Shoulder Bags

Sometimes, there’s nothing I love more than a really terrible idea. Another huge slice of pizza? Great! Another shot before last call? Bring it on! I want to be a redhead today – so what if I have a ton of black dye in my hair already? It’s a miracle of massive proportions that I’ve somehow yet to end up with a tremendously ill-advised tattoo at this juncture in my life. There’s something beautiful about having the willingness and opportunity to occasionally act in defiance of all logic and good sense.

And that’s exactly what the Marc Jacobs Misfit Top Handle is – a bad decision that ultimately proves how sublime it can be to occasionally make them. Nothing about this bag should work – the dueling neon colors, the pattern that they don’t match at all, the quilting on top of said pattern. And a lot of people will probably disagree with me, but I think the combination of so many ridiculous ideas into one bag is actually sort of fantastic. I wouldn’t necessarily wear it (ok, maybe I totally would, but I don’t think I could bring myself to buy it), but the fact that a major designer has the chutzpah to make something so terrifically weird and in defiance of traditional aesthetic standards makes me love this bag in despite of itself. Buy through Luisa Via Roma for $1728.

Normally, the entire PurseBlog team is a big fan of Salvatore Ferragamo handbags. They’re classic, sleek, and always stylish. The brand seems to avoid subscribing too earnestly to trends and instead sticks to more widely appreciated shapes and ideas.

This isn’t always the case, though. The Salvatore Ferragamo Gancio Intrecc Vitello Shoulder Bag is just…not right. The metallic purple is just not good; making a color that’s not normally metallic into a metallic is almost always a one-way trip to Tacky City, and unless it’s done out of irony or retro reference, it simply doesn’t work (and even then, things are dicey). This purple-grey would have been gorgeous in a matte leather, or maybe even in patent, but as a metallic, the material looks thin and cheap. The odd gathering at the middle, topped by an intricately braided representation of the Ferragamo logo that looks a bit like a Gucci horsebit, doesn’t do anything to help the bag’s case. I think I know where they were trying to go with this, but they certainly didn’t get there. Buy through Neiman Marcus for $1290.

There is an interesting concept going on here. I am going to start off by saying that I am a jean kind of girl. I love every single pair of jeans I own and I am always looking for more. Think about it, there are so many different styles of jeans out there that you can look fancy or relaxed in the same pair of jeans just by switching up your top, shoes, or handbag. With all of this being said, am I a jean handbag kind of girl… not so sure.

The Emilio Pucci Denim Shoulder Bag is just that, a denim shoulder bag. I am happy to see Emilio Pucci venture away from the traditional swoosh of colors on handbags, but I am wondering if this was the right way to go. I do love the chain shoulder strap, it is not only unique but also something that will sure to be a conversation starter. Lambskin leather lining keeps with the sort of rugged theme this relaxed denim handbag demonstrates. While there are individual aspects of the bag that I like, as a whole, I don’t think this one is for me. But do share, do you think denim bags are a hit or a miss. Pre-order through Saks for $1295.

This is the second time today that I came across a handbag that made me say, “oh-la-la”. And actually, I said “oh-la-la” about the same thing. There is absolutely something that I can’t get enough of about this bag. The Zagliani Shiny Python Flap Shoulder Bag is one that I would love to call mine (if it wasn’t for the price tag).

When I look at bags, I usually take a step back and try to figure out what it is about the bag that drew me in. Sometimes this is hard to pick out, but other times, it is blatantly obvious. When it comes to this one, it is the color, or should I say lack of color that drew me in. There is something about this yellow hue that will make the bag work during every single season of the year. Wear a loud outfit and let this bag take the back seat, or use this bag as the focal point of your entire outfit. I’m in love.

The python skin is paired with the shape of this bag flawlessly. While you might wish a more noticeable color was offered, trust me, this bag is timeless. Buy through Luisa Via Roma for $2192.

Here at PurseBlog, we have a favorite game that we play from time to time. Everyone gets in on it and sometimes it goes on for days. What’s the name of this game, you ask? Why, it’s “Guess who’s ripping off Chanel now!” I’m usually on the side of the non-Chanel designer because I don’t want elements like quilting and chain handles to be off limits from everyone else until the end of time, but when I saw the Dior Quilted Cannage Bag, I knew I’d never be able to muster any sympathy when the Chanel comparisons began.

This is a clear case of one designer ripping off another one if ever I’ve seen it, and in my mind, that’s way worse than a cheap chain store making ‘inspired’ bags. Dior is a brand with innumerable design and financial resources (they’re owned by LVMH, one of the companies that’s weathering the recession the best), yet for some reason, they’ve chosen to make something that’s little more than derivative of an iconic style. It’s a flap bag, it’s made of quilted black lambskin, and it has a handle that’s mostly chain. It even has a closure in the exact same place as a Chanel would. The quilting pattern is slightly different, as is the handle construction, but that’s not enough difference for me, particularly considering the close-to-Chanel price point. Buy through Saks for $1750.

I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to see a bag in person quite as badly as I want to see the Zagliani Woven Python Art Shoulder Bag. This thing might be completely stunning and awesome, or it might be way overdone and gaudy, and I don’t think there’s really any way to decide right now. I would advise everyone to take a trip over to Luisa Via Roma and use the zoom feature on it, though, because I have a tentative theory about what this bag’s problem may be (if it has one).

I’m guessing that this might be one of those purses that misses the forest for the trees, so to speak. The up-close details are so beautiful and unexpected that I can’t help but stare at this bag’s close zoom-in shots. The further you get away from the bag, though, the more of a mess it appears to be. I want this bag to be breathtaking in person, but with the weaving and the triangular shape and the exotic skin and the combination of colors, it may just be too much all in one. And I like over-the-top, but this just might not work. It’s impossible to say without an in-person viewing, though, so have any of you ladies seen it? Buy through Luisaviaroma for $9,005.

I’m using a kind of stock photo that we normally don’t choose for our posts here at PurseBlog in order to demonstrate the Jimmy Choo Sky Shoulder Bag for a few reasons. First, all of the traditional straight-on stock photos I could find have the bag overstuffed to the point of looking like a giant fringe-y rectangle hobo, and that’s not a good look. I try not to criticize a bag based on shortcomings that don’t actually exist, and when I took my first look at the regular shots of this bag, something told me that that’s not what the bag would be like if I actually saw it in the wild.

So when I started scrolling through all the detail shots, I got to the one of the mannequin wearing a slightly-less-stuffed version of the bag and it confirmed my first suspicion – this is actually pretty cool purse. The leather looks magnificent and the rows of short fringe don’t come off as overpowering or gimmicky. I think it was a great move to make the gusset out of regular flat leather instead of covering it with fringe, and the overall effect is that of an excellent everyday bag for fall and winter with a ton of personality. Which brings me to my second reason for making this post – it’s an important reminder to never trust stock photos to be gospel truth. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $2295.

I’ve been hoping that Saks would start carrying Costume National handbags ever since they began selling their shoes several months ago, and now that I’ve gotten my wish…well, I’m a tad underwhelmed. This particular brand is known for it’s innovative, deconstructed brand of downtown cool, and I can’t help but think that the Costume National Foldover Shoulder Bag is a bit on the safe and blah side for them.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a perfectly serviceable bag. I really like that the shoulder strap is extra wide compared to a lot of single-strap bags, since that’s usually a feature that makes a bag really comfortable and easy-to-carry. So I appreciate the effort on that aspect, and I also appreciate the color. At first look, it’s kind of boring, but I love dark grey and I think more bags need to embrace the color, so I’ll give it a pass. But overall, the feeling I’m getting from this bag isn’t cutting-edge or downtown or young. It’s just kinda meh, and I was really hoping for an innovative and interesting line of handbags to write about. If their entire range of offerings is represented accurately by what’s currently available, I’m more than a little disappointed. Buy through Saks for $990.

Sometimes even I get a little sick of looking at bags. You can only see so many boring brown hobos and black tote bags with no personality before you get a little bit of handbag ennui from time to time, and it makes you wonder how many mediocre bags with mediocre leather will be sold out there before the market for them is saturated.

Which is why I like the De Couture Woven Chain and Suede Bag, even though I suspect that I might be wrong and it might be ugly. At this point, I don’t even care – let it be ugly, as long as it has a personality to it. It’s so rococo and blinged-out and over-the-top that you almost can’t judge it using the same framework as you would, I don’t know, a Tod’s bag. They’re apples and oranges, and this is one sparkly apple, if you catch my drift. But it manages to be sparkly while still being slouchy and a bit on the hippie side, and straddling those two looks is a difficult thing to do. De Couture manages to do it with considerable aplomb here. Buy through Luisa Via Roma for €884.00.

If writing for PurseBlog has taught me only one thing, it’s that half of the handbag world thinks everyone is ripping off Chanel. Is the bag quilted? Chanel rip-off. Does it have a chain? Chanel rip-off. A flap? Chanel rip-off. And honestly, I think a lot of that is truly and utterly silly. Chanel may have used a lot of those things first, but the idea that until the end of time, every bag that uses any of those elements is just redoing their aesthetic is kind of extreme. Designers should be free to use reference designs of the past without being accused of purse plagiarism.

But then I see a bag like the Lanvin Amalia Shoulder Bag and wonder if maybe the Chanel conspiracy theorists are on to something, at least in some cases. This bag, admittedly, looks an awful lot like it could have been designed by Kaiser Karl himself, and I had to do a double-take when I first saw it listed online. The bag is soft, black and quilted, although the quilts are slightly bigger than Chanel’s signature. The handle is not only chain but also partially encases a ribbon that ends in a big bow, which I’m sure I’ve seen in almost the exact same iteration in Chanel’s famed costume jewelry. It doesn’t have a flap, but neither do all Chanel bags, and the overall effect is just a bit too close for comfort. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $3110.