Anyone who’s opened a high-end fashion magazine in the recent past knows, those types of publications are focused on aesthetics to the near-complete exclusion of practical concerns. Style.com may be known as a website first and a magazine second (check out the print edition, though, it’s pretty fun), but it still follows that same fashion mag edict – form first, function second, if at all. Depending on the application, that ethos can either be fantastical or head-scratchingly odd.

The site recently released its top 10 lists for the season’s accessories, and its choice for The Best Bag of Fall 2012 struck me as the latter. This Fendi Crocodile Clutch maybe be a beautiful evening bag, but a great piece of functional design it is not. Box clutches never are, no matter how pretty they may be. Not only that, but this little evening bag isn’t even indicative of the season’s overall accessories trends. So what gives? (more…)

Alexander McQueen Punk Skull Box Clutch, $2720 via Net-a-Porter

We’re readying a much more extensive guide to sparkly little bags for the holiday season, but while that’s in the pipeline, I couldn’t help but post about the Alexander McQueen Punk Skull Box Clutch – after all, it really deserves to stand on its own. Feathers and rhinestones and beads, oh my!

With the bag, McQueen manages again to do what it always does so well – successfully combine multiple heavy design elements in a way that doesn’t feel overwrought or silly. The company makes that kind of light touch look easy, but it’s not – just as whoever’s behind Christian Louboutin’s handbags. A clutch like this one is to be celebrated as something of an accomplishment. (more…)