One of my favorite things about BlueFly, as I may have mentioned before, is your ability to find things there that you may have missed in their original trip through Retail Land. So before any of you haters tell me “Ugh, this is such an old bag, why are you writing about this,” I’ll remind you that some folks may have missed it the first time.

It’s wartime in Europe again. Well, sort of. Let me explain. It’s wartime in Milan, and on Miuccia Prada‘s runway in particular. Forget the 80s-inspired neon club excess that we saw on New York’s runways – Prada isn’t going clubbing anytime soon. The shapes and materials alike in Prada Fall/Winter 2009 reminded me of World War II movies as soon as I laid eyes upon them, and the reference is as overt as the 80s redux shown by Marc Jacobs.

Oh, thank you God, finally. My handbags prayers have been answered. Because Prada has made some questionable handbags lately, and for a designer so known for their bags, it was getting kind of discouraged. The Prada St. Pitone Tote is not my favorite bag that I’ve ever seen, but it’s a strong improvement over the randomly bedazzled bags we’ve seen from the brand lately.

Prada, haven’t we had this discussion before? The one about sticking random crap on bags? I feel like we have. And I just saw the Prada Pitone Pietre Shoulder Bag, so it looks like we’re going to have to have it again. I won’t say that I would have loved the bag without the random stones affixed to it; it would have been a fairly boring, small snakeskin handbag, and one that wouldn’t have been worth the money that I’m sure you would have been asking for it.

Apparently I am stuck on stocking stuffers. The reason for this could very well be that I do not have a stocking or anything to stuff it with prepared for Vlad yet. Do I go cute, do I go cool, do I go traditional, do I think out of the box? Part of my problem for finding him a stocking stuffer is I keep finding stocking stuffers for myself.

Don’t make fun of me for this one. Please? Because I feel like you people are going to make fun of me for this one. I genuinely like it, though, so give it a chance. The Prada Tessuto S Tote is, in my mind, totally adorable. It’s frilly and girly but in a somber black nylon that makes it more wearable than if it were, say, pink suede.

Sometimes, the little things count. A handbag, after all, is a utilitarian creation made beautiful because of its utter necessity – a bag that was difficult to carry would be useless to most women. As such, there are only so many design alteration that you can make to a bag, and I often think that making a beautiful bag with minimal design innovations is much more difficult than making a bag that’s art first and useful second.

Prada Tessuto Wristlet

Could we go as far as to label this Prada bag a bag deal? I don’t see why not. As much as many Prada bags go a bit too far, are a bit too overpriced, are simply bags with the Prada logo, this wristlet is cute and perfect for so many occasions. The Prada Tessuto Wristlet is a winning design for many reasons, namely the look is chic, the materials will last, and the price is ideal.

I’ve been having an animal print moment lately, and I’m not sure why. Maybe it started several months ago when I saw that gorgeous Stephen Sprouse for Louis Vuitton leopard print scarf, or maybe some innate part of me just wants to spruce up the sheer enormity of my collection of black clothes (last count of black day dresses: over a dozen).

Prada Nappa Mordore Hobo

I am a lover of metallics, but I am picky about which metallic colors I like. I am much more of a pewter lover than a silver lover and more of a copper lover than a gold lover. The deeper hues are sultry, sexy, and elegant in metallics. Just much more my style. And with the Prada Nappa Mordore Hobo it is as if Prada came to me, asked me what I thought, and then proceeded to carry out my wants and desires.