Marc Jacobs Cosmic Croc Embossed Leather Tote, $1995 via Net-a-Porter

I’ve been visiting my family in Atlanta for the last week, and because of the relatively temperate weather we’ve been having the South, I’m having a hard time remembering that the intense part of winter has yet to come. I haven’t worn a coat of any kind for seven full days.

I will admit to not fully understanding how the Marc Jacobs website works (People kept saying that they were having a 70% off sale yesterday but everything looked like it was full priced to me? What?), and the fact that Jacobs is using it to sell Olympia Le-Tan Book Clutches is just another thing about it that confuses me. I can’t think of another major high-end brand that sells things that aren’t actually its own products on its website.

To me, the combination of Marc by Marc Jacobs and the brights trend always seemed like a complete no-brainer. In fact, I expected to see an MbMJ collection chock full of neon a full year ago, when the look was just getting started. It’s the kind of thing that appeals so obviously to the Marc demographic that the marrying of the two was only a matter of time.

Marc Jacobs Python Contrast Tote, $3795 via Bergdorf Goodman

Although I wasn’t a huge fan of Marc Jacobs’ Spring 2012 runway bags, his Resort 2012 collection has been on my radar for months. The mid-season line has some of Jacobs’ chicest designs in quite a while, mostly because the bags are without gimmicks. Instead, what you’ll find is clean lines and supple leather in the kinds of color combinations that feel very current.

Images via Vogue.com

Marc Jacobs moved his show from its customary spot in the middle of New York Fashion Week to the very end because of the work days lost thanks to Hurricane Irene, which just made the presentation, always among the most highly anticipated of New York Fashion Week, all the more a special occasion. For some reason, though, the bags in particular left me feeling cold.

If you’re here reading this, odds are that you’ve spent thousands of dollars on handbags and accessories in your lifetime, but how well do you understand what goes into making them? I’m betting that most bag lovers have only a vague idea at best, but wouldn’t it be fun to be able to take a peek behind the curtain?

Thanks to an excellent series of videos of Neiman Marcus’s blog, we can do just that with the famous Marc Jacobs Stam as our guinea pig.

While this bag is considered one of fall’s statement pieces, I wonder how many of you plan to go buy it.

The Marc Jacobs Spotted Teddies Shearling Hobo Bag is all about fuzzy shearling with a few bold black polka dots. While some risk-taking fashionistas are surely scurrying out to buy this bag, I would only consider buying it to double as a pillow in times of sudden sleepiness.

Marc Jacobs The Ace Messenger Bag, $1150 via Net-a-Porter

My enthusiasm for the Marc Jacobs The Ace Messenger Bag comes from one thing and one thing alone: My ability to imagine it in other colors. Not that there’s anything wrong with greige, per se, but I prefer the statement-making ability of a good bright bag, particularly when it offsets the tendency for a crossbody to hide within an outfit because of its usual place on the back of a woman’s hip.

       

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 was the last time you looked at a Marc Jacobs bag and thought, “Whoa, that’s a great bag?” Sometime around the entré of the Stam, right? Well that’s exactly what I said, out loud, by myself, to my computer in sudden fit of excitement when I saw the colorblocked satchel at top left from Marc Jacobs Resort 2012. I mean, that’s a good bag, right?