Christian Louboutin Cleo Sequined Satin Clutch, $2095 via Net-a-Porter

I miss a lot of things about college, and the crossword puzzle from the University of Georgia student newspaper is probably a lot higher up on that list than you’d expect. It was the perfect level of difficulty – I could finish it in about 45 minutes and feel challenged while still ultimately being victorious. Related: 45 minutes was approximately the length of one lecture class period at UGA. Over my four years there, I did hundreds of them.

Getting your news online brings with it a noticeable lack of crossword puzzles, which has left a sad little gap in my procrastination habits since 2008. The Christian Louboutin Cleo Sequined Satin Clutch isn’t literally a crossword puzzle in the same way that Louboutin has made literal tape measure shoes, but when I squint, it’s close enough for me. (more…)

We all know that this time of the summer is basically nonexistent in the fashion world. Megs and Vladi are on vacation, emails slow down to a trickle, it’s impossible to get ahold in anyone who works in an office after noon on Fridays. And here I am, plugging away, trying to conjure a blog out of thin air. But sometimes, the absolute stillness of the industry allows you to notice some things you might otherwise brush off.

Today, that means I noticed both the Dolce & Gabbana Miss Romantique Dome Satchel and Dolce & Gabbana Miss Sicily Tiger Sequins Satchel are, well, both made my Dolce & Gabbana. In the same season. Most brands certainly have a range of bags that goes from safe to flamboyant in order to satisfy a range of customers and purposes (some bags need to do the heavy lifting at retail, some need to garner editorial attention from magazines, still others need to get noticed by blogs like this one), but these two designs constitute about as wide of a range as I’ve ever seen from a single collection. (more…)

In general, I think that phrase “too much is never enough” is useful when trying to explain certain sectors of fashion, particularly to those who aren’t interested in the industry or in understanding the genius of fabulous fashion eccentrics like Anna Dello Russo or Daphne Guinness. Rococo is always alive and well somewhere within the style world, even during harsh economic times, and its exuberant resilience is to the industry’s credit.

Sometimes rococo runs headlong into a wall, though, as with the Marc Jacobs Large Sequined Stam. I like the Stam bags (I even have one from way back in the second season that they were around), I like sequins, I like the blush-nude color that we have going on here. But unfortunately, the end result is less than the sum of its parts. (more…)

As the holiday party season starts to get into full swing, the question of what to wear hangs heavy in the minds of almost all party-goers. Particularly if the festivities are office-related, you might not want to wear things that are too obviously showy or expensive. Workplaces breed resentment, and in most industries, being seen as flaunting one’s wealth can be looked at as gauche.

That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to shy away from a glitzy little holiday clutch, though; you just have to find a way to do the look in an unexpected and fun way. The Rafe New York Erin Clutch provides precisely that opportunity: it’s little and sparkly, but it’s not over-the-top or obviously a designer bag. (more…)

Did anyone watch Sports Night back in the early 2000s? It was the show that Aaron Sorkin did before The West Wing, and it was an excellent, if short-lived, peek behind the scenes of a SportsCenter-type broadcast. In one episode, the taken-for-granted wardrobe girl went off on one of the show’s hosts about how her job was important because if dressing was left up to him, he’d never figure out which undertones went with what colors and he’d end up looking like crap.

Well, whoever designed the LeSportsac Blue Steel Small Crossbody Bag probably should have borrowed my DVDs of the show and listened to her rant, because this bag is kind of adorable…except for the out-of-nowhere gold hardware and trim. Although if the bag’s name is a Zoolander reference, I’m willing to forgive the designers. (more…)

I tend to have a soft spot for bags that are ever-so-slightly on the wrong side of the fabulous/tacky divide, so when I see something like the Halston Heritage Carla Studded Flap Bag, I have to check myself for a moment. Is this bag actually cool, or is that my bad taste talking?

Despite the simultaneous presence of both sequins and studs, two trends that are about to find themselves visited by that old-fashioned giant hook that yanks people off stage, I think that the color palette and various textures might work together to make this bag a winner. At least on a certain level. (more…)

I think I know how this one is going to turn out, but in the spirit of Friday, let’s have a poll!

The Diane Von Furstenberg Piper Sequined Shoulder Bag is a lot of look, in the immortal words of Tim Gunn. Sequins, feathers, multicolor metallic leather, studs, two straps…the design has a lot of competing visual ideas on a rather modestly sized bag, and my first reaction reflected that pretty accurately. But sometimes, stuff that seems totally awful is actually just weird enough to work, on the right girl. Standing out in a crowded contemporary handbag market takes some guts, which this bag has in spades, but I’m just not sure that the ends justify the means in this case in particular. What do you think? Vote and let us know in the comments.

Buy through Net-a-Porter for $795.

Just yesterday, I wondered if maybe a sequin-covered Alice + Olivia hobo was a little too much shine for any one person to pull off. As it turns out, the problem wasn’t the number of sequins – it was the details of the design. Or, more accurately, that it had none.

When I saw the Cleobella Sophia Hobo today, the shortcomings of the Alice + Olivia bag became clear. A whole mess of sequins is perfectly fine, just as long as they’re applied artfully and intelligently. Unfortunately, Alice + Olivia merely covered their entire bag. The order and intricacy of those scallop-patterned Cleobella hobo are what make it appealing, even in the face of a metric ton of paillettes. (more…)

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m a certifiable fan of sequins, glitter and sparkles of all kinds, but the Alice + Olivia Sequin Hobo is a LOT of sequins. It really and truly earned its name, and it might need to come with some sort of eye protection warning.

Be that as it may, I still find myself oddly drawn to it. I probably wouldn’t like it in person because I don’t like bags that large that have such long, thin straps, but a bunch of olive-khaki sequins is certainly something that you could add to almost any ensemble in order to attract a little more attention to your sartorial choices. One word of advice: keep this and any bag like it far, far away from delicate knits or you might have a rather unsightly snag. (more…)

There’s perhaps nothing so tragic in fashion as looking at a bag that you know for a fact to be real and thinking that it looks fake. Sadly, that was exactly the reaction I had to the Valentino Sequin-Embellished Rosette Tote. Perhaps this motif has reached its logical end for the brand – it may be time for Valentino to start mining a different theme, considering how successful it was with birds last week. (more…)

I had a bit of a conniption over Coach’s heavy-handed use of gold sequins a few months ago, but now my eyes have been opened and all has been forgiven. On the department store shelves where that awful bag once sat, we now have surprisingly beautiful blue concoctions like the Coach Poppy Sequin Disco Bag. (more…)