Totes

Purse Blogistess Meaghan’s mom was treated with the Gucci Large Horsebit Hobo for Mother’s Day (yeap… hip bags run in the family), and while the hobo is absolutely swank and glamorous, I dare to say Mother’s Day should have been a good 2 weeks later. Tod’s just happened to indulge the tote devotee crowd with their new Tod’s D Bag Grande. For 2k5, Tod’s reinvented the iconic D Bag in sturdy, yet supple leather with a fine contrast topstitching and finishes in detail par excellence. The sumptuous tote bares a luxurious leather interior and rolled handles that imply comfortable handling. The drawstring ties on the bag’s ends are finished with silver metal Tod’s pieces , while one tie bears a silver metal mini accessory that reads “D-BAG” on one side and “2005″ on the other. Clever! The 16″ x 13″ x 5.5″ tote goes for an even $1,200 via eLuxury.

Although the weather is playing a really awful trick on me in the usually beautiful corner here in North Rhine-Westphalia, I’m just really feelin’ the sun! Beaches, hot sand, warm and relaxing salt water and maybe even a little surf? Hey, it’s the day dreams that keep us sane in times of misery afterall. I’m also just really feeling to be a cheap bastard today. Not that’s anything bad about being smart about money, I might add.

Shall we kick it off with a woven straw tote? The Lois Hill Palm Tree Straw Tote sports genuine bamboo handles, pretty palm trees in printed fabric and cotton lining on its sides and a drawstring closure. Measuring 11″ wide x 9.5″ high x 5″ deep, the essential beach tote goes for $30. Lord, I love thy Internet.

The Lipari Tote out of Braccialini’s Tua line of handbags sports the whole dual-layer approach, with fabric-accented see-through plastic outer shell and a zip-up inner bag. Very pretty! Unfortunately, I am just teasing. The gorgeous Italian Braccialini bags are not available in the US (according to their website at least).

And the series just keeps rolling. Mother’s Day is always in the middle of spring heading into summer, so giving a your mom a bag that she can take to the beach for the upcoming summer is a very good idea. Thanks to Saks I have found two different but both adorable Beach Totes. Let’s start off with the Juicy Couture Zuma Beach Tote:

The reason why this is the perfect beach tote is because it is triple the fun. The tote (pictured left) includes a cotton canvas beach sack which is cleverly carried inside of the coordinating transparent plastic tote. As a little add-on, Juicy throws in a leather trim clear wallet. The cotton sack has drawstring and tie closure and sequin detailing while the plastic tote has leather straps and canvas trim. The canvas bag measures 16″H X 16½”5L X 10½W and the plastic tote 13″H X 9″L X 10″W. This beach tote exemplifies young and simple summer fun, and can be yours for $128 at Saks Fifth Ave. While the Juicy Couture zuma tote features plastic to fend off the water and make it more “beach friendly”, my next pick would need to be given a little better care.

I can’t help but love the new Prada Canvas Tote (right). Now don’t think I’m naïve, but I have seen celebrity mommies toting this bag around, even at the beach (I’ll look for the picture again if you don’t beleive me!) The Prada Canvas Tote is a water-colored canvas tote bag with ostrich trim and shoulder straps. This one has a boat on the front and the colors just make me happy. The bag measures 13″H X 16″L X 5¾”W and is avaliable at Saks for $860. Now, if the bag you don’t want the bag you buy your mom to get ruined in any way, I’d say go with the Juicy. Celebrities can buy a new Prada bag every week, and I’m sure that is why they don’t care if if gets a little bit of damage. But that doesn’t mean you couldn’t buy the Prada Canvas tote for your mother as an everyday tote!

Let me get straight to some interesting specifications:

• Genuine flight satin, as used by the U.S. Airforce to produce flight jackets
• Real-life seatbelt material, capable of withstanding strains of 5,000+ lbs of tension
• YKK zippers, the smoothest on the market
• Nylon 69 stitching, NASA-approved and meets government specs VT95
• Italian chrome-plated feet
• Powerful magnetic snap

What sounds like a handbook for either a level-3 kevlar vest that 50 Cent would wear, or some fancy high tech gadget that has top secret gov’ment clearance (cuz it’s just so damned fancy), is indeed nothing but a boring, ol’ handbag.

Actually, it’s anything but boring. It’s a brilliant symbiosis of materials and application, it’s the Seatbelt Bags from Harveys Industries Inc. The patented bags come in a vast variety of shapes, sizes and colors. With messenger bags, totes, baguette bags, overnighters, clutches, in mini, large, or XXL, and 10 different shades, you are facing thousands of different varieties. Fabulous! Prices for the cool bags start at $60 and go up to $150, available at Zappos.com.

Thanks to brian@TFS for discovering this!

The Abercrombie cotton tote with flower print features bamboo handles and a silk chiffon bow accent. The handbag has a flat pocket on the front with a two button closure. The interior is fully lined in printed cotton fabric and there is an extra zipper pocket. It measures 13.5 inches wide by 9.5 inches tall by 3 inches deep.

At a price of $28, there is no reason, I repeat, no reason for you not to head over to the EFashionHouse and grab one for yourself. The retail price is $50 on that cute bag, which results in 44% savings for you. In case that you are wondering, mommy Britney Spears herself likes to sport the A&F bags herself once in a while.

Much of the time bags that we feature are well-known designer brands. Today, I have come across a gorgeous Buti bag. Humm buti, booty… nahh. Anyhow, the shape and colors and overall design of this bag are just gorgeous to me. This Buti handbag is entirely handmade with superb quality Italian calf skin leathers. The best part is the unique tulip shape. Usually vertical stripping is just that, stripping. But the Tulip shape on the Buti bag gives the wide vertical stipes of white, pink and coral an anomalous flavor. I also love the metal ring detailing (some Buti Tulip bags do not have this, but I think those are not nearly as sophisticated or original). Don’t fool yourself, the bag is much bigger than it appears, its dimensions are W 13.39″/ H 9.45″/ D 4.33″. This would make this bag pretty large, but I can’t see it being anything other than beautiful with the color scheme and drawstring tulip shape.

The Buti Tulip Tote is available at Forzieri at $319. For Mother’s Day, Forzieri run a special where you can get 10% off a purchase of $150 and more. Just enter the coupon code “EF2E1D” at the checkout and you’re set to go.

Sorry family, sorry friends, sorry school, sorry work, sorry boyfriend; I’ve found the new loves of my life. This is love at first sight. I can’t help but fall head-over-heels in love with these 2 new bags by Luella. From the shape/style, color and just overall appeal I think you will all have to agree (of your going to have one angry girl on your hands).

First, I want to tell you about the tan Daria Tote. The tote comes in a nude (tan) calfskin with white topstitching. What makes it stand out from the rest is the pink and white floral appliques and cutouts on front. The bag opens on top and features the signature strappy Luella details with silver metal grommets and rings. What else could line the inside but pink pig suede with a semi-attached zip pocket with the “Luella” pull tab. It measures precisely 11 3/5″H x 13 3/5″W x 7 1/5″D, which to me is just a gorgeous shape and size and can hold just about anything. As we have gone over time and time again, to buy a bag that beautiful has a heafty price tag involved, $895.00, but I seriously am going to disreguard the tag and just go for the bag.

Secondly, the Daria Tote, White. I realize the 2 bags have the same name, but look wise I find them very different. Why I love the white one is because it is simply elegant. This is what they call a “Bag of tricks”a too-cute tote adorned with signature hardware and precious tags”. Umm hello, duh! This bag features white calfskin with tan topstitching, and similar open top, pink suede lining, and the semi-attached zip pocket with the “Luella” pull tab, and the same size as the other. The big difference from the other is this bag looks more simple on the outside, featuring tan logo heart, horse, and red apple tags. Both bags are gorgeous and your selection depends on what you would like and how you want to accessorise. Also too, the white tote is $100 cheaper than the tan, $795, and I’m sure that is because the tan has more ornate detailing on the outside. Beautiful tan calfskin with an intricate floral design or supple white calfskin adorned with cute tags. Ahh what to do, what to do? (Sadly enough, this is the toughest question I have to ask myself and my wallet today )

Some mornings when you wake up, all you want to do is swear sweats and watch old reruns of Dawsons Creek with a box of cereal (don’t even pretend you have never done that). And some mornings you wake up feeling totally rejuvenated because its a sunny beautiful Saturday (yes, no work) and there is people to see and shopping to do! We all let our posture, attitude, and dress be seen by everyone we pass by on the street. So when you are having the unbelievable day and you want to show your spunk off to the world, you gotta have a perfect tote to match your amazing mood.

I can’t help it, I am totally lovin’ totes right now and this Emilio Pucci Angoli Small Corsette Tote has caught my eye. I’m sure you may remember Emilio Pucci from the rainboot trend, and of course, you weren’t cool if you weren’t wearing Pucci rainboots! And now the Pucci bags are showing off the fun colorful style that I believe can brighten anyones day. The tote features four polished silver-tone logo beads at the corners that hold up the cotton canvas whic is trimmed in luxurious red pigskin leather. I’m digging the magnetic closure, which makes for easy secure closing and the protective metal feet at the bottom, to keep the precious bag bright all over and out of harms way. It measures in around 9.5″ x 10″ x 3.5″ with a handle drop of 4.25″. But with this level of cuteness there is a price to pay, $590. The way I see it, I’d love to buy the bag in order to brighten up other people’s day, which will make the world a better place

Sometimes handbag designers seem to walk the ultra-thin line between beautiful perfection and extraordinary ugliness. Often this line is crossed just by the color options that a shopper can choose between. The Kate Spade Yoko Canvas Tote supports this statement in its entirety.
While the pictured natural tote looks stunning, featuring pretty whimsical line drawings by writer and illustrator Maira Kalman on the front and back, its close sibling in black with teal handles just ain’t cuttin it. Hideous! Fortunately, the pink handles harmonize very well with the beige’ish canvas of the natural color. The tote’s 14″ wide, 13″ high and 5″ deep; its straps are 22 inches in length. The stylish tote is on sale now at Smart Bargains for a mere $130 ($245 retail). Go get it while it’s hot.