Travelling through time

I found it: my ideal suitcase. Merci's Liberty print vanity case re-ignited my vintage suitcase obsession earlier this month, so when I came across this old-school travelling companion in Brighton's Snooper's Paradise, I was delighted to find that it was in full working order. It closes snugly, has pleasingly chunky buckles and is generally in top-notch condition. I suspect that this is because it's actually quite new - just designed in a retro-style - but this matters not to me, and £15 was a bargain price for such an essential piece.

It'll do me for my annual Cornish holiday and my Canadian honeymoon, and I've become quite defensive when it comes to questions of its practicality. "I'd never buy a suitcase like that; it doesn't have wheels", the girlfriend of a male colleague shared in the queue. No one's asking you to buy it, random rude girl...."That's going to accomodate nearly two week's worth of clothes?" Irish asked sceptically. "No, it's going to hold my flowery dresses. The heavy stuff will be going in your wheeley suitcase, darling".

It looks damn cool, alright, and I'm not planning on taking it trekking up Kilamanjaro. I just can't say no to Mad Men bags...

Merci beacoup

I need a new suitcase for my Canadian honeymoon and if this one wasn't so mini, it'd be perfect. Old-school, pretty, and in full working order, unlike the many I spot in vintage shops and flea markets and have to talk myself out of buying - no one wants their dirty holiday washing bursting out onto the airport concorse.

The case is part of a collaboration between Parisian concept store Merci and Liberty London, which is renowned for its prints, and at £45 it's more afforable than many pieces in the collection. But, unless I shrink to doll-size between now and September, sadly there exists no justification for such a pretty vanity case.