If you want to follow the fur bag trend, Olivia Harris is your best bet

As I’ve said repeatedly in this space and others, I do not wear real fur. That’s a personal choice for me, and I’m not going to lecture anyone on why they should make the same decision. I merely wish that more designers would consider using faux fur instead of the real thing, particularly when they just need a little bit and warmth is not an issue. The Olivia Harris Fur Baby Ball Bag would have been a perfect opportunity to use high-quality faux.

Joy Gryson, the designer behind the line, chose to use rabbit instead, which means that I can’t buy this particular bag. And that’s too bad – if it had been faux, I would have certainly considered it. Most fur bags look shapeless and puffy, but this one uses its small scale to its advantage and ends up being pretty cute.

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Judith Leiber gives us irresistible 1920s glamour

After featuring a crystal-encrusted Valentino bag so prominently yesterday, it’s only fair to recognize the brand that made sparkly animal clutches into a worldwide business. Judith Leiber can bedazzle anything and make it into a great work of inventiveness, but my favorites from the brand are often among its more restrained offerings.

It’s difficult to imagine a context in which the Judith Leiber Crystal Chain Strap Clutch could be considered “restrained,” and yet that’s exactly what this evening bag is, when compared to a Swarovski-studded Dachsund.

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Botkier embraces winter white

The lovely ladies of Botkier call this particular shade of the Botkier Kasper Hobo “light grey,” but I think it can be just as accurately described as that elusive color, winter white. And that’s a very, very good thing.

Dressing for the fall can be a simultaneously luxurious and dour experience – the rich knits, leather and suedes of fall clothes and accessories tend to come in darker shades, and adding a bit of color without looking season-inappropriate can be difficult. If you prefer to stick with neutrals in your accessories but still want to lighten up your sartorial mood, a bag in a shade of very light grey or cream is the perfect option.

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Kate Spade has a novel idea for clutches

Well, the idea may be literally novel, but some people say it’s not figuratively novel – we’ll get to that in a minute. All I know is that the Kate Spade Book of the Month Clutches appeal very strongly to the book nerd residing just below my surface.

I’ve always been a reader. I used to make forts out of couch cushions in my parents’ living room and read with a flashlight when I was in elementary school, and the habit never really abated, even though my days of fort-building are probably over. I took so many comparative lit classes in college that sometimes I’d have assigned reading of 18 to 20 novels in a single semester, and I had so many credits in the department by the time I graduated that it became my minor by accident. For me to see two of my greatest loves, handbags and books, come together in such a perfect way almost brings a tear to this old blogger’s eye.

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If you want to carry on the basics, try Marc by Marc Jacobs for a little pop of color

For certain occasions, you need a bag that can hold your entire life: work, school, a rainy day in need of a significant umbrella. Other times, you just need the basics, and having a larger bag would be overkill. For those times, allow me to suggest the Marc by Marc Jacobs Party Foret Chain Wallet.

The word “wallet” is a bit misleading – in addition to your cards and cash, this little bag is big enough to hold all of your essentials on a convenient cross-body strap.

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Fashion Week Handbags: Michael Kors embraces new minimalism, runway shopping for Spring 2011

This was just going to be your average runway review of the handbags from Michael Kors Spring 2011, but then I noticed something interesting – one of Kors’ runway bags is already available for pre-order on Saks.com. Much has been made of designers offering their runway wares for order via their own channels following presentations, but as far as I can remember, this is the quickest I have seen a brand go from runway to mass retailer with relatively little fanfare – it’s enough to make you wonder if this is the new normal.

As for the collection, much of it was classic Kors, although the offerings ranged from small-scale and ladylike to large-scale (and I do mean large) and beach-appropriate. All of the designs gave a nod to fashion’s newly streamlined accessories shapes, and many of the bags could be used by men and women alike. As promised, what appears to be a smaller version of the collection’s Santorini Raffia Totes are now available for pre-order via Saks for $495 with delivery expected by the end of the year.

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Cynthia Vincent hits a home run with a wonderfully textured black tote

I’ve been critical of Twelfth St. by Cynthia Vincent’s handbag line in many and various ways in the past, but I can think of nothing I love more than when a line that used to disappoint me comes through and makes a bag I love. With the Twelfth St. by Cynthia Vincent Harvey Tote, Vincent has done exactly that.

Great design is often found toward the ends of the design continuum – successful bags are usually very broadly appealing or very taste-specific. This bag fits easily into the first category by virtue of being neutral, useful and priced under $500, and hopefully it’s an indication that the brand has found its accessories footing and will continue to churn out attractive, functional, reasonably priced handbags.

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Valentino distracts us from Fashion Week with crystal-encrusted birds

Valentino’s handbags are notorious for their use of literal flora – flowers and leaves of every variety have dotted the brand’s bags for several years running, to the near-exclusion of any other aesthetic ideas. The motif works for Valentino, and the brand has carved itself a significant, ladylike niche in a very competitive handbag market.

What Valentino has never used on a bag before, at least to my knowledge, is literal fauna, which is what we have with the Valentino Bird Clutch. A rather run-of-the-mill silk evening bag is topped by perching crystal birds; if this is the direction of Valentino’s evening accessories, then the brand might just end up giving Judith Leiber a run for its bird-bag money.

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Fashion Week Handbags: Diane Von Furstenberg Spring 2011

It seems as though Diane Von Furstenberg got the message about the importance of color in Spring 2011’s accessories loud and clear. The bags in this collection have just as much verve and personality as any of their higher-priced counterparts, and the collection perfect for a younger woman who wants to subscribe to the trend and and still be playful.

Von Furstenberg does a good job thinking about providing bags for her customers in every part of their lives, and Spring 2011 provides everything from box clutches to patterned canvas weekender bags. For some people, these bags will be a lot of look, but they’ll appeal to anyone who already loves DVF’s print-heavy, brightly colored aesthetic.

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Fashion Week Handbags: Kate Spade Spring 2011

If I had to pick two words to describe the bags from Kate Spade Spring 2011, they would be “quirky” and “classic.” The brand has shown a penchant for truly fashionable novelty bags in the past, and it looks as though its looking to explore that field a bit more for spring with strangely awesome bags modeled after pineapples and newspapers.

That doesn’t mean that Kate Spade has given up on the classic handbag, though. The yellow satchel at right should assuage any traditionalist fears that the brand has forgotten the customers who made it successful in the first place – it’s just hoping that those customers are looking to have a little fun on the side.

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Lanvin makes the perfect manbag

What’s a man with a sense of style supposed to do for a carry-on? Often, men’s designer bags either skew too Ed Hardy or too feminine, and the task of finding one that’s luxurious, stylish and still a bit masculine is a bit more difficult than you think. Leather bags in particular seem too often to lean toward the womenswear side of the aisle, but not all men want to spend their luxury luggage dollars on nylon or canvas.

Enter the Lanvin Military Duffle Bag. This design strikes the perfect balance between macho and high-end, and the details are just “Lanvin” enough to be distinctive without looking like a woman should be carrying it.

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Fashion Week Handbags: Marni Spring 2011

Although Marni doesn’t enjoy a preeminent spot among fashion’s most powerful bag designers like some of the its Italian counterparts, you have to give the brand credit – Marni sticks to its quirky retro-modern aesthetic with a slavishness that has won it scads of fans who aren’t afraid of a bit of a fashion risk.

I’ve never been absolutely bowled over by a Marni handbag, but but they’re consistently unique and well-made, which goes a long way in a crowded accessories marketplace. Marni Spring 2011‘s bags may be the line that forces me to turn the corner, so to speak. The bags are streamlined, made of outstanding materials, and just weird enough to be wonderful. This line has a very specific customer base, and I think I’m finally part of it.

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