Chanel Handbags and Purses (Page 3)

Shop Chanel bags and accessories via Chanel online

Happy Labor Day to all of our US readers! I spent much of the weekend on the couch because I somehow caught a cold, but that didn’t keep me from feeling a deep Chanel obsession. Not only did it take over every part of my being, but it also gave me the urge to scour both my closet and my girlfriend’s to look at Chanel pieces.

In doing so, I found the perfect compilation of Chanel everything for an accessories post. Of course I had to have a Chanel bag, and the classic caviar Timeless Clutch is a favorite. This is my girlfriend’s bag and one of her favorite evening clutches because it is both spacious and totally chic. Unlike the Classic Flap Bags, the Timeless Clutch runs at a reasonable price in (relative to other Chanel bags) even though there’s nothing lackluster about it. (Current price varies depending on material.)

Photos via Chanel

I’m taking the day off tomorrow. Yep. Mental health day! Don’t worry, though, Megs will be here to hold down the fort and update the blog, but I’m going to have a three-day weekend. I don’t take many days off, and I intend to frolic.

It would be awful of me to leave you without something memorable, though, which is why I present you with the Chanel Pre-Fall 2011 Outstanding Pieces. We already saw the exotics from Chanel Paris-Byzance, and now we have a proper Pre-Fall collection full of aubergine alligator and gold python, in addition to the usual suspects. As always, all the pictures can be found after the jump.

Because most of our posts cover handbags, smaller accessories get left out from time to time. Because smaller goods spend most of their time obscured from view, they’re often not as artfully adorned as bags that we wear as part of our exterior ensemble, which means that they don’t get as much blog love. Every now and then, though, a collection of wallets and small pieces comes around that deserves closer examination.

Welcome the Chanel Palette Small Leather Goods for Fall 2011. The line includes a collection of wallets, a coin purse, card holders, key holders, makeup bags, an iPhone case, and an iPad clutch. Going along with the iconic 2.55 Chanel aesthetic, all pieces feature aged calfskin with flat lozenge quilting.

Even though Chanel is a brand with a rich history and plenty of iconic aesthetic elements from which to draw, I think we all get fatigued of flap bags and black and ivory color schemes after a while. Because Karl Lagerfeld is a man worth his enormous paycheck, he seems to be able to sense that feeling within his client base and zig when everyone expects him to zag, which has lead to a freshness and creativity in the past several Chanel collections that continues to delight me.

On Friday, we introduced you to the Outstanding Pieces range from Chanel Paris-Byzance Pre-Fall 2011. Today, we’ve got the regular line of handbags, which are pretty great themselves. There’s a lot of “Chanel” in these bags, more so than in the Outstanding Pieces, and certainly some of them are bread-and-butter sales leaders. But the change in tone that they, along with the bags from the two preceding seasons, represent is a smart and welcome one, even if it’s subtle.

For every season, Chanel generously offers not one handbag collection but two. You get the regular collection bags, which are always luxurious and highly detailed in their own right, and then you get Outstanding Pieces, which are on a whole different level. These are the jewel-encrusted exotic bags that would turn your heard so hard that you’d have to see a chiropractor, should you encounter someone toting one down the street.

For the Byzantine-inspired Chanel Paris-Byzance Pre-Fall 2011 collection, Karl Lagerfeld pulled out all the stops to create a gilded, ornate collection of crocodile, python and cabochon. These designs aren’t for a shrinking violet, but even lovers of statement pieces should be careful; these bags may result in a shrinking wallet. Please contact Chanel at 800-550-0005 for pricing and availability.

Chanel may be known for its timeless designs, but with the introduction of the Boy Chanel collection, Chanel brings us a line that is both seductive and a slight change of pace. Unmistakably different, the collection strays from the quilted flap bags we have come to expect from the brand.

Made to be worn as a shoulder or cross-body bag, the Boy Chanel collection holds close to the Chanel aesthetic while providing an entirely different appeal. The designs are clean and bold, simple and appealing. In fact, the duality of the design is inspired by a cartridge bag that was originally made for hunters.