Milly Victoria Suede Clutch, $230. Milly Victoria Leather Crossbody, $285. Both via ShopBop.

It’s so easy to become completely jaded to the prices of handbags after you’ve been buying them for a couple of years, but when you stand back and look at it, a grand or two for a handbag really is an enormous amount of money, objectively. When you consider that even most big brands are assembly-line produced in a way not dissimilar to how much less expensive bags are made, an occasional bout of price frustration is not only understandable, but probably indicative of a healthy mental state.

When that happens, it’s nice to take a moment and remember that there are brand like Milly out there, making very stylish bags with price tags in the low three-figures. The Milly Victoria Bags are just the latest in a string of successes for the brand’s neophyte handbag line, and they’re very much worth noting. (more…)

Marc by Marc Jacobs Snakes on a Frame Crossbody, $298. LeSportsac Divine Sunglasses Wristlet, $25. Both via ShopBop.

In my three years at PurseBlog, I’ve written a lot of posts that I never expected to write as part of my job here. For example, I never imagined myself Photoshopping a picture of a small, yappy dog next to a very expensive clutch for comparison’s sake. I never expected to write half of the things I’ve written about all manner of Real Housewives. Today’s Bag Battle, though? It might take the cake.

When I first saw the Marc by Marc Jacobs Snakes on a Frame Crossbody, I smiled at its relative novelty. A sunglasses bag! Cute! But yesterday morning I noticed the LeSportsac Divine Sunglasses Wristlet, and the coincidence seemed to fun to pass up. Of course, with two bags that share an unconventional theme, we have to put it to a vote: Which one do you like better? Check out larger photos of both bags and vote in our poll, after the jump. (more…)

Christian Louboutin Lou Trash Bag, $895 via Neiman Marcus

Or, I suppose, already calling your bag “trash” is one way to set accurate expectations of what it will look like for your customers. That’s the optimistic take, I suppose.

Christian Louboutin has long been making “trash” shoes, which are traditional pumps or slingbacks made out of the patent-covered material that you see here. Because the shapes are classic and there’s not a great deal of surface area, I’ve always thought that the shoes worked, at least for a certain customer. The Christian Loboutin Lou Trash Bag, on the other hand? Not so much. (more…)

Alexander Wang Raphael Crossbody, $680 via Neiman Marcus

A couple of weeks ago, I found myself eating lunch in Soho with a friend while the Alexander Wang sample sale was in full swing. When we walked by and saw that there was no line, we could help but go in and poke around. I found a pair of amazing black brocade leggings from Resort 2011 that I can’t wait to wear once the weather is cold enough, but the thing that caught my eye the most was the Alexander Wang Raphael Crossbody Bag.

Sadly, since this is a Fall 2011 piece, it wasn’t for sale. Instead, it was being carried by some of the girls working the sale, presumably to hold the tasers they surely need in order to keep an unruly sample sale crowd under control. It took all the self control I had not to snatch one off of an employee and sprint as quickly as I could for the Spring Street subway station. (I never would have made it. I would have been taken out by running into a tourist group standing absentmindedly in the middle of the sidewalk. It’s Soho, after all.) (more…)

Megs and I are big Proenza Schouler fangirls already, as many of you might have noticed, and I’m already on the record as loving the Proenza Schouler PS1 Crossbody Pouch. The bag is functional, exactly my style and cute as a button – how could I not love it? So when you add gorgeous sueded yellow crocodile into the mix, my heart beats even faster.

Unfortunately, with crocodile comes a significantly increased price tag. If money were no object, I’d gladly plunk down in excess of six grand to have one of these little bags hanging from my shoulder. It’s a great pop of color and Proenza Schouler is still a relatively small, independently run brand, after all. So it would sort of be like supporting a local small business…right? Right? Ok, maybe it’s different. But the bag is still great. (more…)

Fair or unfair, whenever I think of Cole Haan, I think of middle-aged women. There’s nothing wrong with middle-aged women, of course, but since I’m not yet part of that group, handbags that bring them to mind usually aren’t relevant to my personal style, which tends to be very urban and a bit trendy. I don’t think I’m the only one who commonly associates Cole Haan with a more mature clientele.

I’m not sure if the brand is trying to purposefully combat that association with bags like the Cole Haan Cape Town Camille Crossbody Bag, but if they are, a kicky little minibag in a fun finish is a great way to start. (more…)