinking and swimming and tanning with awesome friends can distract you from thinking about spectacularly gorgeous vegan purses. As we went back to the hotel room later in the day to grab our bags and leave for the airport, I didn't suspect anything when Rob said he needed to run to the gift shop.

I organized our bags and waited in the room for him for about 20 minutes, until finally he showed up with a huge smile on his face holding a bottle of Voss water. I didn't remember the gift shop carrying Voss, so I was a little like, "What the eff? Where'd you get the Voss?"

Then he gave me a kiss and said, "I got it for free. Don't hate me. Go open the door."

So I opened the hotel room door.

Holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshit.

There was a tan and brown Stella McCartney shopping bag on the floor right outside the room. Apparently you get a free bottle of Voss when you buy something there.

Holyshitholyshitholyshitholyshit.

I couldn't believe it. Seriously, I couldn't believe it.

I freaked out for a few seconds as he took pictures of me making some really unattractive faces while I was opening the bag.

And finally, I was in possession of the MOST GORGEOUS Stella McCartney Falabella Deer Flap Shoulder Bag.

I love this bag.

I love that it's vegan.

I love that it's classy.

I love the contrast of the soft material and chain detailing.

I love that an animal did not have to die for me to enjoy it.

I love that it's made by a designer who is going against the grain of her industry with her commitment to animal and eco-friendly fashion.

I love that my husband picked it out.



I love having Rob on board for this Kind journey. It makes it easier and so much more enjoyable to do it together.



And while he didn't have to buy me the MOST GORGEOUS Stella McCartney Falabella Deer Flap Shoulder Bag to retain his status as the Best. Husband. Ever., I certainly won't hold it against him.

By the way, I was totally kidding about the moose heads and ivory tiara.

Or was I?