Custom Design

Can we talk for a moment about this whole denim thing? And I mean not talk about it like fashion people, but like people that like to buy pretty handbags, because ultimately, that’s what almost all of us are. Even if we are fashion people in our spare time. Let’s dispense with what might be “on-trend” and talk about what actually looks good. Hint: IT’S NOT DENIM.

In the interest of full disclosure, I probably haven’t worn jeans in about a year. I just don’t like them. I know a lot of people do, and they look great on a lot of women. They do not look great on me, however, and they do not look great on handbags. I’m ok with denim-colored leather, but bags like the Miu Miu Large Denim Tote are simply beyond the pale.

From a distance, this bag looks it might just be made out of the denim-immitating leather that has started to pop up around the handbagosphere (forgive me for the portmanteau), but on closer inspection, it’s actually a really expensive handbag made out of fabric that came to popularity as a heiny-cover. The Dudette most certainly does not abide (further apologies: I watched The Big Lebowski for the zillionth time this weekend and for most of the intervening days, I’ve been speaking in nothing but TBL quotes).

More than anything, though, I can’t imagine that this bag would be particularly useful. In a situation that would be casual enough to encourage people to wear a denim bag, aren’t most people already wearing jeans anyway? There’s nothing worse than too much denim in one outfit, but I suppose that if you’re already partial to the Canadian Tuxedo look, this might be the perfect way too pull all of those different washes together. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $1295.

Original post by Amanda Mull

It’s been a while since I’ve had the pleasure of writing about a Nancy Gonzalez handbag, and I think I’ve figured out why: I can never tell when they’re new. I don’t mean to say that they all look alike, but…a lot of them look alike. Although I guess if a design isn’t broken, you don’t fix it.

The Nancy Gonzalez Navy Croc Tote surely isn’t broken. In fact, it looks like a completely functional yet totally elegant answer to most women’s need for an everyday bag. Plus, because it’s Nancy Gonzalez, it’s also and exotic at a relatively reasonable price.

There’s not a terrible lot to say about Nancy Gonzalez’s croc bags that I haven’t said before, so I’ll try not to repeat myself too much. What’s always struck me the most about them, though, is that they seem a good deal less fragile than your average ultra exotic croc bag. In fact, they seem downright tough at times, which probably allows Gonzalez to use less expensive crocodile hides than brand like Hermes, which uses only the most fragile, spotless skins. She passes at least some of the savings on to her customers – Gonzalez makes some of the most reasonably priced croc bags on the market. Buy through Saks for $3300.

Original post by Amanda Mull

Before we go any further, does Chanel’s website make anyone else sort of dizzy and motion sick, or am I just way too sensitive to that sort of thing? Websites where brands make their bags run frantically from side to side make my head spin, and that website structure makes me find something else to look at almost immediately.

In this case, however, I persevered in order to find the Chanel Rubber Effect Python Signature Tote. Was my nausea worth it? I think it was, but then again, I do have an unnatural affinity for everything black.

There’s just something so thoroughly Chanel about an exotic black bag. They use the color to greater effect than probably any other major designer, and the python gives the bag a thoroughly luxurious appeal that the brand’s customers expect.

I haven’t seen the bag in person, so I can’t comment with full knowledge about the rubberized finish, but the matte effect is a welcome change from the python that I normally see, which is almost always glossy. Flat black has an edgy, modern quality to it that the brand’s bags have lacked over the past season or two (at least in my estimation), and the finish might have done a bit to make the delicate scales more durable as well. Now that is killing two birds with one stone. More information available via Chanel.com, price available upon request.

Original post by Amanda Mull

Help me out folks. Would you pay $1295 for this tote? I realize it is a Marc Jacobs design, but still, I really can’t get passed this price tag. This price has me shaking my head with each stroke on my keyboard.

Alright, enough of my disbelief and onto the bag itself. This Marc Jacobs Love Bird Leather Tote is a bright and cheery tote that will add quite a bit of color to just about any outfit you might want to pair it with.

Marc Jacobs has partnered fluorescent pink, fluorescent yellow and black on this hand-painted oversized leather tote. The two black leather top handles have the slightest hints of gold-tone stud detailing. I was really impressed with the gold-tone studs down each side of this large tote. It’s not often that you see bags with this kind of detailing, so I welcomed it with open arms.

This is the kind of bag I would love to use as my carry-on during travel days. I could fit everything in it, including my laptop and still look really fashionable. I have seen enough boring black carry-on bags at airports and the colors on this bag are enough to boost the spirits of those in just about any security line. The bag is finished off with a designer-stamped padlock which is a nice addition, but it doesn’t make or break the bag. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $1295.

Original post by Shannon Mahoney

We talk a lot about Bottega Veneta, and for good reason. They’re doing some of the most interesting things with some of the best materials on the marketplace, and their bags often have an element of visual trickery with them that I find delightful. If a designer can find a way to make a bag more than the sum of its parts, then he or she has done her job.

The fine folks at BV do their jobs very, very well. Their bags may not fit your personal style (they often don’t fit mine), but it’s hard to argue that they’re not at least producing some of the more interesting products on the high-end marketplace. The Bottega Veneta Oversized Intrecciato Shopper for example, features a weave within a weave that still has me trying to figure out exactly how the designers pulled it off.

The technique is pretty impressive and intricate when you look at it closely, but as a whole, the effect is deceptively simple. The dark and bright red offer enough contrast without being loud, and the shape is so clean (maybe even boring to some) that it doesn’t compete with the weaving-on-top-of-weaving for attention. It’s a grown up bag with an artistic sensibility, which is exactly what Bottega Veneta does best.

Original post by Amanda Mull

I’m not sure if it’s Lady Gaga’s influence or what, but I’m sure that I’m not the only person that has noticed sequins everywhere for the past few months. High-end handbag designers have largely avoided the trend, but Jimmy Choo has been embracing some rather fly-by-night trends as of late, so the Jimmy Choo Sequined Snake Pattern Tote doesn’t really surprise me.

It’s difficult to see the sequins in this picture since they’re clear, but I assure you that they’re there and they appear to cover the entire bag. As much as I love sequins (and really, I adore them), I just can’t support their inclusion on an everyday tote for a variety of reasons.

First, this bag is busy enough as it is. The blue-silver metallic snake print leather has plenty going on, and it gives you more than enough to look at. Plus it’s already metallic, so there’s no need to have an extra layer of shine on top. The sequins are unnecessary and create visual clutter when the light shines on them.

And then there’s the functional problem of sequins. When they’re covering a clutch, they mostly stay in your hand and away from your clothes. But when they’re on a shoulder bag, the sequins will constantly be rubbing against your clothes, and I can think of a few sweaters in my closet that wouldn’t be particularly thrilled about that. There’s also the problem of sequins coming loose when you’re in constant contact with other materials, and that’s just a problem that I don’t want to deal with. Buy through Saks for $1195.

Original post by Amanda Mull

Not too long ago, I wrote about a neoprene Marc by Marc Jacobs handbag on PurseBlog Savvy that I absolutely love, and I explained exactly why I think that neoprene is a cool material bags. I still think that’s absolutely true, and I still love the bag, but I just don’t know if I can justify to myself spending $350 for a bag that’s not leather.

The Gucci Techno Horsebit Large Tote, also made mostly out of neoprene, has put the price of the Marc by Marc Jacobs bag in stark perspective. And, in it’s own way, it’s made me more likely to spend money it.

This bag is cool and a bit futuristic while still being obviously Gucci, and I still love the collection from which it came – it was the brand’s best since the exodus of Tom Ford. The design is successful, if a bit busy. But there’s something we need to talk about.

It’s the price. The price. This bag has a bit of leather, but it’s made largely out of the relatively inexpensive neoprene. It’s a runway look, so one can assume that they bumped it up a bit in price as a result, but $2,790 for a bag that’s not all leather (not even close) is something that I cannot abide. Surely someone will, but all it does is make me appreciate the eminently reasonable MbMJ price point all the more. Buy through Saks for $2790.

Original post by Amanda Mull

Some bags aren’t that hard to evaluate online – either they’re pretty straightforward, or the brand does things similarly enough from season to season that there are rarely surprises in construction or materials. For instance, I feel comfortable passing judgment on a Gucci bag without seeing it in person; I’ve seen enough of them in my life to be able to extrapolate information from those experiences. The same goes for Louis Vuitton.

Valentino, however, is one brand with which I’m not quite so comfortable making those same calls. Their bags are so intricate and tactile that their actual visages are often not faithful to handbag portraiture, and seeing and feeling them in person is always preferable. Thankfully, I’ve gotten the chance to do just that with the Valentino Laceland Tote.

I can say will full confidence that pictures do not do this bag justice. It’s not my favorite Valentino ever, and it has its faults, but the laser-cut leather lace is something to behold in person. I found it endlessly impressive that they managed to take a material that is thick and tough by nature and cut it so precisely and intricately that it actually does approximate the effect of lace.

The cuts are absolutely tiny and so numerous that the bag probably won’t be very durable, and I can’t say that I entirely enjoy the way it’s layered on to the bag’s body in sheets (I also don’t really enjoy the scrunchy handle), but the leather-lace is so impressive in person that my impression of the bag was still, overall, favorable. If you get the chance, you simply have to see one in person. Buy through Valentino for #3495.

Original post by Amanda Mull

I’m so in to texture right now. From pintucking, ruching and pleating all the way to leather flowers a la Valentino, I want designers to show me what they can do with the material we’re all so used to seeing.

I think that my current obsession makes sense, though. Texture requires creativity and vision, but its implementation in a design rarely makes a bag less functional or useful – it’s the perfect added element to make a bag really special. Take the Agnona Pleated Leather Tote, for example: the weaving and pleating combine to make the bag more than just an average black tote.

I’m willing to admit that the construction of this bag sorta-kinda might remind me of those woven recycled seatbelt bags, but since I always thought that those were kind of cool when I was a teenager, and this is a decidedly more mature and elegant version, I’m not going to hold that comparison against the designers.

Not only is the use of texture on this bag excellent, but they could use it to teach lessons on proportion in design school. Because the weaving is so large, it doesn’t compete with the fine pleating of the leather. The two textures compliment each other instead of losing their appeal through the combination, which is so common.

The only thing that’s stopping me from completely loving this design is the handles. The body is so rich and lavish that the plain rolled handles look like an afterthought. If the designers could have come up with a way to incorporate a bit of texture into them, perhaps they wouldn’t look like such non sequiturs. Buy through Luisa Via Roma for $2576.

Original post by Amanda Mull

Now this is a unique tote. Sure, there is a lot going on, but this is something Alexander McQueen has learned to pull off without making bags look sloppy. In fact, this aspect is what I’ve come to know and love about McQueen bags. I am sure you remember the Alexander McQueen Red Faithful Glove Clutch we covered a little while back. If you weren’t already on the McQueen bandwagon, many of you converted when you were able to embrace that clutch. This tote is no different.

While the Alexander McQueen Leather Biker Tote makes a statement, it makes a statement in all the right ways. Sometimes totes bore me. They are all large, some use great colors and materials and others don’t. Yet, this tote, it is a show stopper. This tote boasts bright blue leather with a glazed finish, silvertone accents, snap closures and metallic zippers. I love the almost belt like adjustable shoulder straps. Details like this always put a smile on my face. You can be sure that this bag will get compliments and even if it didn’t, would it matter? It is fabulous. Period. Buy through Saks for $1595.

Original post by Shannon Mahoney