Doesn’t it seem like a million years since we saw the last season of Project Runway? Anyone remember who won that season? It was Leanne Marshall, the the mousy Pacific Northwesterner that made clothes with lots and lots of wave-like ruffles. Part of her prize for winning the competition was that she would make a collection to be distributed through BlueFly.com, and apparently she finally got around to doing that!

The collection hit BlueFly yesterday and it’s a rather limited line of skirts, tops, and dresses, some of which include Leanne’s signature wave motif. Prices for the items range from under $100 for t-shirts to almost a thousand for the evening gown that we have pictured here. I don’t mean to be a hater, but for how long it took Leanne to get this stuff released, it’s not all that exciting. Most of the pieces are perfectly serviceable and wearable, which is nice, but the limited range of colors and styles is disappointing, considering Leanne’s considerable talent. One nice aspect of the line, though, is that it’s eco-friendly; it looks like her speech about sustainable design practices on the season finale wasn’t just a lot of hot air. Buy through Bluefly for $98-$990.

Ever look at a bag and just think, “Uh, no,” before you can even really decide why you reacted like that? That was the case when I laid eyes upon the Dolce & Gabbana Miss Lexington Satchel. On the surface, there’s nothing obviously offensive about this bag – it’s not covered in glitter or tie-dye or massive amounts of fringe. In fact, it’s fairly subdued and, with some slight tweaks, could be a great everyday bag.

But the proportion is the problem. Instinctively, you know it when you look at the bag, because your brain is programmed to pick up on it. It takes a second longer to consciously realize when you’re being apprehensive, but the size and shape of this bag in relation to the size and shape of its handle is just…off. The handle is too narrowly set and would be better if it was a bit longer and attached a bit further toward the edges of the bag (and it also looks like intestines, but that’s a different issue entirely). Or, alternately, if the handle was as it is now and the bag wasn’t quite so wide in relation to its height. I’d opt to change the handle, though, since I don’t like its wrinkly, shrinky-dink current incarnation. Then this bag would be fairly awesome. Buy through Nordstrom for $2150.

I’m kind of shocked, really – a Prada leather bag for less than a thousand dollars? At first I wondered if the price was correct, but it hasn’t changed in the couple of weeks that the bag has been on the Saks website, so it must be correct. I doubt this is the brand’s response to the recession – Prada doesn’t seem like the type of brand that intends to acknowledge it at all – but for whatever reason they chose to produce the reasonably priced Prada Vitello Shine Hobo, and I’m pretty pleased with it.

Odds are that the gorgeous purple color is making me more enthusiastic than I would be otherwise (it reminds me of my favorite Balenciaga color of all time, 2007 violet), but color is such an important part of a bag’s personality that I’m completely okay with that. Prada always uses excellent leathers and high-quality construction, so I don’t doubt that the bag will last for quite a long time indeed. The only thing left to consider is the structure: it’s boring, I’ll admit, but it’s also highly functional, and the beautiful shade of purple makes up for the simple shape. Considering the price of this bag relative to others in Miuccia’s arsenal, I’m pretty pleased. Buy through Saks for $995.

Our fabulous intern Anna had the chance to meet with Tory Burch last month for an intimate preview and discussion with Tory herself. While Vlad and I could not make the event, Tory Burch sent us some of her favorite bags from her new collection to review. Let me start off by saying that the bags we received were not some of the Tory Burch logo bags I have come to expect. Beyond pleasantly surprised when I opened the box, I found a new appreciation and love for Tory Burch bags.

More photos and info below...

Tory Burch and Palmilla have partnered together to offer an incredible summer giveaway. Enter daily and the prizes include a Tory Burch prize along with the grand prize, a Tory Burch Wardrobe and 4 night getaway at the Palmilla Resort in Cabo. This is a great way to celebrate summer! You can enter everyday to increase your chances of winning.

It’s here, it’s here, IT’S HERE!!!! The Alexander Wang Coco Duffel has decided to finally, FINALLY grace us with its presence in online stores after months of rabid anticipation from handbag enthusiasts. The bag first came to our attention months and months ago when one of its first iterations was worn repeatedly by Mary-Kate Olsen, who had obviously been gifted with a very, very early version of the bag by the designer.

And it was a brilliant move on Alexander Wang’s part – I can’t remember another bag that’s been so desperately hunted since the It-Bag heyday of Fall 2005. It disappears online virtually as soon as it’s posted, so the ShopBop link I’m about to give you may not work when you click on it. If you want the bag, though, bookmark it – that’s where you’ll be able to find it when the store restocks, as they have several times in the past day or two.

As far as the bag’s design goes, I adore it – the leather is plush and soft-looking with a ton of texture and the multitudes of gold studs that cover the bottom are both hilariously irreverent and really cool-looking. It’s not for everyone, by any stretch of the imagination, but bags with a lot of style and personality never are. Plus, for an It-Bag, the price is really reasonable; he could be charging twice as much and a lot of people would still be clamoring for it. Buy through ShopBop for $850.

When I first laid eyes on this new Miu Miu bag I loved it. And then I kept looking at it and thinking to myself, this bag is oddly familiar. There is another brand who designed a handbag before this Miu Miu bag that other than some finishing touches, looks like they are related. Read on...

Sorry, Derek Lam, I’m just not buying what you’re selling here. I know, I know – you’re trying to make a little niche for yourself among the scads of smaller high-end bag designers out there. And it can’t be an easy thing, because convincing people to spend a couple grand on a bag from a designer that doesn’t have much handbag cache is a bit of a challenge, to say the least. But that doesn’t excuse what we have here.

When you’re dealing with quirky, non-symmetrical designs, there’s a really thin line between one that works and one that doesn’t, and I don’t think that the Derek Lam Elsa Python Clutch does. The material and color are both beautiful, and some of the asymmetry is well-done, but beyond that, Lam totally loses me. The half-covered silver ring doesn’t appear to serve any kind of functional purpose at all, and things always go off the rails in handbag design when you start adding elements that would normally be functional that don’t serve any functional value. But I think that the final nail in this little clutch’s coffin is the enormous, luggage-like handle at the top. Not only is the material not the same as the rest of the clutch, but the style is also different. It’s traditional and staid while the clutch is edgy and hip, and on top of that, the proportion of the two doesn’t even work. Buy through Barney’s for $1450.

One of my favorite parts of every new handbag season is waiting for the new Balenciaga colors to start hitting stores and websites. They’re my favorite brand and consistently product some of the most vibrant leather colors of any high-end designer. Since their bag shapes are simple and iconic, it lets the ever-changing leather shades take center stage, where some become highly sought-after and collectible.

My favorite from Fall 2009 is Pommier, a beautiful bright green that this photo doesn’t do justice. From what I’ve seen, it’s more of a Kelly shade in real life, and I couldn’t think of anything more beautiful to wear with the blacks and greys of fall. It’s been a while since we’ve seen a green like this from Balenciaga, which is refreshing – they’ve taken to repeating some of their most recent hits in the past few seasons. I’d prefer it with giant silver hardware (since I prefer everything with giant silver hardware), but I’d settle for the regular hardware pictured here if I had to. Maybe if I can save my pennies, I’ll have one of these lovely bags to show you ladies in the future. Buy through Barney’s for $1095.

Under normal circumstances, I hate a gimmicky bag. With a normal designer, the need to make jokes in order to make a bag interesting always makes me think that whoever is behind that brand’s handbags is out of good ideas. The thing with Maison Martin Margiela, though, is that he’s not your average designer. Not by a long shot.

The man has reportedly not been photographed since the 90s, yet he continues to churn out increasingly popular collections of edgy, current clothing and accessories. Some reports are that he’s no longer involved with the day-to-day operations of his label, but the company that now owns it disputes that claim. Either way, part of his shtick has always been adding in a sly joke here and there, and the Maison Martin Margiela Leather Shoulder Bag fits into that category nicely. It looks as though the bottom of the bag has been folded forward, but really the outside zippered pocket has been stitched and fitted with tiny silver feet in order to give the appearance of the bag’s bottom while still being a functioning element of the bag’s design. And that’s why I’ll let this gimmick go – it doesn’t take away from the bag’s functional purpose, and the joke fits is incorporate in such a way that it enhances the bag instead of detracting from it. The man may be a hermit, but his humor still translates.

Buy through Saks for $1445.