Shoulder Bags

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.

I think that this may be the best actualization of a bag with two sets of handles that I’ve seen in quite a while. Face it – two sets of handles on one bag has the potential to be incredibly awkward, and almost always realizes that potential. It usually ends up looking floppy and messy, with straps hanging everywhere and obscuring pockets, seaming, and other design details.

The Mulberry Jody Shoulder Bag makes it work rather well, though. And I think one small detail is the key – the satchel straps lock in to place with a metal and leather loop that holds them down (and folds the bag over) when not in use. And this makes all the difference. There’s no awkward flapping and sagging; instead, the bag looks like it was designed with all of its attributes taken into consideration, and the entire finished product actually LOOKS finished. It’s funny that a simple leather attachment and metal lock can change the game on bags with two carrying options, but all the other brands out there have something to learn from this bag. Buy through Bloomingdale’s for $825.

I drank a freakin’ gallon of sangria yesterday and I’m trying to stop my head from exploding all over my couch, so we’re going to get right to the point on this one: the Donna Karan Drawstring Shoulder Bag? It has a face. A FROG FACE. You see it, right?

The holes at the top corners are the eyes, and the top flap is the same shape as a frog’s upper lip, with one of the bag’s folds forming the lower lip. If it was green, it would be Kermit. And perhaps it would be better if it was, because it’s not doing a very good job of being a handbag. I can’t recall another bag that has left me so utterly confused as to what the designer was trying to accomplish. The body of the bag has a set of drawstrings running down each side and little loops hanging out the bottom, although I can’t see any way to hold the drawstrings in place if you wanted to scrunch up the bag. And why would you? That would just make it awkward to carry and give the inside of the bag lots of folds inside which your stuff could hide, never to be seen again. Plus, it looks like an amphibian. I’ll pass. Buy through Saks for $1595.

As the great Nina Garcia once said on Project Runway, the fastest way to look cheap is to wear something short, tight, and shiny. I’m paraphrasing, but you get the idea – a confluence of characteristics can sometimes say exactly the wrong thing in a way that no one design flaw could say it by itself. That’s what appears to be going on with the Jimmy Choo Rosie Bag. First, the patent. Then the animal print. Then the color that no mammal has ever been accused of being. Then the overly trendy shape. One or two of these things, by themselves, may have been excusable.

It may still have been a cute bag. But when you combine all of these aspects together, they manage to simultaneously overwhelm and underwhelm me, if you get what I’m sayin’. I generally like things that verge a little bit into tacky territory, but this particular bag does cartwheels into it. And ultimately, it’s nothing if not mighty unfortunate. Buy through Saks for $895.