…I just didn’t manage to get there with them.
Feathers and satin and chain sound like a recipe for a whimsical evening bag, but the actual end product of the Lanvin Pouchette Oulouette Clutch isn’t as fantastical as it may sound. When carried on the shoulder, the feathers hang down the front of the body in sort of a sad, limp way, and the promise that they can be removed to make a necklace or belt doesn’t make me feel much better about how this bag was executed.
If the Tory Burch Pop Minaudiere is an indication of more to come, I couldn’t be happier.
It wasn’t long ago that you had to look to top-tier names like Bottega Veneta and Alexander McQueen to find creative, collectible box clutches, but that appears to be changing. First Diane Von Furstenberg debuted her minaudiere collection, and now another star in the contemporary price point is suddenly on the radar.
Ferragamo is a brand we turn to for premium quality and luxury. For our trip to the Bahamas, Salvatore Ferragamo sent us this Resort bag to photograph. The white leather handbag featured brown trim along with tortoise shell closures. The bag itself has thick pebbled leather and a doctor bag top closure. The color combination was perfect against the crystal blue Carribean waters and lush greenery.
This bag delivers in November (call to reserve) at Salvatore Ferragamo Boutiques Nationwide for $2550 or www.ferragamo.com.
Before Vlad and I headed to NYC to find an apartment, I told everyone on Twitter that if we found a place I was going to reward myself with a new bag. I had decided it would either be a Balenciaga bag or Proenza Schouler bag. Well, hello! What was I thinking? A move to NYC is very expensive, especially when it comes down to all of the fees. So I left bag-less but with a great apartment, which was obviously the way to go.
To be completely honest, I desperately want both the PS1 and a Balenciaga City. So it was probably better not to over tempt myself. Speaking of tempting, here is the Proenza Schouler PS1 in olive green.
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: I just don’t get the perforated leather trend. At all. Some trends, like fringe or boho, I don’t like but I can understand their popularity because they’re a good fit for people whose personal styles are far different than my own. But who wants leather that looks like a basketball jersey?
It’s rare that I see perforations (which I classify differently than cut-outs) done well, but if you’re looking to find a chic perforated option on a budget, the Hinge Perforated Leather Tote is likely the best that you’ll do. One of the main reasons that I like it? I didn’t realize it was perforated until I looked closely.
When you look at the camouflage, fur and fringe that dominate Prada’s fall collection, it can be difficult to remember that Prada is a label whose bread and butter is basic, somewhat conservative leather bags. And yet, it’s true – year after year, these bags fly under the fashion radar but are picked up by thousands of women of every conceivable age and lifestyle to add a note of sophistication and luxury to their wardrobes.
Bags like the Prada Soft Calf Tote probably won’t be featured prominently in Vogue editorials or spotted on the arms of endless starlets, but they’re the bags that make Prada a great source for accessories year after year. While half of the line chases trends, the other half looks like this – the kind of bag that most women would love to have in their closets. Or at least the kind of bag that I’d love to have in mine.
I complained recently that Marc by Marc Jacobs has caused me some handbag disappointment as of late, but I can’t say that I find anything disappointing about the Marc by Marc Jacobs Trapped! Long Trifold Wallet.
Well, except for the fact that I don’t have one in my closet, of course.
Have you ever seen a bag in person, talked yourself out of buying it and then obsessed over it for months on end afterward, at which point it has become sold out and you can no longer get it? That’s the tragic story of me and the Celine Boston Tote.
I thought I had successfully put the bag out of my mind, but after seeing Leighton Meester carry hers two weeks ago and Tommy Ton’s great photos of Celine bags on Jak & Jil Blog (from whence the above picture came), my obsession is back to full power and it shows no signs of abating.
At first glance, the CC Skye The Onie Messenger Bag seems great. The use of both smooth and python-embossed lambskin gives the bag a sense of depth and texture, and the crossbody structure and schoolyard feel are on-trend and very current without losing the bag’s classic appeal.
But then…what is this bag supposed to be used for, exactly? At first I thought it was a high-end school or work bag, but the 13″x13″ dimensions and shallow depth mean that it could only be used for small books and an iPad or netbook at most. At the same time, though, those dimensions seem a little bulky for an everyday handbag.
Despite any fun that I might have had at Versace’s expense in the past, I really, really want the brand to get through its growing pains and come out the other side making beautiful accessories. Few labels have the kind of global name recognition that Versace enjoys, and it would make the accessories market as a whole much richer for Versace to find its voice and become a real player in the handbag game. If it keeps making bags like the Versace Hilary Satchel, there’s hope for the brand yet.
Instead of the over-the-top, mismatched styling that we’ve seen from the brand in the past, this bag’s design has been edited down to just the parts necessary to keep some of the Versace attitude. Most of that comes by way of the round hardware motif that dots the front of the bag, but it doesn’t distract at all from the beautifully textured and glazed purple leather underneath. Instead of having multiple colors, patterns and types of hardware compete with each other, this bag’s elements all work work together.
Most of the shock value of Coach releasing a bag with a four-figure price tag wore off years ago, but the disparity between the prices of the Coach Madison Calf Hair Brynne Satchel and the Coach Madison Ocelot Sabrina Satchel truly caught be off guard.
The Brynne, left, is made of printed calf hair with leather trim and is 14 inches wide. The Sabrina, on the right, is nylon with leather trim and measures 12 inches across. If you had shown me the bags and asked me to guess, I would have pegged the Brynne at about $700 – one of Coach’s pricier offerings, but not out of the brand’s normal range these days. The Sabrina would have been much lower, probably about $300. On one count, I would have been remarkably close (not much of an accomplishment, considering that this is my job); on the other, not so much.
It’s been a while since I really, really liked a Foley + Corinna bag. It’s not that I’ve disliked the brand’s recent offerings, but more that they haven’t inspired much critical thinking. I can only write so many posts about the dozens of different City Tote iterations before my ability to think of new words to describe them ceases to continue.
On the other hand, I really quite like the Foley + Corinna Python Buckle Hobo. In the brand’s tradition, the design is relatively free of unnecessary complications and totally user-friendly, but the asymmetrical buckle placement gives it just enough attitude to make it noticeable beyond your average hobo.
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