Satchel Bags (Page 5)

When we covered this tote in yellow python back in March, what tripped up most people was the price – $4500 is a lot for a bag, whether or not it’s exotic. Since then, I’ve been on the lookout for a regular leather version, and lo and behold, the Salvatore Ferragamo Plume Patchwork Bag finally came along to grant my wish.

Even in a decidedly more pedestrian material, the design of this bag holds up to scrutiny. It’s a little bit left-of-center when you compare it to your average tote with an extra shoulder strap, and I couldn’t be more pleased.

I am.

I mean no disrespect, of course – Dior is one of the most storied and important brands in the history of luxury as we know it, and they do a fantastic job with a lot of aspects of their business (I’m a particular fan of their makeup). When it comes to bags, though…what gives?

Along with the Fendi Baguette, Dior’s Saddle Bag helped launched the It Bag trend that got so many of us interested in designer bags. Since then, though, the brand has been a bit quiet when it comes to influential bag design. With the notable exception of the Gaucho bag, it’s been mostly bags like the Dior Lady Dior Top Handle for the past five years.

I’ll go ahead and answer my own question: that’s definitely a disembodied head. Is the rest of the body inside the bag? Is this sort of like the medieval stocks, where you’ve got a head poking out on one side and the rest of the body is attached on the other? There are so many questions. I’m so confused. Someone hold me. I think it’s looking at me.

I’m particularly disappointed in the Versace Sculpture Satchel because I’ve actually liked some of Versace‘s bags recently, which is pretty rare for me. They’ve done a pretty decent job stripping away some of the pretense from their designs and some of the prices have been more reasonable, but…a disembodied head? That’s just creepy, no matter whether the Medusa is a Versace signature or not.

Drawstrings are totally the thing right now. It seems like every designer is trying to incorporate into their bags in some way, but let’s be clear: just because drawstrings are trendy doesn’t mean every bag needs one. Sometimes adding in a drawstring for no reason seriously screws up a bag’s lines and structure, which looks to be the problem with the Valentino Sequined Satchel.

Normally, when you put the words “Valentino” and “sequins” in the same phrase, you can go ahead and sign me up for the bag – nine times out of ten, I’ll love it. This particular bag, however, is that tenth time. The drawstring makes the design look oddly flat and circular, like it could be used as an enormous, luxurious frisbee if it were only a bit more rigid. What’s worse is that the vortex pattern of the sequins (they claim it’s a rose – looks like a vortex to me) seems to indicate that they intended the bag to look like that.

If you read this blog regularly, you probably know that I have something of a love affair with the color black that dates all the way back to when I declared it to be my favorite color at five years of age, which worried my kindergarten school counselor. I’m the girl that buys black sundresses and black shorts for summer, and it’s not out of an appreciation for the goth aesthetic or a desire to let everyone know I’m in a bad mood – I just really like black.

It’s harder to come by in warmer months, but if you have a similar affinity for the dark side, the Be & D Big Spring Satchel is probably perfect for your personal style. It’s rare that something that so proudly trumpets its affiliation with a warm season is so decidedly dark, and although some people may find that contradiction off-putting, it feels perfectly normal to me.

Who knew that “summer fur” would ever be a Thing? Is fashion running out of trends and the only thing that’s left to do is wear things that are wildly inappropriate for the weather? Possibly. And, well I’m sort of ok with that. As Paris Vogue editrix Carine Roitfeld recently said on Twitter, fashion isn’t to make you look attractive, it’s to make you look different.

And, rest assured, wearing something like the Marc Jacobs Gilda Fur & Sequins Flap Bag will definitely accomplish the goal of making a woman look different than most people in society. Then again, if it’s made by one of the biggest designers on the planet and sold by a huge, multinational retailer, is it really that different? Should we all be moving on to the next “different” thing already? Lofty questions, these, but most importantly – is it a bag worth buying?

As PurseBlog.com’s resident Balenciaga fangirl, I’m always excited when the brand decides to expand their line of ever-popular motorcycle bags, and they’ve done so twice this season. Right now, however, we’re going to focus on the merits of just one of those new designs: the Balenciaga Velo Bag.

To explain this bag to Balenciaga fans that haven’t gotten a chance to see it in person yet, the shape is sort of like that of a City bag that has been stretched vertically. It still has an easy-to-carry medium size to it but has a bit more interior space than the City does, appeasing those that don’t need something as large as the Work but still want to easily hold a little bit of extra stuff.