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…)

3.1 Phillip Lim 31 Hour Tote, $750 via Barneys in white or orange

When I posted about 3.1 Phillip Lim’s stellar Spring 2012 collection a few weeks ago, your reactions were just as enthusiastic as mine – the bags are minimal, modern perfection. Recently, a little bit more information has surfaced about the concept behind the collection’s most anticipated designs, including a Style.com video to show them in action.

The 3.1 Phillip Lim 31 Hour Bags are meant for a woman who needs functional choices above and beyond a normal lifestyle – someone sophisticated, urban, blah blah blah. It’s the kind of lip service that every brand pays to its customers while trying to sell them expensive handbags, but Lim’s designs might actually fit their lofty descriptors. Plus, with price tags for $295 for a small clutch to $895 for the much-anticipated bicolor north-south tote, this might be the most affordable It Bag we’ll see for years to come. Check out the video after the jump or shop the first arrivals of the design via Barneys in orange, white or black. The bag above is priced at $750. (more…)

Images via Vogue.com

The first Monday back from a holiday weekend is so, so cruel. It’s like a little reminder of the immutability of life; no matter what we do, the calendar marches on while we cling to our leftover turkey legs and half-eaten pumpkin pies, trying to extend the avarice a bit longer. It’s Monday now, though, which means that it’s time for gluttony of a different kind. A handbag kind.

To make your return to real life as soft and comfortable as possible, we’ve assembled a gallery of the Alexander McQueen Spring 2012 Skull Clutches, which are always so much fun to look at. They don’t taste like stuffing, admittedly, but you probably don’t need another helping of that anyway. (Seriously, though, pass me that pie. I’ll eat it for breakfast.) (more…)

Image via Style.com

At this point, the Fashion Week onslaught from the industry’s media has turned into a furious din of show reviews and Anna Dello Russo pictures that’s starting to drive me just a wee bit off my rocker. One can only look at so many street style photos and catwalk detail shots before one’s brain starts to leak out one’s ear. It’s Friday, and I’m going to pretend like fashion doesn’t exist for the next two days. I’ll catch up on Monday, I promise.

For now, though, I’ll leave you to enjoy the most amusing street style photo I’ve seen all day. This one’s from Style.com’s Tommy Ton, for whom my affection is oft-stated in this space. I believe the image is from London Fashion Week, but I could be wrong. At any rate, it’s two women standing near each other, but not together, with two Celine Luggage Tote that are nearly identical, save for their clearly disparate sizes. (And the colors of their gussets. Ok, so not quite identical.) It’s like the big one birthed the little one. For those of you who are wondering, the little one is a Mini size. The big one? I’m guessing a large, but these things are difficult to gauge from a single photo. (more…)

Photo via Style.com

I love a good print as much as anyone in the world, which means that things like Style.com’s recent feature on the resurgence of traditional scarf patterns are like crack to me, particularly when they they lead off with a printed handbag. As is likely predictable when the worlds of purses and scarves collide, Hermes is the culprit. As is also predictable with the brand, the price for the Hermes Catenina Silk Bag is astronomical. But at $5450, the number even caught this veteran accessories fan off guard. Is there any way that you’d plunk down that much for a bag that wasn’t leather, encrusted in Swarovskis or some combination of the two? (more…)

Photo via Style.com

Normally for Want It Wednesday, we pick a specific item (which may or may not be a handbag – we like to switch things up around here sometimes) over which we’re lusting that week. But today, we’re doing things a little bit differently. While paging through Tommy Ton‘s always-excellent street style photos from Style.com’s Paris Haute Couture Week coverage, we came upon this photo of a group of young fashion luminaries that had us rummaging through our closets to see if we could recreate some of the colorful looks. (more…)

While paging through the handbags from Fendi Fall 2011, I kept waiting for the brand’s trump card. For the bag that would pull the whole thing together and make me sit up and pay attention. And while there are some very attractive options from the collection, unfortunately that bag never came. Perhaps after Spring 2011’s stellar lineup of Fendi accessories, I was expecting too much.

Fall continues some of the biggest hits from that line, including the ladylike multicolor satchels with crocodile flaps, and it also introduces several more multicolor options in the form of slouchy totes and shoulder bags with elongated straps. Some of these asymmetrically shaded designs work better than others, and I hope to see them hit retail in bright combinations as well as the neutrals seen here. For now, my collection winner in the blue patent shoulder bag that you see above. (more…)

I tend to fawn over VBH as often as possible, and VBH Fall 2011 Handbags proves why – it’s a line for real handbag lovers, not just women who buy bags because they’re necessary to complete an ensemble. These pieces are functional, extremely well-made, and most importantly, utterly gorgeous.

VBH has an eye for exotics and textures and how they’re best used, and bags like the fan-favorite Brera satchel give those materials an opportunity to take center stage and impress upon customers how nice they really are. Whether it’s regular leather, stingray, snakeskin or crocodile, the color and texture of the finish have been carefully selected to enhance the skin’s natural beauty. And don’t forget fur, calfhair, ostrich leg, suede and embossed leather – VBH has a little something for every taste, so long as your taste is good. (more…)

To say that the Marchesa aesthetic is distinctive would be a massive understatement; season after season, the brand creates over-the-top, elaborately feminine evening wear and cocktail dresses that are as architecturally impressive as they are glitteringly ornate. Ruching, draping, beading, laser-cutting – not only might it all appear in one collection, but it might all appear in one dress. Marchesa’s handbags have a lot of visual splendor to live up to.

And mostly, they do a fine job of it. Marchesa’s Fall 2011 Handbags are exactly what you’d expect them to be, but with a few new shapes thrown in to expand on the brand’s first handbag outing. The exotics are of particular interest; I’d love to see Marchesa make day bags, and it looks as the the designers’ feel for crocodile may be pointing in that direction. Or maybe I’m just hoping that if I say it out loud, it’ll eventually come true. (more…)