No matter your brand of choice or accessories budget, I think all bag lovers can agree: Prices are too freakin’ high. Even if you’re willing to grudgingly pay them in exchange for quality, it still stings a little bit every time, doesn’t it? Get ready for it to sting a little bit more in the near future – it’s costing brands more to source leather from Italian tanneries than ever, according to Women’s Wear Daily.

       

I opened up my inbox this morning to find an oddly alluring email about Smurfette wearing designer accessories in new issue of Harper’s Bazaar. First off, I had no idea The Smurfs movie was coming out and second off, I find it hilarious to see Smurfette posing with high end designer goods.

When Style.com Fashion Director Candy Pratts Price speaks, fashion people listen, which means that anything she included in her Vogue.com list of Fall 2011′s 45 most desirable accessories just got an instant injection of cool on top of the considerable amount that it probably already had. For the article’s bags, Pratts Price picked everything from glossy patent daytime satchels to tiny evening clutches festooned with animal images, and surely you’ll covet at least one of her selections.

For those of us who carry designer accessories, it can be rare that what we’re toting inside our bags is worth more than the bags themselves. Sure, it would cost $600 to replace my cell phone, but my Balenciaga Day Bag in Fall 2007 Violet? Priceless, people. For one metro-Atlanta woman, though, even the ritziest of bags could be had for the value of what she found floating around inside of her purse: A winning lottery ticket.

Here is the outrageous “1001 Nights Diamond Purse” which is valued at $3.8 million. The heart-shaped bag is encrusted with over 4,500 diamonds.

Today I caught a handbag-world mistake from one of our favorite stores, Barneys, in labeling a handbag as Lanvin when it is in fact a Proenza Schouler design.

Can you believe 2010 is coming to a close? We certainly can not. Either way, with the end of 2010 we decided to start the first annual PurseBlog Readers’ Choice Awards. There are two categories, premier designer and contemporary designer. We picked the top 16 designers for each category that we believe have made the largest impact in the handbag world this year.

If you’ve visited the fashion-loving part of the internet at all in the past week, then you’ve undoubtedly heard of Google’s new fashion venture, Boutiques.com. As the name would indicate, the site’s intent is to gather fashion from around the web together in one easily shopable place that allows celebrities, designers, fashion people and anyone else who might have some spare time to create their own “boutique” that is tailored to their personal style and preferences.

Recession? What recession?

With Hermes set to report a 30% revenue increase for the third quarter, it’s not difficult to understand why LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault has such a keen interest in the company. According to Women’s Wear Daily, the increase centers on the success of the silk, leather and timepieces categories, which make up the backbone of the Hermes tradition and represent the company’s most sought-after products.

As was widely reported last week, luxury giant LVMH now owns over 17% of competitor Hermes, and although the company has publicly stated that it has no plans to acquire more shares of the French family-owned company in the next six months, luxury watchers remain atwitter over what the future may hold for two of the world’s largest names in handbags after that time period expires.