Shoulder Bags

I’ve always been critical of Christian Louboutin handbags in the past, but I’ve seen a few that I don’t hate in the past season. With all the design genius in that company, I knew they would pull together their handbag line sooner or later, and they appear to be slowly but surely turning out some purses that do justice to their drool-worthy shoes. The Christian Louboutin Lolita Montone Bag is surely a step in the right direction.

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There isn’t a massive amount of completely fabric, bohemian handbags out there. Being one of the few people who embrace this style of handbags, it’s apparent why I was so drawn to this Simone Camille Handmade Vintage 2-Tier Handbag. Well, I suppose this particular bag isn’t so obscure; Nicole Richie has been spotted wearing it multiple times, after all.

The bag is made entirely by hand by famed stylist Simone Harouche, who’s known for her singular ability to transform and style stars with looks they’ve never imagined; witness Christina Aguilera’s Back to Basics Tour. But clearly she has a fun sense of color and whimsy, contributing to this boho gem.

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Oh Donna Karan, I think you are understanding the handbag world! We first saw the Donna Karan Pleated North-South Tote back in July, but the picture was not doing the bag justice. But it was Blake Lively who showed me just how lovely the Donna Karan Eldridge looks when worn.

So I started to lust after this bag. But it was sold out. And now Net A Porter brings us an exclusive version which has an entirely different look and I adore it. The Donna Karan Eldridge features monochrome pleated crease-print leather. This finish is going to be seen more and more for Spring 2010, giving us a bit of a tie-dye feel but a totally grown up version. The cream and black leather with crease print could look harsh, but it does not. Donna Karan has a way to combine these two opposite colors in a magnificent manner. The gunmetal designer tag is edgy-cool. Continue reading →

I’ve got to say at least one nice thing about this bag: Dolce & Gabbana, I like your enthusiasm.

No, actually, I love it. Because the kind of chutzpah it takes to put together seven (that I can count) types of fuzzy animal print onto one bag is the kind of chutzpah that it takes to occasionally create a stinkin’ awesome bag. But at this point, ladies and gentlemen, I have but one caveat: the Dolce & Gabbana Miss Martini Flap Bag is not that bag.

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I’ve never been a Tod’s fan, by and large. I’m sure that their bags are well-made, but they always seemed to be lacking in the design department, and for that kind of money, I want a bit of visual flair with my perfect construction.

And in the Tod’s Ribbed Leather Bag, I may have found it – this is easily my favorite of their bags in quite a long while, if not ever.

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Call me crazy, but I can kind of see what Chloe was going for here. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think they accomplished it, but I think I know where they were headed.

See, there’s these people called “hipsters.” They’re the ones that have been wearing skinny jeans since 2003, and Wayfarers as well. They shop for lamé leggings at American Apparel and live in Brooklyn (or Silverlake or East Atlanta or any other number of enclaves) and are responsible for a lot of music, most of it terrible but some of it reasonably good. They also wear some ridiculous accessories and handbags, most of them vintage, and most of them looking strangely like the Chloe Polka Dots Leather bag.

And since these hipster people can be thanked as either the starters or early adopters of a lot of what we see going on in fashion today, I can’t blame Chloe for giving them a nod. The thing about borrowing from hipsters, though, is that you have to be very careful about what you take and how you interpret it, and this particular bag is probably a bit too far over the line to be successful. It’s kind of cute as a novelty piece, but as a bag for a serious purse lover, I don’t think it measures up. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $1450.

I can’t even describe how excited I was to see that Luisa Via Roma had started carrying Balmain handbags, but that feeling of joy was quickly eclipsed by abject disappointment when I saw what those bags actually looked like. Why is a brand that makes such glam, inventive, rock star clothes and shoes making bags as boring as the Balmain Crystal Leopard Suede Bag?

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The ridiculous bags are always my favorite, be they good or bad in the long run. I’ve always thought it a greater sin to be boring than to be over-the-top, and sometimes great style is what happens when you get right on the line between just enough and too much.

The Marc Jacobs Wrath Studded Bag is somewhere circa that line, although I’m not sure what side it’s on. But I am sure that I love it, in spite (or maybe because) of its wealth of personality.

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Alber Elbaz, all is forgiven. I’ve groused and complained and wrinkled my nose at my fair share of Lanvin bags lately, but the Lanvin Amalia Python Shoulder Bag is good enough to absolve the brand of all their Chanel-aping sins.

The combination of simple shape and intricate material, plus a few Lanvin-signature extra, have me absolutely salivating for this bag.

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I’ve had a bit of a crush on Yves Saint Laurent since their pre-fall bags started rolling out, and it doesn’t look to be ending any time soon. I normally prefer things with a bit more of an edgy look, so this might be a sign of maturation on my part. Or maybe the bags are just that good – maybe they’re so well-designed that it’s impossible not to find some kind of attractiveness in them, no matter what your personal taste.

I’m not sure which one it is, but I’m absolutely sure that I love the Yves Saint Laurent Flap Shoulder Bag. There’s a beauty in its simplicity that I find irresistible.

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