Botkier Sasha Medium Duffel Bag, $595 via ShopBop.com

When I laid eyes on this bag, I began to feel hungry. Images of chocolate bars and fudge danced through my head and I realized that not only does this bag remind me of one of my favorite food groups but also I do not own a dark brown bag. Both Amanda and I don’t usually care for brown handbags, but Botkier has released this delightful version of its coveted Sasha and I just might cave.

Oh, how I wish that Oscar de la Renta made more handbags. I wish it with every ounce of my being because then I would have that many more opportunities to write about this designer-genius that pays such close attention to detail, fabrics and colors that it makes my fashion-loving heart pound. Luckily, OdlR does design a collection of bags (and furthermore, in running this website, I have free reign to add a little Oscar delight in here whenever I’d like to). And for this, you should be happy, because I like to think of these photos of the Oscar de la Renta Resort 2012 collection as a treat to your eyes.

Fall can be a tough time to find a reasonably priced bag. Not only do the straw and linen options of summer suddenly vanish, but they’re replaced by far more expensive materials, particularly for Fall 2011 – python, fur, crocodile. The accessories industry seems to have conspired to make us spend more money on this season’s trends.

Fret not, though. I spent most of yesterday tracking down the past bags of the season under $600, and these aren’t little box clutches are nylon totes, because that would be a total cop-out. Nope, what we have here are leather bags big enough to be used regularly, and they’re so chic that you’ll want to do just that.

Shop the 797 Handbag collection at ToryBurch.com

Today is the last day of August. I realize we all share the same calendar but I needed to say that out loud to remind myself that summer is over and fashion week is a week away. INSERT PANIC HERE. Kidding, kind of. Fashion Week is one of the best times to be in this industry, because not only do I get to attend the shows I love most, but also I get to dress up to attend them as well. Of course I take my job seriously, but I never forget how much fun it is at times, and fashion week is one of those times.

One of the shows I look forward to seeing is the Tory Burch Spring ’12 show. I have Tory Burch items floating in my closet to choose from and the bag I desperately want to finish my look with is the Tory Burch 797 Suede Messenger Bag.

I love colorblocking. I love the way the seemingly simple trend took over the fashion world quickly and had everyone feeling like some novel idea was introduced in a ground-breaking manner. Yet the trend works so well on everyone, showcasing solid colors paired together to give a sleek yet bold look. The handbag world has taken to the trend as well, with many designers releasing versions of the trend that they believe will get people buzzing. But as always, some do it in a way that draws us in, and others totally miss the mark.

Chloe missed the mark with its Gabby Bucket Bag and its sister bag, the Chloe Gabby Mixed-Snakeskin Duffel is just as bad, if not worse.

Kate Spade Crown Point Sasha Shoulder Bag, $495 via Nordstrom

Maybe it’s always been this way and I just don’t remember it, or maybe the advent of leopard print as a trend has changed prices a bit, but calf hair is expensive. Monetarily, it’s positioned as a semi-exotic; it costs more than regular leather but a bit less than a brand would charge for it’s lowest-tier exotic leather. In layman’s terms, that’s means it’s kind of spendy.

Some contemporary brands use the material, of course, but many of them choose to go with printed suede when it comes to leopard because it provides texture without jacking up their materials costs. And that’s why I love the Kate Spade Crown Point Sasha Shoulder Bag; it uses calf hair in a very of-the-moment way without passing the extra cost along to the company’s customers.

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. The four clips take us all the way from conception to manufacturing, and all of the important details of realizing an idea are there, from making the patterns to dying the leather to bending the metal for the Stam’s signature frame. My favorite video is the fourth one, above, which shows how the Marc Jacobs bag is actually assembled. You can check out the first three after the jump and view the original posts at Neiman Marcus Daily.