PurseBlog

Last night’s derecho didn’t blow all of New York City off the face of the Earth, somehow, so we’re back on this Friday morning to share another week’s worth of bag deals with you guys. The Internet has been a rather deal-laden place lately, with more merchants moving to second markdowns on their summer sales seemingly every day. We’ve slogged through the pages upon pages of deals at all of our favorite online retailers, and below, we’ve distilled them down into the nine best below-retail bag buys of the week. Because nothing starts a weekend off right like a little covert online shopping at your desk.

Sometimes, you lay eyes on a bag for the first time and it just makes you happy. The elements click into place and form a relatively harmonious whole, the leather choice works for the desired structure, the bag feels modern, but not like it’s trying too hard. That’s what happened for me when I saw the Botkier Honore Satchel at the brand’s headquarters last week – I just knew. Read More…

Reese Witherspoon was in fine spirits when the paparazzos caught her running errands in Santa Monica, but you know what they say: when you look good, you feel good. (Sadly that isn’t always the case for Reese, who always looks fantastic but doesn’t always look happy to see cameras. Still, it’s nice to see her smiling and laughing here, nonetheless.) You’ll notice she’s carrying a bright white Proenza Schouler PS1 Bag with gold hardware that pairs perfectly with her orange floral print mini, white blazer and hemp jewelry.

Today is a very happy day that comes but four times a year: a day when we get to gaze upon new Celine handbags, for the brand has uploaded its lookbook on to this here Internet in such a way that my handbag-snooping powers were able to find it. Thus, I present to you the Celine Winter 2013 Handbags, and there certainly are a few changes and new additions to the line worth noting, both for better and for worse.

Although I don’t watch Pretty Little Liars myself, I seem to be in the minority among the PurseBlog team, as well as among my friends in general. When Gossip Girl started to lose its luster, a lot of women who were looking for a similarly soapy good time started watching the ABC Family show, but don’t let the network’s name fool you – the PLL’s appeal seems to go far beyond the tweens and teens that you’d expect. The show’s success has elevated its four man stars – Lucy Hale, Ashley Benson, Shay Mitchell and Troian Bellisario, to varying levels of fame, and since the new season premiered earlier this week, we figured it was high time to take a look at their handbag collections. Read More…

I remember the heyday of the hobo. Back when I first got into handbags, circa 2005, hobos were just as popular as crossbodies are today; they weren’t the flashiest It Bags on the scene, but they were the thing everyone had in their closets for when they needed to, you know, actually carry something functional. Then, of course, the era of the “optional crossbody strap” dawned, and after that, the straps weren’t so optional anymore – if you were carrying a shoulder bag, it had a long strap, with few exceptions.

Here’s ridiculously beautiful celeb spawn Ireland Baldwin carrying a Celine Trapeze Tote at LAX. If you remember your tabloid history correctly, you’ll know that she’s the sole offspring of Alec Baldwin and Kim Basinger, and she’s proving to be as much of a paparazzi magnet as her dad. She’s a model, of course – and only 17 years old, if you can believe it.

We’ve shown you the basics of what Edie Parker can do with her hand-made, retro-modern acrylic clutches, but as it turns out, the brand has only begun to experiment with inlays and textures. First came evening bags with words on them, and now, Edie Parker designer Brett Heyman has gotten even more advanced with birds and flowers for Resort 2014. As we all know by now, Moda Operandi has a soft spot for playfully luxurious clutches, so it should come as no surprise that Parker’s sunny collection is available for pre-order on the site as we speak.

The problem I’ve always had with Father’s Day gift-giving advice is that it’s so one-size-fits-all. It always seems to assume that all dads play golf, drink beer or Scotch and need tools to fix things around the house – my dad does none of those things, and never has, even though I totally think of him as an archetypical, all-American father.