For some reason, Louis Vuitton hits it out of the park for Valentine’s Day better than any other brand this side of Cartier. (Not that Cartier does anything in particular for the holiday, but, you know, DIAMONDS.) Vuitton always has a few heart-shaped small leather goods on hand at this time of year for the occasion, and this year’s V-Day vernis is striped in red and pink (it also comes in a darker jewel-toned version). If you think the lady on your list has enough key holders, wallets and bag charms to last a lifetime, Vuitton also has a couple jewelry options. We’ve picked a few of the best after the jump, and many of the options are $500 or less. The entire range can be found at LouisVuitton.com, and remember, the big day is only a week away.

Louis Vuitton Coeur Coin Purse, $500 via Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton Lock Me Earrings, $460 via Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton Vernis Striped Mirror Case, $360 via Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton Coeur Rayures Key Holder, $350 via Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton Vernis Sarah Wallet, $815 via Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton Lock Me Bracelet, $580 via Louis Vuitton

Python, brights, neon, trends, Spring 2012, etc. You guys know the drill. I’ve typed variations on that sentence a million times already and it’s only February, and based on my own personal contemplation of the purchase of an orange lace dress yesterday, I don’t think it’s going to abate anytime soon. That’s fine by me; summer is a time to enjoy a particular sort of fashion extreme, and that opportunity should be seized while it’s still available.

Emilio Pucci, it would seem, is all about seizing the opportunity. Or at least seizing the python – the new batch of Emilio Pucci Python Accessories that just hit Net-a-Porter will envelope everything from passports to iPad in bold snakeskin goodness. The stuff inside your bag wants to get in on the trend too, naturally. Lucky for all of us, these pieces come in multiple colors.

Emilio Pucci Neon Python iPad Case, $850 via Net-a-Porter

Emilio Pucci Neon Python Passport Cover, $350 via Net-a-Porter

Emilio Pucci Neon Python iPhone Sleeve, $390 via Net-a-Porter

You’ve made your list, you’ve checked it twice and…you’ve found some gaps. Although everyone is covered, technically, there might be some people on your list who you feel deserve a little bit more, or maybe a few people who you’d like to give a token of your appreciation. Naturally, though, you don’t want to go overboard; not only do we all have budgets, but buying something too lavish for a casual friend or colleague can be a faux pas.

That’s where this last-minute installment of our Holiday Gift Guide 2011 comes in: Stocking Stuffers!. From $15 to $98, we have plenty of suggestions to soothe your gifting panic. Hurry up and order, though – shipping takes time, which is something you’re running out of quickly.

The ONE by Subtle Luxury Carryall Bag is an easy gift for anyone looking to buy a girl in her teens or 20s – daughters? Nieces? Close friends’ daughters? Your son’s girlfriend? It’s a functional choice in the most popular print of the season. Buy through ShopBop for $80.

Sporty, simple watches are very trendy right now, and this sunshine-y Nixon Time Tell Rubber Watch will take its wearer straight into spring and summer. Best of all, Nixon makes them in a veritable rainbow of colors. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $60.

If you’d rather go glam with your wrist-related gifts, the J.Crew Crystal Enameled Bracelet is a strong vintage-feeling piece with a hand-enameled exterior. Buy through J.Crew for $68.

Let’s say the person on your list has champagne tastes that don’t match up with your beer budget – CHANEL by François Baudot and François Aveline is a set of three hardcover books that will meet both of your requirements. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $75.

Keeping up with a journal is hard, but the Keel’s Simple Diary Volume II makes it surprisingly easy – every page of this chic little tome has a handful of questions about each day that let you reflect for a moment without any melodrama. Buy through Taschen for $15.

I have a Marc by Marc Jacobs Pretty Nylon Printed Pouch from a previous season and I use it for EVERYTHING – it’s great to store your electronics and chargers while traveling (it’ll fit a Kindle with lots of room for other stuff!), it holds small items in a big, disorganized handbag, it’ll work as a makeup bag. The material is more thick and cushioned than you’d expect, and the size is generous. Plus, patterns never show wear. Buy through ShopBop for $62.

Nail polish has experienced an incredibly uptick in trendiness lately, and Deborah Lippmann’s glittering, unique colors are leading the charge. The Deborah Lippmann Get This Party Started set includes one of her previous hits (Happy Birthday) and two cool new variations. Someone buy this for me, please. Buy through Neiman Marcus for $42.

It took me a little while to get on board with such spendy candles, but I bought a Jo Malone Blue Agava and Cacao Scented Candle last week and haven’t regretted the expenditure for a moment. This scent is my favorite of Malone’s – warm, inviting and totally luxurious. (Side note – I have no idea why the description calls it citrus-y. It’s not even close.) Buy through Neiman Marcus for $65.

The Wool and the Gang Snood Dogg DIY Wool Scarf Kit is the perfect gift for the crafter in your life who can’t tear herself away from Pinterest. It includes everything you need to make a gorgeous scarf (Net-a-Porter has pictures of the finished product!), and it’s so cute that it almost makes me want to take up knitting. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $95.

We all know that it’s the season of giving, and that the warm fuzzies that come from making someone else’s day with a thoughtful token of your appreciation are totally worth all of the effort that you’re putting in to selecting the perfect presents. But what about you? The most important relationship of your life is the one that you have with yourself, after all. The Twitter hashtag #treatyoself has been going around for a while, and we think that for the holidays, it’s particularly apt.

Dealing with family and travel and arranging time off from work and making sure everyone else is happy is often a burden that falls disproportionately on the women in any given family, so we’ve arranged a small group of treats, all under $200, to inspire a little bit of self-appreciation. After all, if you’re going to cook Christmas dinner, you probably deserve presents above and beyond everyone else’s. If you have more ideas, leave them in the comments.

I can personally recommend the J.Crew Zip Leather Gloves – I just got a pair in the mail to tide me over until really serious gloves are necessary. They come in three colors of incredibly soft Italian leather, and the grey cashmere lining offers a bit of extra warmth. The wrist-length cut and little gold zippers make me feel like a 1960s girl super hero. Buy through J.Crew for $98.

The Cambridge Satchel Company Fluoro Satchel is easily the most affordable It Bag on the accessories market right now – at $155, you’re not going to find any other options that have graced so many street style websites. ShopBop just restocked it in all of the best brights, so now you can avoid the annoyance of international shipping if you live in the US. Buy through ShopBop for $155.

So many wonderful fashion books have come out in the past year, but for a bag lover, the CFDA American Fashion Accessories Book, edited by Conde Nast accessories guru Candy Pratts Price, is an absolute no-brainer. Buy through ShopBop for $50.

Being a full-time accessories blogger means that, of all people, I’m usually pretty “up” on the trends. Not because I’m extra super cool (even though I am, trust), but merely because it’s a requirement of my continued employment, and like all of us, I’d very much like to continue to be employed. With that in mind, even I couldn’t have predicted that luxury leather coozies (FINE. They’re cup holders. But “coozie” is a much better word, and not all that wrong.) would become a thing that we all now have available to us.

I first covered the Hermes Coozie a couple of weeks ago, and now that the Internet at large has begun to discover its existence, people are pulling random leather cup holders out of all kinds of weird corners of the accessories business. As a result, we have the Jimmy Choo Rika Cup Holder in embossed croc to present to you today. Watch out, though – it’s only $25 less than the Hermes version. This is why they hate us, ladies. But wait, what? There’s now a CROCODILE version of the Hermes cup holder?

Image via Styleite.com

Yes, this is a thing. The crocodile version costs $250 to the regular leather’s $190, but based on the prices for other Hermes small leather goods in exotic leathers, that seems lower than I would have expected. Like the leather version, the crocodile cup holder is part of the Petite h collection, which is Hermes’ effort to use scraps of leather, silk and other materials that are used in its regular products that might have otherwise been thrown away.

Most luxury houses are incredibly wasteful, particularly those like Hermes who have the most meticulous of standards for what might constitue a flaw in a piece of material, rendering it useless for its normal products. The effort to use the waste toward something playful that consumers might enjoy is a good one, and Hermes has said that these products will only be manufactured when extra material is available. It’s like extremely high-end recycling, which is likely why the prices (relative to other Hermes price points) are low. For a brand with rabid collectors, these kinds of small items make a certain amount of sense; they cut down on waste and satisfy a group of customers that is willing to shell out money for anything with an H on it. Brilliant.

Jimmy Choo, on the other hand, would simply like to sell you another nearly useless leather doodad, and for nearly the same price as Hermes. If you somehow find yourself needing to choose between the two (and I’m not really sure how someone gets to a point in life where that’s a decision that needs making), I think that the correct choice is obvious. Buy the Jimmy Choo version for $165 via JimmyChoo.com, or contact your local Hermes store for more information on how to obtain Petite h products, if any are left. (One never knows these things with Hermes.)

Megs and I: Incurable Proenza Schouler fangirls, as you all know. We both have PS1s (mine newly acquired via Net-a-Porter’s sale!), I have one of the duo’s simple wallets from their first-ever e-commerce venture, and it seems like we talk on nearly a weekly basis about what Proenza bag we’re thinking about buying or hopelessly stalking or dying to see in person. Even though our personal styles are different, they overlap when it comes to Proenza.

When the brand released several new wallet and pouch designs earlier this week, we were both smitten. As Megs posted earlier this week about the new PS1s, the bright colors make the new releases even better.

Because these pieces are technically a part of Pre-Spring 2012, the colors are bright and sunshine-y takes on yellow, pink and coral (with a little while thrown in for good measure, just to keep things grounded). The new models include the PS1 Small Zip Case, priced at $345, the PS1 Small Zip Wallet, priced at $495, and the PS1 Large Zip Wallet, priced at $560. I’m leaning toward the pouch in pink, personally, but I can think of friends who would love all of these pieces as gifts. It’s amazing how well the PS1 motif lends itself to all different kinds of bags and accessories.

File this under: Things I Never Expected to See.

Hermes makes a lot of unexpected products; the company has done a great job transitioning from a leather goods brand to a full-on, ultra-luxury lifestyle brand, and with that comes unexpected pieces (flask, anyone?) to help Hermes devotees spread the French leather love into all areas of their lives. Now, with the Hermes Cup Cozy, you can Hermes-ify your day from the very beginning with your morning cup of coffee. After all, who wants to wrap their $5 latte in cardboard? That’s so pedestrian.

Technically (if this issue can even be technical), this item is not a coozie, although I suppose you could put it on any drink you saw fit; I merely enjoy imagining a frosty Coors Lite at a football tailgate with $200 of Hermes leather wrapped around it. Instead, as I mentioned, it’s intended to protect your hand from the warmth that radiates from coffee in a disposable cup. One would worry about drips and spills, but if you’re buying this kind of knickknack, the idea of ruining something that costs a mere three figures probably doesn’t keep you up at night.

If that sounds like you, make your buying decisions and proceed to checkout quickly. This limited edition piece is part of Petite H, an Hermes project that runs online until November 22nd and offers unexpected pieces from Hermes artisans. If nothing else, an Hermes coffee sleeve is certainly unexpected. They come in three colors, but I think yellow is the clear winner. Buy through Hermes for $190.

Have any of you ladies ever seen Life with Father? It’s a 1947 movie starring Irene Dunne and a 15-year-old Elizabeth Taylor, and it is absolutely hysterical. If you’ve never seen it, it’s a great movie to watch with your mom while visiting over the holidays, if you can get your hands on a DVD copy. I can personally promise that you’ll laugh more than you ever have at a classic movie.

The reason that Life with Father is relevant to a post about the Gucci Oliver Pug Dog Key Chain should be obvious to anyone familiar with the movie – in it, Irene Dunne has an unbelievably funny argument with her long-suffering husband over how she intends to get their son a suit of clothes for free from a department store by returning a ceramic statuette of a pug (which she calls a “pug dog” each time she refers to it), and the idea of returning one item to justify the purchase of another and convincing yourself that you’re getting the second for “free” should sound familiar to most shopping addicts. I’d never return this cute little pup, though. Not a chance.

This charm makes me smile even more than it would on its own because my mom and I refer to the idea of returning an ill-advised purchase to get something else “for free” as the Pug Dog Principle, but even without that little bit of personal attachment, this Gucci pup is still one of the cutest bag charms I’ve ever seen. If he had popped up in time for my Guide to Bag Charms last week, he would have undoubtedly had a starring role in that post, and as it is, he should still be on your gifting list. In fact, if you wanted to get one for me, I’d be your friend forever. I’d even promise to not return it and put the money toward a pair of Alaia shoes. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $185.

It’s upon us, you guys. The holiday shopping season. It keeps starting earlier and earlier, but I refuse even to utter the words “holiday shopping” before Halloween is dead and buried. Today’s date is November 3rd, so I guess it’s time to stop pretending that Christmas isn’t barreling at us at top speed and start thinking about potential gifts. For those of you who refuse to think about Christmas until after Thanksgiving, I completely understand, but I like to beat the rush.

Today, I’d like to tackle the question of what you buy for a bag lover when your budget isn’t huge. Someone who regularly treats themselves to bags worth four figures is a hard person to shop for, after all, when your target price range for a gift is likely somewhat lower. For me, the perfect answer is a bag charm. All of the ones we’ve chosen can double as a chic key fob if the recipient would rather not hang anything on the outside of her bag, but I’d display any of these proudly. Sometimes it’s fun to make your bag your own.

Louis Vuitton Les Illustrés Key Holder

Louis Vuitton is the unequivocal master of this product category, and I’m partial to the witty illustrations on the brand’s most recent line. $240 via Louis Vuitton.

Michael Kors Pompom Key Chain

Fur bag accents are a huge trend right now, but you don’t need to buy a new purse to get the look. Attach this accessory to anything in your current collection and you’re instantly au courant for a very reasonable price. $24 via Neiman Marcus.

Miu Miu Microbag

There’s something undeniably hilarious about accessorizing your bag with another, tinier bag. $380 via Miu Miu.

Prada Trick Rhyna Bag Trick

We love all of Prada’s adorable holiday bag tricks, but this vaguely Gaga-inspired version is the best of them. They’re not available yet, but it’s rumored they will cost around $150.

Marc by Marc Jacobs Handbag Charm Watch

If you want your bag charm to do something other than just be cute, perhaps you’d prefer a very modern take on the traditional watch on a chain. Let’s be real, though – you’ll still check the time on your cell phone. $250 via ShopBop.

See by Chloe Nutter Squirrel Key Fob

My favorite thing about bag charms is that they tend to be whimsical and silly in an arena that can get self-serious and boring, and what’s more whimsical than a stylized squirrel with a prized nut? $115 via Net-a-Porter.

Diane von Furstenberg Roxie Tassel Key Ring

If you want to spice up a boring bag but don’t want your bag charm to look out of place, a black leather tassel is your best choice in most situations. $30 via ShopBop.

Jimmy Choo Teddy Luggage Tag

Similar to a leather tassel, a stylized luggage tag looks like it might have been part of the bag from the very start. Try one in a print for extra impact. $250 via Net-a-Porter.

Louis Vuitton Fleur D’Etoile Bag Charm

We’ve already featured one Vuitton option in this list, but LV makes so many different kinds of bag charms that I couldn’t help but add another, completely different option to the list. This one is so pretty and ladylike that it’s almost jewelry. $445 via Louis Vuitton.

I am a huge Jonathan Saunders fangirl, and it has long been my fervent hope that Saunders would dip his very fashionable toe into the accessories pool. Although Jonathan Saunders x Smythson doesn’t include any handbags, the lovely colorblocked notebooks and iPad cases give me hope that some day, maybe not too far in the future, I’ll get to review a bonafide Jonathan Saunders purse. Or just a wallet. I’d settle for a wallet!

In the meantime, the Jonathan Saunders x Smythson Soho and Panama Diaries will have to do. What chic notebooks to carry in your purse or work bag! I know that most of us probably use our smartphones for short notes now, but doesn’t a leather-bound diary seem positively civilized in comparison?

At first blush, the Saunders/Smythson collaboration might seem counterintuitive. Although both brands are British (and the Brits do love to collaborate with each other), Jonathan Saunders is know for sharp modernism. He mixes colors and prints like a master, and his digitized patterns have been some of my favorites over the past several season. Smythson, on the other hand, is a very traditional leather goods company that’s been around for well over a century.

These pieces marry the two aesthetics well, though. Modern ideas in familiar shapes are something of a Saunders signature, and when toned down to his colorblocked essence, Saunders does fit within the Smythson brand image. I would have rather seen two patterned panels instead of two solid colors, but this collaboration is a good start to give Saunders the push he needs toward a full accessories line. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $515 and $245, respectively.