7-in-1 Travel Wallet

My 7-in-1 travel wallet gives you versatility and practicality in a lightweight, minimalist silhouette, whether you’re traveling far afield or on your home turf. It can be used as a traditional wallet that you place in your purse, or wear it over your shoulder, as a clutch, a wristlet, crossbody, on your belt, or around your waist. (Bye,bye fanny bag that id’s you as a tourist.) Plenty of zippered compartments and slots allow you to organize your passport, credit cards, money, driver’s license, business cards, lip balm, sunscreen, pen, and more.

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New Video: My Innovative Vest For Women

Since I travel all the time, I would hate rifling through a cluttered, disorganized shoulder bag to find the one thing I needed. It made me anxious, stressed, and like I was constantly running behind schedule. I went looking for a better bag, or a better coat that would allow me to stay organized and de-cluttered. I was saddened to find that all the things that would help me also made me look like a tourist (making me a target for con artists, pickpockets, and potentially worse), or just plain weren’t flattering. So I took matters into my own hands, and I designed a vest for travel or everyday use with ten, hidden, non-bulging pockets. It looks great, feels great, and is made of the highest quality materials. That wasn’t enough, though. I’d only solved one problem. What about those days where even a vest is too hot? Well I made a travel bag as well. This sleek, minimal design allows you access to all of your important materials right when you need them, while allowing you to stay organized and safe. Check it out this new video (below) and where you can buy one of these innovative vests.

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Gear Review: Cool Weather Skirt

For someone who loves the outdoors year round, I’m easily chilled as soon as the mercury goes below 70 F. So when the first day of fall debuted last week, I retired my thin linen tops and dresses and gauzy skirts -- though I still don sandals until I can no longer tolerate the frigid temperatures -- and stepped into a comfortable, quilted-type Tonia DeBellis skirt. It’s mostly cotton with a little polyester and Spandex, making it warm on a breezy day and form fitting, comfortable whether I’m sitting on a boulder in Central Park or strolling all over the city. It’s short -- way above my knees -- and stylish when paired with black leggings and boots, especially in New York City where a black color palette is still de rigour. Though it doesn’t pack small for my never-check-luggage philosophy, I most likely will wear it on the plane next time I head for the ski slopes where it might be my go-to skirt for lounging around the resort and walking around town.

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My Stylish + Practical Vest and Bag Combo

Have you ever been to a networking event without a bag check and wondered where you were going to leave your voluminous handbag? Or do you like to stop in wine bars as I do but you worried about draping your bag behind your chair or wondered why there are no hooks under the bar? When your cell phone rings, do you rifle through your bag, making yourself a target as you stand on a crowded sidewalk? Or do you keep your phone in your back pocket, which is hardly a secure location?

If you answered yet to any of these questions, then maybe you should think about carrying your vitals -- the things you can't live without -- in a stylish micro bag and vest. When they're worn together, there's no rifling through anything, no looking for a bag check, no worries in the wine bar. Worn together, you have the use of 10 hidden pockets in the vest (6  outside and 4 inside) and 15 pockets and slots in the micro bag. That makes a grand total of 25 pockets/slots. Do you need to use all of these? No, of course not. But at least you have options. And you'll never worry about where you left your bag. And, you'll look fashionable because, after all, who wants to look like a fly fisherman with a multi-pocket vest at a chic wine bar; or a geeky tourist wearing a bulky fanny bag/fanny pack? Think of the bag as the fanny bag antidote.

Who else would wear both or either of these two products:
students on campus
moms about town
anyone tired of neck/backache from toting a heavy bag
people in the hospitality industry
actors going on auditions

The vest is Made in American. And 10% of profits from all sales goes to She's the First, a non-profit dedicated to educating women in 11 countries.

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Micro 7-in-1 Travel Bag for Women + Men

When I travel, I avoid being a target, whether labelled as a tourist or looked at as someone who is carrying around valuables. Instead, I carry my vitals -- all the things I can’t live without -- in a micro travel bag that I designed. It can be worn seven different ways (making it quite adaptable to your travel style) and its silhouette is so minimal, I’ve attended networking events and wine bars, and the people I was standing next to didn’t even realize I was wearing it.

atta-Bag can be purchased here.

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Video: Fashionable + Practical Women's Travel Vest

When you travel, you don't want to be a target, whether labelled as a tourist or as someone carrying valuables. But being savvy and practical shouldn't mean giving up being stylish and fashionable. I designed the Pocket Change multi-pocket vest for women with 10 hidden pockets - so hidden that only you'll know where they are.

Michael-Ann Rowe, an Emmy award winning journalist and TV personality, demonstrates why she loves this vest in this video that you can view here.

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Video: Innovative Stylish + Savvy Vest for Women Travelers

I often travel the world alone, whether to far-flung lands or domestic destinations. Either way, I avoid being a target. I dress modestly, I don’t wear bling jewelry or anything gaudy and, most importantly, I don’t ever carry my vitals --  aka credit cards, passport, driver’s license, cash, cell phone, and so forth -- in a splashy designer bag. Nor do I opt for a fanny bag or other bag or pouch that labels me as a tourist. The idea is that I want something that has a minimalist silhouette and allows me to go from the boardroom to the wine bar.

That’s why I designed the Pocket Change Vest. It’s a stylish vest (it’s lined in satin) for the savvy woman. The 10 pockets -- 6 on the outside, 4 inside -- are so hidden, you’ll be the only one who knows where they are. This is a vest that’s both fashionable and practical, which is what I’m all about. No one will label you a geek when wearing the Pocket Change Vest. If you’re a financial analysis who has meetings all day in Madrid and then you want to get together with friends at night at a tapas bar, you can wear the Pocket Change Vest from day to night, whether with business attire or jeans.

In this three-minute YouTube video, awesome actor and writer India Choquette demonstrates how she uses the vest while waiting to meet a friend.

The Pocket Change Vest is Made in America. It sells for $175, and 10% of annual net profits go toward supporting the efforts of She's The First, a nonprofit that sponsors girls’ education in 11 low-income countries (including Nepal, Guatemala and Sierra Leone) with the goal of creating first-generation graduates and the next generation of global leaders. (After all, I’m a first-generation graduate of Barnard College, and a former educator.)

To find out how to get one of the few of the first-run of this limited edition Pocket Change Vest, contact me here. 

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