Chanel Handbags and Purses (Page 5)

I gave you a peek at Blake Lively’s first Chanel Ad the other day and today I have more ad and behind the scene photos to share with you all. I know Karl Lagerfeld seems to be opting for celeb choices lately and not everyone is on board with these choices, but I am a huge Blake Lively fan-girl. Maybe her acting will never been Oscar worthy (ok it totally won’t), but she is sure pretty to look at.

This Chanel campaign is young and fresh. I can’t see those gorgeous Amazon legs Blake has to offer, but her face is classically beautiful which looks gorgeous next to luxury handbags.

Which photo is your favorite?

Oh, Karl Lagerfeld. You had me at The Cure.

There weren’t many handbags to be found on the catwalk at Chanel Fall 2011, which struck me as something of a surprise. Chanel fully acknowledges the place of leather goods in its company history, and normally part of its enthusiasm for accessories spills over onto the runway in the form of lots of goodies for handbag lovers. This time, though, there was relatively little to see.

What we did see in the goth dystopia that Lagerfeld created in Paris’ Grand Palais was quite good. Most of the bags were of the chain-strapped flap variety, but Lagerfeld got rid of the brand’s iconic quilting and leather-woven handles to give a starker take on a Chanel classic. Little quilted hand-held bags were spotted here and there, but mostly the models walked with their hands empty, perhaps in a nod to the bleak-chic setting of the show. Although I’m disappointed to not have seen more bags, now I’m even more excited for press previews. Chanel wins again.

Blake Lively is the face of Chanel’s advertising campaign for their new Mademoiselle handbag. Honestly, the Gossip Girl star and long-legged blond bombshell is a perfect fit to be an ambassador for the brand.

We expect more photos from the ad campaign to hit this week and we will be sure to update you. What do you think of Blake Lively for Chanel?

We are dishing who wore what to the Oscars on BagThatStyle all day today, but my obsession du jour obviously revolves around the handbags. The Oscars are notorious for parties and events leading up to the big awards show and following it and Chanel takes part with their CHANEL and Charles Finch pre-Oscar dinner at Madeo in Los Angeles.

The stars made their way to the event decked head to toe in Chanel of course. Most Chanel bags are eye-catching and obvious, but I love seeing a little jewel that Chanel always manages to deliver. This time Emma Roberts impressed me with both her outfit and her Chanel Black Leather Bag with Butterfly Detail.

Any post about Chanel handbags always elicits a fair amount of grumbling from longtime fans of the French brand who feel that its handbags have grown too faddish or lost their traditional Chanel feel, and when you look at the last few collections, perhaps those folks do have a point. If you’re among them, though, I’d heartily advise you to take a look through Chanel Spring 2011 Pre-Collection Handbags, which contains less handbag gimmickry than most of us have grown accustomed to from Lagerfeld & Co. If these bags are an indication of what’s to come for spring, I bet I’ll know a lot of happy Chanel fans.

If you’ve been disappointed in Chanel over the past few season for the brand’s sometimes wacky handbags, take heart: Chanel’s Cruise 2011 handbags contain at least 75% less crazy than we’ve come to expect from Kaiser Karl. Although if you like your bags a little on the wild side, there are still a couple of pieces that should tickle your fancy, including a black patent mesh sack with a detachable Classic Flap Bag on the front. Full pictures, after the jump. For purchasing information, please contact Chanel at (800)550-0005.

Didn’t you hear? A very specific shade of pink called “honeysuckle” is supposed to be the color of 2011, or so say the fine folks at Pantone. Kaiser Karl Lagerfeld can clearly tell the future and saw this coming, because the perfect pink Chanel Python Timeless Clutch that you see above just came out for Cruise 2011.