We’ve already explored the slightly more, uh, tactile elements of Prada Fall 2011, but what about the everyday bags that the brand does so well, year in and year out? Too many pre-orders have sprung up across the Internet for us to feature them all, but here’s a selection of four bags of different styles and leathers that we heartily recommend for purchase in the upcoming months.

Last month, we had the pleasure of attending the Oscar de la Renta Resort 2012 runway show, and Vlad and I arrived early to capture behind the scenes photos before the show began. Once backstage, I immediately spotted the incredibly talented Jamie Beck, photographer and co-creator of Cinemagraphs, whose website From Me to You is one of my favorites for visual inspiration.

I hate it when Bravo gets ambitious and makes episodes of Real Housewives of New Jersey 15 minutes longer. Or any of the Real Housewives franchises, really. There’s always 15 minutes of footage in them that no one cares about anyway, so why not cut that stuff and make our weekly exposure to these feral women a little bit shorter?

Last night’s episode was mostly about a gross, drunken trip to the Catskills, but we checked in for a while with Kathy and Melissa anyway, even though they weren’t invited. And really, it would have been ok to leave them out entirely! You can leave a cast member out occasionally, Bravo. It won’t make us mad. Sometimes we’d even appreciate it.

Normally on Man Bag Monday, we highlight a single men’s accessory that we love. This week, we have the pleasure of bringing you detailed shots of the accessories from the recent Louis Vuitton Spring 2012 runway show, from the bags all the way down to the shoes.

There are also some scarves and watches thrown in for good measure, but as with the Vuitton’s women’s shows, the leather goods are the real stars of the show. And predictably, they’re excellent: Sharp and modern with a strong base in traditional design, which is exactly the type of thing that men go for on the luxury mass market. There’s a reason that Vuitton continues to grow by leaps and bounds every year; the brand knows its customers. Check out all 20 pictures after the jump.

On last night’s episode of Real Housewives of New York, it was party time! Party time for the cast, anyway. Not so much for the viewers, although the episode was better than last week’s snoozefest. We visited not one, not two, but three birthday parties, two of which were for teenagers and the other of which was for Jill, who is kind of like an emotional teenager in a lot of ways.

The episode involved less drama than one would assume would happen in three Housewives parties, and it felt sort of like the last couple of episodes of Real Housewives of Miami; did Bravo know that this isn’t prime footage and smash it all into one episode? Perhaps. And perhaps it wasn’t a bad decision. I’d rather see one fast-paced, reasonably entertaining episode than two or three slow, boring ones.

Kate Spade Bixby Frame Clutch, $325 via Nordstrom.

We first learned about the Kate Spade Bixby Collection way back when we interviewed the company’s resident Twitter-er for our “What’s In Her Bag” feature, before the bags had even made their way to retail. And now that they have, I’ve got a brand new favorite from the line: The Kate Spade Bixby Frame Clutch in mustard yellow, which marries supple leather, glossy resin and earthy wood into a single, covetable handbag.

Mulberry Polly Push Tote, $1400 via Net-a-Porter. Mulberry Polly Push Satchel, $1300 via Net-a-Porter.

I’m going to let you guys in on a little secret that you’ve probably already figured out about me, if you’re a regular reader: I was never a prep. Sure, I dabbled in it in middle school when we all went through the phase where we tried our damnedest to look like everyone else, but by age 13 I was putting ill-advised burgundy streaks in my hair and listening to punk. If you know me, you know that I never really grew out of the “putting ill-advised things in my hair” phase.

But because trends are endlessly shifting and the lines between “looks” are getting blurrier by the day, I no longer feel the kind of automatic resistance to preppy, classic designs like the Mulberry Polly Push Bags that I likely would have felt a few years ago. As long as I could get one that’s not brown, that is. A distaste for brown is another thing that I’ve yet to outgrow.