Custom Design

We got a peek at Fendi’s Fall 2010 runway handbags in March, but now that they’ve started to trickle out for retail pre-order, the details of the collection are becoming even more clear. What’s perhaps most striking, however, is how much the collection, now dubbed “Classico,” hasn’t changed.

Accessories are often altered somewhere in the runway-to-retail journey, but the clean lines and clear midcentury influence that we saw on Fendi’s runway are here in almost completely unadulterated form. Even the little tags remain, although these are embossed with the brand’s name instead of the custom initials that each model sported on the catwalk. I continue to hope that personalization will be available through Fendi boutiques, although I have yet to be able to confirm it. Larger pictures and price information, after the jump.

Fendi Classico No. 2 in embossed calfskin, $1540 via Luisa Via Roma.

Fendi Classico No. 2 in zucca, $1400 via Luisa Via Roma.

Fendi Classico No. 3, $1995 via Nordstrom.

Fendi Classico No. 4, $1640 via Nordstrom.

No word yet on what the Classico No. 1 might look like, although there is a Classico baguette that hasn’t been associated with a number thus far.

Original post by Amanda Mull

I’m from the South, so I come from a tradition where people dress up for particularly popular sporting events. Admittedly, I’m not all that tuned in to international soccer or the conventions and traditions that surround it, but I figure that there’s some daring bag lover out there that likes to dress to support her team and still be fashionable. If not, well, take this purely as a comedy post. You have to admit, however, that no matter where or how you’re watching the games, you’ve still got to carry a bag, right?

Fendi Peek-a-Boo Satchel

Countries: This one really only works for South Africa. The black, green and yellow banding remind me of the structure of the country’s flag as well as the colors. If only the cream portions were white! Buy through Luisa Via Roma for $4248.

Versace Naomi Leather Satchel

Countries: Greece, Argentina or Honduras, depending on how much you care about getting an exact match for the shade of blue. Would also work for Sweden, but, well, they didn’t qualify. Buy through Luisa Via Roma for $1962.

Tory Burch Palma Small Backpack

Countries: Perhaps the only bag in this group that you’d actually want to carry to a World Cup game if you’re not sitting in a luxury box. If you’re a fan of Germany, Ghana, Spain or Brazil, you’re in luck! Buy through ShopBop for $295.

Bottega Veneta Mini Woven Shoulder Bag

Countries: Green is a pretty useful color when it comes to country-specific dressing, but it’s not so easy to find in bags. Brazil, Mexico, Algeria, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Portugal, Nigeria, Ghana and Italy – this is the one for you guys. Buy through Saks for $725.

Nancy Gonzalez Crocodile Zip Top Satchel

Countries: Cameroon, Chile, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, North Korea, Paraguay, Portugal, Serbia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain Switzerland and the United States all feature red prominently, making their fans prime candidates for this luxe satchel. Buy through Saks for $2850.

No matter which country takes home the trophy, the real winners, of course, are teams like Brazil and Ghana, since they have the most handbag choices. Naturally. Who will you be rooting for?

Original post by Amanda Mull

Swoon.

You hear that? I’m swooning. Pretty hard. I’m a bit desensitized to beautiful handbags in the same way that I imagine fashion photographers are desensitized to beautiful women – when you look at them all day from a business perspective, it’s can be kind of hard to recapture the feeling of excitement that they once gave you. Well, folks, the Pauric Sweeney Metallic Python Shoulder Bag has me giddy like a schoolgirl all over again. How could it not? The charms of this particular purse are so many and varied that I barely know where to start.

I’d begin by talking about the material, but the reasons why I love the texture-rich python should be obvious. Instead, we’ll start with the color, since gunmetal is not only my favorite neutral, but also one of my favorite colors for clothing or accessories, period. The depth of the shade avoids the cheap look that can come with some metallics, and the finish here is particularly interesting – it’s sort of matte, isn’t it? A matte metallic sounds like an oxymoron, but somehow, Pauric Sweeney made it happen. And it’s beautiful.

A good color and material are nothing without a good design, though, and luckily this particular bag doesn’t lack in that department. The structure is a somewhat more modern iteration of the drawstring trend, with the one-piece modified box chain playing the part of the string. The chain can either be doubled as it’s seen here or used as a single, longer shoulder strap, depending on your preferences.

The only part of the bag that I don’t like, from a functional perspective, is the skinny flap over the opening. I like that the color and material provides a nice contrast to the rest of the bag, but that’s the sort of closure that NO ONE ever uses – it usually ends up flopped sloppily over the top. On a bag this slouchy, however, I’m not sure that’s as big of an aesthetic problem as it would be on a more structured design. On the whole, this is the best bag that I’ve seen in quite a while. Pre-order through Luisa Via Roma for $2276.

Original post by Amanda Mull

Be still, my heart.

Although versions of that famous phrase appear in the works of both Homer and Shakespeare, I think that it is most usefully and accurately employed to describe my salivating, almost quivering reaction upon seeing the Salvatore Ferragamo Python Soft Sofia Shoulder Bag. To put it in more vernacular terms: holy crap, y’all. If a bag can be sexy, this bag is sexy. I want to settle down and buy a house with it – too bad its price would be a good start to a downpayment.

It’s just…beautiful. Elegant, simple, clean-lined. I’ve always loved the somewhat off-kilter structure of the Sofia bag’s gussets (they’re folded up at the bottom and affixed with a metal Ferragamo ring instead of neatly stitched), and rendering the shape in python only serves to up the wow-factor by several orders of magnitude.

I can only imagine how fragile snow-white python would be and how scared I would be to get it dirty, so this bag is likely not for the faint of heart or those whose existences find them sitting their bags on the ground from time to time. If you’re looking for a beautiful bag to carry very carefully, however, this is the one that I would suggest over all others that I’ve seen in the past few months. Buy through Luisa Via Roma for $3391.

Original post by Amanda Mull

We’ve featured several non-leather clutches in the past few days that have had price tags north of two grand, and commenters seem displeased at such prices for bags that aren’t made out of some kind of animal-derived material. Well! We certainly don’t want anyone to be displeased, so I present for your consideration the Pauric Sweeney Tullio Lizard Clutch.

It’s made almost entirely of exotic lizard skin, it has clean, architectural lines, and the combination of neutral colors would go with a variety of nighttime looks. At only slightly more than $1000 for all of that, the price sounds positively fair when looked at in comparison with the clutches we’ve written about recently.

The clutch may be simple, but its details are perfect, and that’s what counts in any design. The smooth, black patent of the small top flap provides and excellent foil for the nubby texture of the tan lizard below, and the gentle dip in the metal bar separating the two is a well-edited flourish.

While this clutch may not be cheap, it certainly presents a better overall value than a lot of options that we’ve seen recently. Plus, the bag is timeless enough in its lines and composition to be a closet staple for years to come. Buy through Luisa Via Roma for $1088.

Original post by Amanda Mull

Kate Moss, handbag designer? That’s what Longchamp seems to think. The longtime face of the French brand has recently debuted a mini-collection of her own under their label, and I think her handbags perfectly demonstrate an important fashion principle: not everyone that has great personal style is cut out to be a designer.

Of course, it’s questionable how much involvement Moss really had in bags like the Kate Moss for Longchamp Zebra Pony Polonchon Gloste Tote, but either way, they’re not all that impressive. It’s not that they’re bad, but they’re almost too devoid of personality to even be notable, was there not a famous name attached. Somehow, even this zebra print is looking a bit dull.

I was hoping that Moss would bring some fresh zip to the somewhat staid, traditional line, but other than this little leopard number, most of the bags are staid leather duffles and hobos. They look well-executed and a bit luxurious, but they aren’t anything that Longchamp (or any bag line) couldn’t have created without the supermodel’s help.

Although, if they had done it on their own and just put her in the ads, I probably wouldn’t be talking about the bags at all. I see what you did there, Longchamp. Buy through Luisa Via Roma for $1583.

Original post by Amanda Mull

I don’t know about the rest of you guys, but I’m really, really digging the Ferragamo Spring/Summer 2010 offerings so far. The brand has never been at the top of my list in the past, but the bags from their line that I’ve seen lately have just been so summery that it’s hard to ignore what they’ve got cookin’ in their Italian factories.

Among my favorite of the brand’s new looks is the Salvatore Ferragamo Python Fiammetta Shoulder Bag. If ever there was a color that’s more warm-weather friendly than yellow, I can’t think of what it is, and the python texture and wooden handle give the bag just a hint of safari flavor that plays so well when temperatures rise.

img src=”http://www.purseblog.com/images/2010/03/Salvatore-Ferragamo-Python-Fiammetta-Shoulder-Bag.jpg” alt=”” title=”Salvatore-Ferragamo-Python-Fiammetta-Shoulder-Bag” width=”420″ height=”304″ class=”aligncenter wp-image-22264″ />

I’m a little undecided about this particular shade of yellow and how well it may or may not go with the wood handles, but that’s a somewhat limited critique for a bag that does a lot of things right. Indeed, the handles are one of my favorite things about the design – it may come with a long leather shoulder strap, but the inverted Ferragamo symbol, rendered in wood, is just too pretty not to use as the primary means of conveyance.

As far as bright yellow python goes, what is there to say about it that’s not obvious? We already know that it’s beautiful and luxurious. For those out there that might doubt the utility of a bag this color, I have a bright yellow Botkier bag that I use all the time – the shade is surprisingly versatile, and it always makes people want to see my bag up closer. When you add python and a wood handle to the mix, you’ve got a stunner that will have heads turning for sure. Buy through Luisa Via Roma for $4579.

Original post by Amanda Mull

If you love the Valentino aesthetic but can’t justify shelling out two grand (or far more) for one of their plush, ladylike bags full of bows, ruffles and flowers, I may have a viable alternative for you.

The Villador Carpetto Bow Bag has a couple of Valentino’s most obvious signatures – drool-worthy leather and an oversized bow placed proudly for all to see – without being a ripoff. It’ll also run you about half of what Valentino’s most basic bags usually cost, and who can’t get behind that?

I don’t love the seaming around the edges of the leather “ribbon” (I think it looks a bit cheap, in fact), but I’m willing to overlook it because the leather itself, which is goatskin, looks so soft and touchable.

Other than the bow and the texture, the structure and color remind me a lot of another designer – Chloe. It has a boho feel and attitude to it, and the slouchy look is perfect to wear with boyfriend jeans or a flowing sundress. Buy through Luisa Via Roma for $1054.

Original post by Amanda Mull

One thing that a lot of designers seem to have a very hard time doing is creating a bag that is both expensive-looking and covered in animal print. It’s not surprising since animal print is historically “tacky chic” at best, and at worst, just plain tacky. Getting past the initial “eww, is that zebra?” thought is a difficult sell for a lot of handbag customers in particular, since most people prefer their expensive bags to be neutral and timeless.

Somehow, though, the Roger Vivier Zebra Tote manages to look luxurious and chic in a traditional way, while still being boldly and obviously animal print. How did the designer pull it off? I have a theory, of course.

The folks at Vivier did two things very, very right with this bag: first, they kept the materials high-end. Most designers resort to non-leather materials when they want to make animal print because leather is difficult to dye in precise patterns. Choosing something like cotton canvas automatically downgrades the look, making the print look cheap by association. Instead of making that mistake, the designer used calfskin, giving the bag a richness that it would likely not have otherwise.

The second thing that the designer did correctly was not assume that simply using a pattern would be enough attention to detail. If the goal was to make something modern and minimalist, that would have been fine, but in this situation it probably wouldn’t cut it. Instead, the fine color variation in the dye makes the bag look well-crafted and beautifully wrought, increasing the style quotient exponentially. Vivier should teach classes in this sort of thing. Buy through Luisa Via Roma for $2451.

Original post by Amanda Mull

Oh how I adore Halloween. I’d gladly trade Thanksgiving every year for Halloween Part Two, but since I’m not the person that gets to decide such things, I merely try to enjoy it as much as I can while it’s here.

And that’s what Gossip Girl did last night – or tried to do, anyway. I was a little disappointed that the writers didn’t make more out of the metaphorical idea of wearing masks and the need to be appear something other than what we actually are – they’re usually all over that kind of stuff like white on rice. They did give a small nod to the idea that Jenny wears her high school crown uneasily, and behold, the actor that plays Eric not only isn’t dead in a ditch somewhere, but he still has the ability to recite lines. Could have fooled me.

But mostly, Halloween on the Upper East Side just meant we got sparkly dresses and a reason to have a party. And I’m never opposed to a party Or a sparkly dress, for that matter.

When we left off last week, everyone had been betrayed. Blair sold out Chuck, Nate sold out Serena and she sold him out right back, Vanessa sold out Olivia and Dan and utterly failed at it, because she’s Vanessa. Everyone was still pissed at everyone else, except we don’t know how anyone felt about Vanessa since she apparently crawled into a shame hole somewhere and stayed there for the whole episode. Let’s hope she stays for the season.

Blair and Chuck have nominally made up, but Chuck is doing the teenage girl thing where he accepts Blair’s apology to her face and then continues to seethe and undermine her privately, on his own time. Which, you know, he’s a busy man. He’s got a new hotel that’s at woefully low occupancy heading up to the holidays, and he’s got to do something about that, lest he become failure (but even if he did become a failure, he’d still be a billionaire, so he’d still be doing better than basically everyone else on the planet).

So he’s going to open a club, but he’s going to do it without Blair, because he’s still silently punishing her for making him kiss that dude. I kind of don’t blame him. And he’s going to enlist Serena for help, because he needs controversy and famous people in order to make the club, and by association, the hotel, super popular and those things happen to be Serena’s specialty (really, it’s perfect that she’s a publicist now). But Serena and Blair are besties (until the end of the episode at least), so Blair finds out about the whole thing in a half-baked speakerphone plot that Chuck would have seen right through, were these real people that weren’t reading from scripts.

But before we get too far into that, let’s deal with the Jenny issue. She’s still nominally the Queen Bee, but she claims to be playing the part only so that a less benevolent dictator doesn’t move in to the potential power vacuum. But Eric’s little twink boyfriend, Jonathan or Jeremy or whatever his unimportant name is, thinks that that’s just bananas, and that he’s going to go sit a higher than Jenny on the Met steps, thereby forcing her into some sort of step power struggle in order to preserve her position of dominance in front of her minions. As Eric so aptly pointed out, it’s hard to lead if no one thinks they have to follow, and the whole thing somehow ends with Eric getting a parfait dumped on his head. Parfait always reminds me of Shrek. Maybe I’m the only one.

When that incident comes to light, Jenny’s new mommy Lily sits her down and explains some hard truths about being a queen and sympathizes a little too much for a mom that just had her recently suicidal, newly out of the closet son assaulted with a girly dairy product. The only punishment that she manages to meter out to Jenny is that she’s required to take her new stepbrother with her to Chuck’s boozy, star-studded club opening. Not exactly punishment, since he was her best gay up until earlier that day.

So yeah, about that party. Chuck decides he’s going to open the club like a day before he plans to have this swanky, 20s-themed debut Halloween party, and the only problem is the liquor license. Those things take forever to get – months. But Chuck is powerful, so he believes that he can rush the application, and sure enough he gets it in the nick of time. Or so he thinks. Actually, Blair has found out about the whole thing and plans to show her love for him by contacting Uncle Jack Bass to move things along. I’m not sure why we’re supposed to believe that Jack can get the license any more quickly than Chuck can, since you’d think that Chuck would be at least as well-connected, but he supposedly comes through for Blair and gets the license. She can’t tell Chuck, though, because she’s still not supposed to know that the club is opening.

Meanwhile, Serena has some machinations of her own at hand. Olivia and Dan are considering the possibility of doing the nasty for the first time (shenanigans – if they were real people, they already would have. Long ago), and Olivia gets photographed by the paparazzi while picking up some freebie condoms at the NYU health center. You’d think she’d know better, but I guess her lust for Dan’s newly muscled body has her all flustered.

But Dan’s distracted by something different – Olivia’s Twilight-esque film work with her ex-boyfriend is making him highly uncomfortable. She claims it was a fake relationship, but it wasn’t, and her publicist/Serena’s boss wants them to continue to appear together in public in order to keep the dude’s career afloat.

As you can guess, this all ties together at Chuck’s club opening. He had already found out that Blair had gone to Jack for help and barred her from coming to the party as a result (he also managed to get Serena on his side). But that liquor license that she procured? Well, it’s a fake because Jack and Chuck still hate each other and he wouldn’t honestly help out with the club opening, and Jack sent her flowers right before the club opening that included a message to that effect. As a result, she has to show up and spill the beans to Chuck about the impending bust that Jack was undoubtedly planning. And Chuck puts on the angry face with Blair for a moment, but then they realize that they have a great opportunity to join forces and grab some publicity by calling the cops themselves to bust the party. Which is a beautiful resolution to all of this, really – their compatibility always has been based on their mutual underhandedness.

But before the bust can happen, some other drama has to go down. Jenny has to take Eric to the party, and Eric’s boyfriend (who started all this trouble in the first place by trying to upset the high school power structure) comes too and he gets egged by the minions outside. I’m having a problem feeling particularly sorry for him, however, and I think that Eric needs to break up with him and explore his options. He’s a young, rich gay man in the city! The possibilities are endless! And the whole incident just makes him madder at Jenny (she did, after all plan it), meanwhile making her more sure that she needs to be more queenly. That’ll go well, I’m sure.

And then there’s the little matter of Dan and Olivia – Serena lies to her boss about why she was keeping the party a secret and has her fly in Olivia’s ex to have them reunite in front of the paparazzi. Dan shows up anyway and things get a little weird and awkward in the way that only old boyfriend/new boyfriend scenarios can be, but Serena saves the day with one of her strongest skills – making out with Olivia’s old boyfriend in front of photographers in order to create new buzz for both Olivia and her ex. Plus, she did it in an inappropriately short, tight, shiny dress! She’s really gifted at the whole publicity thing.

But as we all knew they would, the cops show and kick everyone out into the street in their Roaring 20s finery, creating a paparazzi feeding frenzy and giving all of these people exactly what they want – more attention. Chuck and Blair are back and his club is front-page news, Dan and Olivia are now publicly a couple (and now they’re boning!), and Serena gets to keep her publicity job as long as she keeps publicly kissing that dude.

Oh, but there is one issue – in a bit of a blast from the past, Blair and Serena are now feuding over Serena’s refusal to take Blair’s side in the Jack Bass fiasco and her disinterest in quitting her job to become the club’s publicist. It seems to somehow result in Blair’s face in a cake next week, which I absolutely cannot wait to see.

Original post by Amanda Mull