Marc Jacobs Handbags

Marc Jacobs has combined two of the season’s top trends into one compact clutch. The Marc Jacobs Python Thrash Clutch ($1895 at Barneys) touts a python quilted and embellished with studs. The quilting AND studs seem to be a bit of texture overdose on this very petite bag. But somehow the angular shape of the diamond shaped studs combined in a criss cross pattern of quilted stitching seems to unify the design. Although, I am a bit confused about the metal padlock which seems to be dangling without a purpose in the middle of the bag.

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Ever see a handbag you like, and then realize it has one thing so egregiously, terribly wrong with it that it almost makes you palpably upset? Like you were so close to finding a handbag oasis in the desert, and then it turns out that, by a single cruel twist of fate, that it was all just a mirage?

Yeah, I kind of feel like that about the Marc Jacobs Frame Wallet Sequined Purse.

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The ridiculous bags are always my favorite, be they good or bad in the long run. I’ve always thought it a greater sin to be boring than to be over-the-top, and sometimes great style is what happens when you get right on the line between just enough and too much.

The Marc Jacobs Wrath Studded Bag is somewhere circa that line, although I’m not sure what side it’s on. But I am sure that I love it, in spite (or maybe because) of its wealth of personality.

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No review of Marc Jacobs‘ Spring 2010 fashion show would be complete without taking a good look at the accessories that were also featured – after all, they’ll be what we’re picking apart mercilessly in a few months.

Consistent with the softer color palette of much of MJ’s collection, we saw a lot of champagnes, light and medium blues, creams, and whites in the accessories collection. Many of the bags were made of multicolored lattice leather, sometimes in what looked to be several different textures – I definitely spy some python, at the very least.

There was also Jacobs’ signature quilting, with many of the quilts bearing forth rivets and tassels. I liked the addition of texture, but these were not my favorite bags of the show – the tassels and their cords looked like tentacles to me. Not a good look.

And last put not least, apparently fringe is not over yet, at least not in Marc’s mind. Many of the latticed bags had nearly a foot of fringe swinging from them in the same colors that made up the bag’s body. I have a feeling that this will be shortened somewhat before the products are shipped to stores, but I didn’t hate it. In fact, quite the opposite – I thought that it was quite appropriate, considering the construction of many of the pieces Leave it to someone like him to make us all take a second look at fringe.

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When you’re Marc Jacobs, and your show basically is New York Fashion Week, and everyone expects The Next Big Thing from you, and the world is watching, what do you make? Why, you make harlequin kabuki clown ballerina clothes, of course!

Throughout the sculptural-yet-feminine presentation, there were nods to Japanese culture, Comme des Garçons and Jacobs’ own seminal grunge collection at Perry Ellis, among a slew of other things. We had ruffles galore, lots of layering (as is to be expected with Jacobs), underwear-as-outwear (also not the first time we’ve seen that from Jacobs, and it reminded me a bit of this year’s Christian Dior couture presentation), and more pastels than I can remember seeing at Fashion Week since…well, ever. I hate pastels, but if MJ can make that gorgeous steel blue into a trend, I might let the peach and lavender go.

Overall, the more I look through the show’s looks, the more I like them, but not as much as I did his grimy, glam lover letter to 80s New York from Fall 2009 (or his brilliant show from a year ago, for that matter). Perhaps it’s the colors that are turning me off, or maybe the organza genie pants. I appreciate that his models all more shoes that were either completely or almost flat, the bags looked like they’d be intricate and fantastic on closer view, and the clothes are growing on me and looking more brilliant by the minute. There was one obvious masterpiece, though: the show’s final look. It was an ephemeral, effervescent confection of a gown that defied gravity and looked like it had been made out of spun air. It wasn’t overdone or underdone, but done just enough to show the skill with which it was tailored and the eye with which it was edited. Perfection.

Like the collection or not, that dress should be enough to convince anyone that Jacobs is still the king. It’s taking a while for the ideas behind these clothes to settle with me, but the journey through this master’s mind is nothing if not enjoyable.

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While, here at Purse Blog we get a chance to meet so many fabulous designers, there are still some out there that I promise myself I will meet someday. Marc Jacobs has to be one of those designers. I absolutely love him, his style, what he stands for, how he rocks out and how he continues to amaze me.

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Sorry, Marc Jacobs, you’re going to have to do something more interesting to get me to sit up and pay attention than what you did with the Marc Jacobs Studded Satin Bag.

Yes, yes. Quilting, tonal studs, chain handle, we get it. And it’s on-trend, but for some reason it’s just not exciting. Or maybe it would be more exciting if this bag, which is made of absolutely zero leather, were priced in a more appropriate way for a non-leather bag. So exactly how much is it?

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Want a little part of the Marc Jacobs Fall 2009 runway collection to yourself, but not ready to sink your teeth into $2000 worth of neon pink and green patterned python?

Then maybe the Marc Jacobs Cartoon Paisley Rage Bag is exactly what you need: a bit of the collection in wearable colors, at a palatable price.

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Now this is a surprise. A fall bag utterly devoid of studs? But it’s true. The only hint of rocker on this Marc Jacobs Iggy Shoulder Bag is the fairly sedate chain-link strap. But that’s not the reason I was attracted to this bag, which, I admit, is an all-or-nothing bag, a love-it or hate-it bag.

No, I like it for the unique purple and teal color, which is heightened by the quilted python design. I mostly like the purple color because I am a massive fan of purple handbags. I also really like when I see brightly-colored bags, because so often bags are in darker colors- brights simply draw your eye to the bag. Plus, isn’t that tiny lock on the front just adorable?

The only complaint I have (about the bag, not the lock) is the length of the chain strap. It’s so short that it seems out of proportion considering the size of the bag. If only it had a little more length, then one would be able to sling it comfortably over the shoulder. It seems to me that it’s a little to short of a strap to do that… unless if the bag slouches sufficiently. One can hope! Buy through Saks for $1,295.

It seems like all I had to do is complain that I was feeling a little blah about the Stam, and Marc Jacobs rose to the occasion. First we got the studded-yet-understated Marc Jacobs Stardust Stam, and now he’s brought us the not-at-all-understated Marc Jacobs New York Rocker Stam. Although I’m not sure that this sequined-n-shiny satchel is best suited to New York – in fact, I think it might be more at home in Las Vegas.

And I mean that in the nicest way possible – I love this bag so much that I could just drool all over it. The name of the last Stam I reviewed reminded me of Sin City, and now this; does anyone else think that maybe Marc should consider doing a glizty, glamorous Las Vegas-inspired collection? Sequins would be the perfect place to start, and I love the ones on this bag because they’re not as expected as sequin-covered bags usually are. They’re small enough that at a distance, they blend together to form a shimmery, shiny whole instead of a bag covered in sewn-on crap, and the silver, off-center, abstract pattern at the bottom gives the bag a modern edge that helps it avoid the grandma-bag pitfall of multitudinous sequins. Viva Las Vegas! Er, uh, New York! Buy through Saks for $1995.