Kate Spade Little Anastasia Clutch, $345 via Neiman Marcus

I’m not sure exactly who it is that has righted the Kate Spade ship – creative director Deborah Lloyd? The designers she brought into the company? The marketing department? – but whoever it is, I sure hope that she is being paid handsomely. With every season, the brand once known for simple nylon bags with a signature black logo patch is getting better and better.

Images via Vogue.com

The first Monday back from a holiday weekend is so, so cruel. It’s like a little reminder of the immutability of life; no matter what we do, the calendar marches on while we cling to our leftover turkey legs and half-eaten pumpkin pies, trying to extend the avarice a bit longer. It’s Monday now, though, which means that it’s time for gluttony of a different kind.

Alexander McQueen Punk Skull Box Clutch, $2720 via Net-a-Porter

We’re readying a much more extensive guide to sparkly little bags for the holiday season, but while that’s in the pipeline, I couldn’t help but post about the Alexander McQueen Punk Skull Box Clutch – after all, it really deserves to stand on its own. Feathers and rhinestones and beads, oh my!

Alexander McQueen Cathedral Skull Box Clutch, $2960 via Net-a-Porter

Longtime PurseBlog readers already know how I feel about Alexander McQueen‘s skull clutches. They’re easily my favorite line of evening bags ever, and the legacy of McQueen as a brand always manages to shine through in their design, even though a box clutch is an exceptionally tiny canvas. If I had unlimited income, I’d collect these bags, and I can’t say that about any other brand on the market right now.

Charlotte Olympia Pandora Feather Clutch, $995 via Moda Operandi

In general, I’ve always been a fan of little lucite (or perspex, if you’re British) clutches. Making the things you carry part of a handbag’s visual design is an interesting move, and a box clutch is small enough that you’re unlikely to be carrying anything particularly messy or embarrassing. Choose your phone cover and card case wisely, but other than that, there’s little over which to fret.

I don’t mention it much in these parts, but I’m a big, enormous vintage fan. At a certain point, I think I hit a wall with regular shopping – I felt like I had seen everything before it hit stores, so once it was there, I was often underwhelmed and ready for something different. The curse of working in the fashion industry, eh?

Images via Vogue.com

While we wait for the Milan shows to start in earnest, now seems as good a time as any to post the small but very beautiful collection of bags that graced the runway for Marchesa Spring 2012. I know that bags are an afterthought for the gown-heavy line, but they’re always so beautiful and special that I really wish Marchesa would do more.

Judith Leiber is one of those brands that you don’t often see at a big discount. Leiber’s tiny, sparkly evening bags are a favorite of collectors and hold a special place in the heart of so many bag owners that seasonal discounts are often unnecessary; one of her bags is like dessert after a steady diet of functional, durable leather bags.

Lanvin Lizard Box Clutch, $2127 via Matches

Yesterday, I got to talking about my love for Lanvin in general and Alber Elbaz in particular over at TalkShoes, and now I’m prepared to do to do the same here. Bags like the Lanvin Lizard Box Clutch just inspire that in me. I could look at this little bag all day, mostly because it shirks the traditional conventions of evening bags in order to pursue a look that’s a bit more unexpected; you won’t find any gleaming hardware or intricate beading here.

Matthew Williamson Embellished Satin Clutch, $1610 via Net-a-Porter

Judith Leiber bags are undeniably beautiful, but it’s also hard to deny that they skew to a certain customer – older, well-established women with a penchant for straight-up glitz. Leiber’s done extremely well with that demographic and they wouldn’t dream of going elsewhere for a small, sparkly evening bag, but what of the women who want something that’s as modern as it is tiny and detailed?