Christian Louboutin Handbags and Purses (Page 2)

Christian Louboutin Anastasia Clutch, $2345 via Neiman Marcus

If you’re a regular PurseBlog reader, you know how I feel about fur bags, even though I’ve softened enough this season to allow fur accents without too much griping. And then I see something like the Christian Louboutin Anastasia Clutch and I remember why fur bags are a bad idea all over again.

Only one word came to mind when I saw this bag: Pomeranian. Because the bag is made out of fox fur, it already has the look and color of a canine to it, and the coppery shade and length almost exactly match the tiny dogs beloved by people who want to carry their pets in their handbags. Unfortunately, this clutch looks like you’re trying to carry your pet as your handbag. I’m just waiting for it to poke its little head out from under the fur and start begging for a Snausage.

We’ve heavily covered Christian Louboutin‘s hit-and-miss record when it comes to handbags in general, but when it comes to the footwear master’s clutches, I rarely have a negative review to report. Something about the small size and structure of an evening bag lends itself well to Louboutin’s design sensibility, probably because the scale and rigidity make clutches more similar to designing a shoe than other types of bags. And we all know that Louboutin has his shoe game on lock, now don’t we? Here are four of our current favorite CL clutches for your consideration; we think you’ll agree that Louboutin has something of a flare for these particular bags.

Christian Louboutin Sweet Charity Glittered Shoulder Bags, $795 and $995 via Neiman Marcus.

We’re longstanding fans of the Christian Louboutin Sweet Charity Bags, which come in virtually every size, color and texture that you could think of, and the advent of the Christian Louboutin Sweet Charity Glittered Bags only makes our affection for the line grow. The structured shape and signature metal bow mean that the design is a perfect candidate for an evening out, and these two miniature sizes make that dream a reality.

We all know that Christian Louboutin has the footwear world on lock, but the stiletto master’s results in the handbag world sometimes don’t have the aesthetic consistency of his shoes. Translating success in one design realm to success in another can be difficult, so creating a clutch that appeals directly to the hearts of those who already love Louboutin’s shoes is a great way to turn footwear customers into potential handbag customers. But this design goes even a bit further than that; the Christian Louboutin Pigalle Clutch takes what should be a novelty and elevates the sophistication level to make this clutch something truly impressive.

We’ve discussed the finer points of the Christian Louboutin Sweet Charity Shoulder Bag several times before, but Christian Louboutin just keeps coming up with more iterations of this bag that we can’t help but love. And when we love something, we feel compelled to post.

After a bit of thought, I think I’ve finally figured out why Louboutin has so much success with this line of handbags when the rest of the brand’s offerings tend to fall flat: A squared, hard-edged shoulder bag allows him the same sort of fixed structure as a shoe and beckons for the kind of embellishment and flair that marks the brand’s best work. This snakeskin and nubuck version is one of the bag’s more subdued looks, but the pale colors have me transfixed.

As we’ve noted in the past, Christian Louboutin’s success with bags has not been as pervasive or consistent as his success with shoes. For whatever reason, not every company that successfully designs one proves skilled at the other, a phenomenon for which Louboutin has at times been the poster boy.

The Christian Louboutin Sweet Charity Watersnake Shoulder Bag, though, succeeds where some of the brand’s handbag designs tend to fail. I’ve been a fan of this particular shape from Louboutin since it began gracing stores last year, and this silver watersnake iteration easily constitutes the bag’s best version yet.

Christian Louboutin’s various adventures in handbag design have been…well, adventures. While the designer is virtually a sure thing when it comes to footwear of almost any type, his bags tend to range from beautiful to head-scratchingly odd, often in the span of a single season. Certain types of whimsy and irreverence just play themselves out more proficiently on the structured backdrop of a shoe; a high-end bag requires a slightly different sensibility.

The Christian Louboutin Sweet Charity Bag was immediately one of my favorites from the brand when the design made its debut over a year ago, and this latest version is almost as good as the original. I may be over the stud trend, but when combined with a ladylike bag like this one, I think they provide some welcome ideological contrast.