Exotic Bags (Page 3)

Ralph Lauren Purple Label Alligator Weekender, $24,000 via Mr. Porter

Usually, our Man Bag Monday feature happens on…well…Monday. But considering the specifications of the Ralph Lauren Purple Label Alligator Weekend Bag, we think you’ll understand why we’re a day late; we spent most of yesterday picking our chins up off the floor.

When you consider that The Row’s Crocodile Backpack rings up at an astonishing $39,000, the $24,000 price tag on this versatile carryall seems downright reasonable. Ok, maybe “reasonable” isn’t the word, but if you got this sharp travel bag instead of the backpack, you’d still have enough money left over for an Hermes Birkin and a rather nice wallet to go with it.

Photo via Marie Claire

Ok, so here’s the deal. The Row launched its first-ever line of handbags at Barneys last night, and as I was dutifully checking Twitter while finishing up my posts for the day, a strange thing came across my computer screen. Fashionista.com, staffers of which were in attendance at last night’s launch festivities, tweeted a picture of what appeared to be the bag above and a price point: A cool $39,000. I promptly fell off my chair.

Gucci Python Stirrup Top Handle, $4700 via Saks. Gucci 1973 Python Small Top Handle, $2400 via Saks.

With so many choices in life, it’s somewhat amazing that we don’t all become hermits in the throws of deep existential crises. Skim or 2%? Decaf or regular? Heels or flats? To UGG or not to UGG? Even thinking about it makes me a bit dizzy. And if you’re a fan of python and Gucci python in particular, you’ve got another choice to make for fall – big or small?

The Gucci Python Stirrup Top Handle and Gucci 1973 Python Small Top Handle may be made out of the same yellow-green dyed python, but they sit at opposite ends of the size spectrum. One is a bag big enough for your everyday life, the other is so petite that I’d only advise that you use it for a night out. Which way would you go?

I tend to fawn over VBH as often as possible, and VBH Fall 2011 Handbags proves why – it’s a line for real handbag lovers, not just women who buy bags because they’re necessary to complete an ensemble. These pieces are functional, extremely well-made, and most importantly, utterly gorgeous.

VBH has an eye for exotics and textures and how they’re best used, and bags like the fan-favorite Brera satchel give those materials an opportunity to take center stage and impress upon customers how nice they really are. Whether it’s regular leather, stingray, snakeskin or crocodile, the color and texture of the finish have been carefully selected to enhance the skin’s natural beauty. And don’t forget fur, calfhair, ostrich leg, suede and embossed leather – VBH has a little something for every taste, so long as your taste is good.

As we’ve discussed in these parts in the past, almost every major handbag brand showed some kind of python or snakeskin bags on its Fall 2011 runway, no matter whether exotics are a collection staple for a particular line or not. Predictably, that lead to some mixed results; while I saw some exotic bags I’d love to have for fall, I saw far more whose designers could have used a remedial course in how to work with python. Carlos Falchi should be the person teaching that course.

Snakeskin has been a staple of Falchi’s line for years, and the Carlos Falchi Single Strap Hobo Bag demonstrates exactly what I wish more designers would acknowledge: Python is a design unto itself. It doesn’t need much help to be beautiful, just stand back and let the leather shine. After all, that’s why customers are willing to pay a premium.

The Valentino Va Va Voom Crocodile Shoulder Bag, $11,275 via Net-a-Porter

If fashion seasons were like the Olympics, you could call Fall 2011 the Exotic Games – everywhere you look, brands are coming out with crocodile and snakeskin bags, seemingly each a little more drool-worthy than the last. Because trends are rarely penned in to a single cycle, though, plenty of reptilian delights have turned up in spring’s collections as well, including from brands that aren’t necessarily known for their work with exotics. That would be the case with the Valentino Va Va Voom Crocodile Shoulder Bag; Valentino produces exotic bags here and there but hasn’t made it a brand trademark, although that hasn’t stopped the company’s designers from getting in on the fun.

The Gucci New Bamboo Crocodile Shoulder Bag, $14,200 via Net-a-Porter

It’s easy to become price-blind when you spend your days hunting down and discussing designer accessories, but sometimes life has a way of reminding you just how much a dollar is actually worth. I experienced that recently when trying to buy my first set of post-college, post-Ikea Big Girl furniture and found that I could decorate my bedroom rather elaborately for the same amount of money that I’ve been contemplating spending on a crocodile-embossed Celine Phantom Luggage Tote this fall.

For real croc, like the Gucci New Bamboo Crocodile Shoulder Bag? I could probably do a whole one-bedroom apartment, including a nice TV. At fifteen inches wide, this is a generously sized bag for the sort of structure it employs, but $14,000 means something different for me now than it did last week. Would you ever pay that much for a bag? Are you interested in crocodile at all? Buy through Net-a-Porter for $14,200.