We’re one week closer to the arrival of summer and mere days away from the three-day weekend that unofficially begins the beach season, and it seems like it was just yesterday that we were all complaining about the cold and its refusal to leave. (Ok, it sort of was yesterday – it got downright chilly in New York at the beginning of the week.) To console yourself for the fact that it’s not quite Memorial Day yet (but so, so close), we’ve taken done our usual Friday thing – scoured the Internet for bags that are on sale and begging to be purchased.

You should know up front that Carey Mulligan looks slightly terrified in several of these photos; the paparazzi attention that comes with being a world-famous actress doesn’t agree with her, and she seems to avoid it. Luckily for us, the paps did get a few snaps of Carey and her bag collection for our looking pleasure, and since the country (or at least the fashion industry) is currently in the throes of an intense obsession with The Great Gatsby, it seemed only right to explore the handbag choices of Daisy Buchanan herself.

Some trends announce themselves early and often; fur, for instance, is not only difficult to miss in even its most sedate incarnations, but fur bags have been paraded up and down so many international runways that you’d have to be actively avoiding the information not to know that every designer is going to try to sell you something fuzzy come fall.

Like we mentioned recently, the whole PurseBlog team is awaiting the arrival of The Great Gatsby with baited breath. As it turns out, our friends at Harrod’s are equally excited from all the way across the pond. So much so, in fact, that the legendary department store has launched Summer of Now, a special boutique of Gatsby-inspired art deco deliciousness this week, which lets you dress, accessorize, smell and drink like an emotionally unmoored socialite from the Roaring 20s.

After a small hiatus for my spring vacation last week, we’re back today with your weekly dose of Friday bag deals from around the Internet. If you’re in New York, as I am, you may want to salve your frustration over the fact that it’s gotten cold all over again by buying a handbag, and if that’s the case, we always suggest that you do it while said bag is on sale, if possible.

If this post seems like deja vu, you’re not entirely wrong. Over seven months ago, we wrote about how the flared gusset, made popular by Phoebe Philo at Celine and the brand’s now-inescapable Luggage Totes and Trapeze Bags, had turned into a full-fledged trend of its own. As spring bags flooded into stores, I couldn’t help but marvel at how many bags are still embracing the look, particularly now that Luggage Totes themselves are no longer as difficult to get as they once were.

For some reason, celebrities seem to love basketball above and beyond other sports. I have a theory on why that might be: Not only is the sport quite popular in both New York and Los Angeles, but the indoor, controlled environment in which the game is played allows celebs to dress up and look good because they know they’ll be photographed.

On one hand, no one looks more dour in paparazzi photos than Reese Witherspoon; on the other hand, they do tend to follow her inside fro-yo shops, which is probably irritating. Here’s a less-than-pleased-looking Reese carrying an especially pleasing tan Mulberry Tassel Bag during a quick yogurt stop in Hollywood. Hardcore Mulberry fans will notice that this bag is basically the Mulberry Alexa, but with massive tassels.

Leave it to the French to cap off the Fall 2013 show season with a fashion week full of subtle, elegant, incredibly luxurious bags. Along with the clothes that graced the majority of the runways at Paris Fashion Week, the bags were largely casual and wearable; where a thousand rhinestone-encrusted clutches once stood, we instead found functional everyday bags in shades of ivory, burgundy and black.

We’ve known that a serious holographic trend was coming for some time now, but now that a brand as chic and venerable as Lanvin has chosen to embrace the trend in handbag form with the Lanvin Happy Holographic Python Shoulder Bag, we thought it would be worth a second look. The finish is inherently futuristic, but this bag is nothing but ladylike and pretty.