I’ve made my feelings on spendy canvas totes known before – they’re not worth it, almost universally. They’re definitely not worth it when they reach into the four figures, even when the tote in question is as pretty as the Givenchy Birds of Paradise Tote. It sure has a pretty print, though, doesn’t it?

As we all know by now, Pantone announced last month that 2012′s Color of the Year would be “Tangerine Tango” – a vibrant, saturated, deep orange that looks almost hot to the touch. With so many blazing bright colors dotting the runways as of late, the declaration seemed like Pantone’s most accurate in a long time. When I clicked over to Bergdorf Goodman today and saw the beautiful, sunny Givenchy Antigona Tote daring me to get out my credit card, I knew in my heart that Pantone was indeed on to something big.

Images via Vogue.com

The Givenchy Antigona Satchel is such an under-appreciated handbag. The design is exceptionally crisp and minimal, it comes in a variety of sizes, materials and colors, it’s Givenchy, fer chrissakes. It’s far superior to the Givenchy Nightingale (says me), but yet, it’s not quite as well known. With Givenchy’s killer slate of Antigonas to come, Spring 2012 might change that.

Givenchy Pandora in yellow for $1924, in purple for $2155 or in green for $1744 via Luisa Via Roma

If you’re a fan of Givenchy mastermind Riccardo Tisci, you know that he’s remade the brand’s image into that of a luxe-goth powerhouse, complete with references to Catholicism and more black leather than you can shake a stick at. (Side note: What does that saying even mean?) It’s easy to look at a garment and tell whether or not it’s Givenchy.

Who is it, exactly, who buys a clutch so small and rigid that it can’t fit a slender smartphone? In a day and age when even veteran socialites are glued to their iPhones (and playing Angry Birds just like the rest of us, I assure you), don’t teeny-tiny handbags become something of a significant logistical issue? Givenchy Fall 2011 didn’t feature many handbags, but the ones that did appear were all so picayune that I couldn’t help but pick up my phone to try and gauge the difference in size between it and what I saw on my screen.

Of the few shows that we’ve seen so far Givenchy Haute Couture felt the most like couture to me. As the line between a normal runway show and a couture show continues to blur and fewer brands present the highest of high fashion as time goes on and the customer base dwindles, I still thoroughly enjoy seeing a full-on, beads-and-feathers-and-funny-hats shindig.

Ut-oh. I absolutely positively love this clutch. And when you look at it, it is nothing out of the ordinary. Simple shape and simple design. So simple yet so lovely. The exotic eel skin stands out beautifully in bright fuchsia. I want it. Sometimes what we love and desire does not make sense, even to us, and that is precisely how I feel about the Givenchy Elene Eel Clutch.

Well I didn’t mean it this way, but apparently today is Texture Day at PurseBlog. Earlier this morning, we talked about the gorgeous quilting of the Bottega Veneta Quilted Briefcase, and now we’ve got the interesting destruction that has been visited upon the Givenchy Eclipse Cut Hobo.

So what exactly did they do to it? Exactly what it sounds like, actually.

Can we talk about the Givenchy Maxi Nightingale Tote for a second? We get the chance to look through dozens of pictures of celebrities every day in order to create BagThatStyle, and in the last two weeks, this lovely bag has shown up more with more celebs than any other bag that I can recall since we started the site.

Sometimes I don’t really want to carry an identifiable handbag. Not only have obviously-logo’d bags become a bit outre in some circles, but sometimes it’s just hard to play keep-up, don’t you think? The problem is that once you get used to carrying designer bags, you can’t really go back – you’re used to the great leather (oh, the smell of wonderful leather!), the beautiful linings, the attention to detail.