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…)

It seems like nearly every brand is making some version of the chain-handled flap bag notoriously popularized by Chanel decades ago, and for people who love the look but don’t want to pay Chanel prices, it couldn’t be more conveniently. Particularly when brands like Kate Spade get in on the fun – Spade’s ladylike aesthetic works perfectly with the scale and feel of a flap bag.

The Kate Spade Evangeline Shoudler Bag is an especially lovely specimen. The taupe color might skew a little bit into old lady territory, but I’m hoping that in person, it would be a very modern greige. If that were the case, I’d be able to get behind this bag 100%. (more…)

It’s difficult to think of new ways to make a basic tote shape new and different, and although I really like the Badgley Mischka Suzanne Tote, I’m not sure that it can really be called “new” or “different.” After all, Beirn has a line of woven watersnake totes already. But sometimes different isn’t a necessity, particularly in the face of a reasonably priced exotic bag that can be used year-round and all day.

It’s hard to find a bag that’s multicolored but still convincingly neutral, full of texture but not functionally impaired, and still within a somewhat reasonable price range. Add real snakeskin to the mix and that mission becomes nearly impossible. But somehow, Badgley Mischka not only managed to do it, but the did it better than Beirn. (more…)

I thought we had seen Rebecca Minkoff‘s popular Morning After and Morning After Mini Bags in just about every iteration you can think of – studded, embossed, bicolor, bimaterial, zippered, riveted – but it looks as though there was one option that we missed – quilted. Luckily for us, the fine folks at RM didn’t forget about it, and we’re here to present the Rebecca Minkoff Quilted Morning After Mini Bag

When done correctly, quilting imparts a wonderful sense of depth and texture onto a bag, and Minkoff has done well with this version of the bag that made her famous. The flat leather accents provide a nice visual alternative to the quilting, and the sparse domed studs add to the on-trend military feel of this bag. (more…)

It’s easy to get distracted by the splashy, cotton-candy designs of some Dooney & Bourke bags. They’re the ones you see being carried by 14-year-olds in the mall, obvious branding covering every inch in various hyper-girly arrangements. My disdain for those types of bags can probably be easily sensed from my description of them, but I can understand why they’re popular.

And certainly, if the strong sales of those bags enables the brand to continue to make things like the Dooney & Bourke Florentine Vachetta Letter Carrier, I’m all for it. Obviously I don’t know which type of bag makes the brand more money, but I definitely wish that this part of their line got more attention. (more…)

To my knowledge, I have only once previously written about a bag made of cork, and I sort of brushed off the material as gimmicky and without longevity. Well, having now seen a cork bag in person, I think I’ve got to take back my original opinion on the material. I’m ok with being wrong, as long as that means that somewhere out there, a bag is surprisingly fabulous.

The cork bag that I had the pleasuring of playing with in real life was the Elie Tahari Cynthia Handbag, and I couldn’t have been more surprised and delighted. Not only did the cork have a soft, velvety texture to it, but the bag was light as a feather. (more…)