Back in October, we discussed whether or not the legendary Fendi Baguette, the first real It Bag and practically the fifth cast member of Sex and the City, might be poised for a return to prominence. Based on the Baguettes that are starting to surface for Spring 2012, I’d say that we might all be carrying Fendi in a year’s time. Can I request a crossbody version, please? (more…)

Fendi Cracked Suede Baguette, $990 in blue or silver via Bergdorf Goodman

For an entire generation of women (of which I’m a part), the Fendi Baguette was the first It Bag to penetrate our collective consciousness. Indeed, many fashion people count its popularity as the dawn of the entire It Bag concept, and I probably have its existence to credit, at least in small part, to my current employment. In handbag history, the role of this little Fendi bag can’t be overstated.

Like anything, though, the heady days of Sex and the City passed and the Baguette fell out of favor to make way for the Chloe Paddington, the Fendi Spy and all the other must-have, “ungettable get” bags that followed. The fashion industry is endlessly cyclical, though, and eventually everything old is new again. Nearly 15 years after its launch, is it time for the Fendi Baguette’s second act? (more…)

Economic problems? Debt ceilings? Political tensions? What are those things? The luxury industry has surely never heard of them, if double-digit sales increases from LVMH, Hermes and Burberry, just to name a few, are any indication. The rich only get richer, naturally, and when they do, they buy clothes. Lots of clothes. And handbags. Louis Vuitton is even reporting waiting lists, a thing that most pundits seemed to think would never be seen again after the economic crash of 2008.

And yet, I put my name on a waiting list myself at the beginning of the year in order to wait for the apparent privilege of buying a bag that cost nearly $2,000. Having been in college during the rococo days of the mid-2000s, the opportunity to queue up to buy an It Bag like the original Chloe Paddingtons and Fendi Spy bags passed me by while I stared in envy at the people who were buying their way into the “ungettable get.” Are we headed back there again? (more…)

When the New Yorker takes on handbags, the storied publication is sure to produce some interesting bits of wisdom from around the fashion world. The magazine’s profile of Bottega Veneta’s Thomas Maier is only available subscribers (both online and old skool), but a few choice words on the designer’s success at the once nearly-dead Italian brand have leaked out to us plebes, and they’re mostly about the role of the handbag in Maier’s oeuvre.

What I found most interesting, though, was Tom Ford’s declaration concerning the inherent it-ness of the anti-it bag trend. We’ve talked about the sea change in bag trends in these parts before, but It Bag fatigue has created It Bags of its own, whose it-ness isn’t negated by the fact that they aren’t logo-covered or overwrought. Maier’s handmade Bottega Veneta Cabat totes are credited by the magazine with pulling the anti-trend into mainstream favor, and they certainly had a hand in it, but I’m of the personal belief that Phoebe Philo’s sleek, minimal bags for Celine are what broke the trend to its current, wide audience. And that entire thought just proves that Ford is right, as he so often is – people who love It Bags and those who hate them have far more in common than either group would probably like to admit. Where do you sit on this debate, which is clearly the most important issue of our times? I mean, it’s getting coverage in the New Yorker, y’all.

The era of the all-encompassing It Bag has mostly come and gone, and with the breadth of designer possibilities available, more individualized trends usually rule the day. That is, of course, unless we’re talking about the Mulberry Alexa Satchel. If It Bags still exist, it absolutely deserves the moniker.

Named after It Girl Alexa Chung, this little number has been on the minds of fashionistas both in the US and across the pond since we initially saw Chung wearing it months and months ago. And really, is there a better way to attract attention for your new bag than by naming it after a rising star and then giving her one to carry everywhere? I think not. (more…)

Add this to the list of Things I Didn’t Know Science Cared About, I suppose.

According to UK retailer Debenhams, the weight of the average woman’s handbag, including its contents, has fallen from 7.69 pounds in 2007 to 3.31 pounds in 2009. I don’t know about anyone else, but my shoulders and back are certainly thankful for the dramatic change.

Everyone knows that no trend lasts forever, so when tiny actresses were seen with handbags bigger than some New York studio apartments in the middle of the last decade, we all knew that it was a matter of time until the Olsen look was so five minutes ago. Well, if handbag weight is any indication, that time is now. But are there possible explanations other than just the normal ebb and flow of fashion trends? (more…)

Can we talk about the Givenchy Maxi Nightingale Tote for a second? We get the chance to look through dozens of pictures of celebrities every day in order to create BagThatStyle, and in the last two weeks, this lovely bag has shown up more with more celebs than any other bag that I can recall since we started the site.

Hilary Duff, Vanessa Hudgens, and Ashley Tisdale have all been spotted with the bag within days of each other, with little fashion fanfare to encourage them to be seen carrying it. So what’s the deal? (more…)