Custom Design

When you look at the camouflage, fur and fringe that dominate Prada’s fall collection, it can be difficult to remember that Prada is a label whose bread and butter is basic, somewhat conservative leather bags. And yet, it’s true – year after year, these bags fly under the fashion radar but are picked up by thousands of women of every conceivable age and lifestyle to add a note of sophistication and luxury to their wardrobes.

Bags like the Prada Soft Calf Tote probably won’t be featured prominently in Vogue editorials or spotted on the arms of endless starlets, but they’re the bags that make Prada a great source for accessories year after year. While half of the line chases trends, the other half looks like this – the kind of bag that most women would love to have in their closets. Or at least the kind of bag that I’d love to have in mine.

This design doesn’t attempt to break new handbag ground, but it does recreate a traditional shape very well. The draped leather emphasizes the material’s pliable, soft texture, and the placement of the brand logo provides a touch of asymmetry to balance the luggage tag on the other side of the bag. At 13 inches wide and 11 inches high, the bag is a nice medium size that likely wouldn’t be too heavy for everyday use. As long as Prada keeps making bags like this one, I will never begrudge the brand some of its sillier offerings. Buy through Neiman Marcus for $1650.

Original post by Amanda Mull

Have you ever seen a bag in person, talked yourself out of buying it and then obsessed over it for months on end afterward, at which point it has become sold out and you can no longer get it? That’s the tragic story of me and the Celine Boston Tote.

I thought I had successfully put the bag out of my mind, but after seeing Leighton Meester carry hers two weeks ago and Tommy Ton’s great photos of Celine bags on Jak & Jil Blog (from whence the above picture came), my obsession is back to full power and it shows no signs of abating.

The bag is just…perfect. Oversized and attention-getting without being overworked or over-designed, classic but modern, graphic in its details but simple in shape. I’ve yet to see a color combination that I wouldn’t be proud to add to my closet, but the bicolor blue version in this photo has my heart the most. I don’t even like blue bags. How did Phoebe Philo manage to make me like blue?

My love for this bag defies both logic and budget, but the more I look at women carrying the Celine Boston Tote, the more I want to join their ranks. Depending on color combinations, the bag ranges from around $1800-$2500, and it’s sold out virtually everywhere. For more lovely pictures of women who are lucky enough to already have one, visit Jak & Jill Blog.

Original post by Amanda Mull

While the staff at Loewe has been working tirelessly to perfect its grocery bag handbags, designers at Valentino have been plying their trade at the opposite end of the spectrum. The Valentino aesthetic has always been feminine, detailed and utterly glamourous, and the brand has chosen to take those ideas to their absurd extreme with the Valentino Glam Zebra Tote. You have to give them points for just calling this bag what it is, even if the name gives me the mental image of a zebra dressed up as a drag queen (which is not an altogether unpleasant image, admittedly).

This bag is what the Fug Girls would refer to as a “scrolldown fug.” I’m loving how silly and shiny this bag is until we get all the way down to the bottom quarter, at which point things go seriously awry and the bag seems to grown some very shiny porcupine quills. One the one hand: they’re shiny! They fit the motif, whatever it might be! On the other: WTF.

I’m not sure why Valentino thought that silver-and-black sequined leopard print would become monotonous before everyone’s eyes got to the bottom of the bag and it needed something to break it up, but for better or worse, that was the decision that was made. If the bag had been entirely covered in sequined zebra, I would be totally on board for this shining example of in-your-face fashion fun. As it is, I’m only three-quarters of the way there. Buy through Net-a-Porter for $3495.

Original post by Amanda Mull

When a reader pointed us in the direction of the Wall Street Journal’s profile of Spanish accessories brand Loewe and its creative director Steven Vevers, it seemed like as good a time as any to discuss the relevancy of the so-called “anti” It Bags. Vevers, a veteran of brands like Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and most recently Mulberry, has decided to take Loewe in a very different direction than many of his past designs would indicate by introducing bags like the Loewe Papelle Bag, above.

Vevers was the creative mind who changed Mulberry’s image from a staid British leather goods company to the favorite of London It Girls that we know it as today. He did that by updating the brand to a youthful, playful look, but apparently he feels that the time is right for consumers to want something different by every measure. So…do you?

We’ve mentioned previously that some designers are starting to dial back the volume of their bags, most notably Chloé, who recently made a 180-degree turn away from the over-the-top detailing that made its bags fashion essentials during the mid-2000s. Despite the fact that many fashion critics have heralded those bags and the statement that comes with them, they don’t seem to be flying off shelves or dotting the arms of the style-conscious starlets whose choices can seriously impact sales.

And then there’s Loewe, a brand without much of a following outside of its native Spain. Vevers is trying to make a worldwide name for the company on this trend, and according to the WSJ, he’s betting that it’s more than a passing fad. Vevers has managed to get stars like Angelina Jolie and Jessica Alba to carry the Loewe Amazona bag, but at prices nearing two thousand dollars for a bag that’s mostly non-leather, it seems like a tough sell for those who aren’t receiving it for free.

At the very least, the grocery bag-aping Papelle Tote is all leather and retails for a bit less than the Amazona, around $1045. Unfortunately, what it’s not is original – Proenza Schouler also released a “paper” bag this season, and we wrote about Chanel’s leather shopping bag way back in March 2009. Still, those bags both have a lot of what Vevers seems to want to avoid: personality and style.

The Loewe Papelle Bag is perhaps an interesting art object and a statement about consumerism that surely a few people will want to make, but I’m not sure if enough bag lovers are willing to eschew personality entirely and carry an expensive bag painstaking fashioned to look like a nameless brown grocery sack. It seems like Loewe is willing to take that chance and stake the brand on this sort of minimalism. What say you, bag lovers: is this the kind of bag that you want?

Read more via WSJ.com. Picture via The Wall Street Journal.

Original post by Amanda Mull

I remember a time when everyone wanted a little Prada backpack. I was in my senior year of high school, and girls in my affluent suburb were just starting to figure out the concept of accessories as status symbols. It was the early 2000s, so we couldn’t have picked a better time to start lusting after logo bags. I was the first of my friends to embrace the trend (how fitting) with a Prada Tessuto Nylon Messenger Bag, which I received as a graduation present from my cousin Deb.

I’m no longer in high school, so it’s impossible to say if the seniors of 2010 want the same types of things that my class did, but Prada still continues to make the nylon bags that they’ve produced since 1985. The company is mum on how well they bags are selling compared to the style’s heyday, but we wanted to do a little survey of our own:

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post’s poll.

From left: Prada Nylon Pocket Tote, $550 via Saks; Prada Vela Backpack, $710 via Saks; Prada Vela Messenger Bag, $550 via Saks.

Original post by Amanda Mull

Now that Prada is bringing back its ruched leather Gaufré bags for fall, I’m sure that plenty of women will be looking for a way to get the look without paying nearly two grand for a bag like the Prada Napa Gaufré Tote.

Luckily, fashion has conspired to provide us with an exceedingly attractive, relatively inexpensive alternative. The Elie Tahari Beverly Tote is made of attention-grabbing soft braid-effect leather, and it’ll set you back over a thousand dollars less than its Prada counterpart.

This comparison is one where I strongly prefer the less expensive option, much to my own surprise. I’ve seen both bags in person, and while the Prada is a bit more substantial-feeling overall, the Tahari bag is made out of softer leather and has a more elegant finish. The use of a pattern of ruching instead of the wide swaths employed on the Prada bag give the design a lot of visual appeal and aesthetic organization.

I wish that the Tahari bag had done something more interesting with the chain handle, but for a fraction of the Prada bag’s price, I can’t complain too much. I’d choose the Tahari bag any day of the week.

The Prada Napa Gaufré Tote is available via Neiman Marcus for $1750.
The Elie Tahari Beverly Tote is available via Bloomingdale’s for $598.

Original post by Amanda Mull

When I recently wrote about Prada’s knitted leather clutches, two things were noticeably missing from the brand’s website: the same material rendered as a tote and my favorite color scheme from the Fall 2010 show. Luckily, both have surfaced in the form of the Prada Knit Nappa Tote.

I still love this bag just as much as I did on the runway, and the knit technique is so much fun to look at that I can’t wait to get my hands on one of these bags in person. The only thing that I find disappointing is the price: $4500 is a lot for any bag, particularly one with a very season-specific design that might look dated quickly. The all-black version would likely age more gracefully, if you’re so inclined, and this bag will surely turn heads when cold weather arrives. Larger photo after the jump. Buy through Saks for $4500.

Original post by Amanda Mull

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

Back in 2006, Prada made lots of waves among handbag aficionados with their ruched Gaufré handbags. Rendered in super-supple lambskin, the design was a great example of how texture can be achieved through clever design, even within the sometimes austere Prada aesthetic. The bags were neutral but still interesting to look at, and the combination made them some of my favorites that the brand has ever produced.

Gaufré’s initial production run was only a few season, but now they’re back in new colors and shapes for Fall/Winter 2010. We’ve seen several “old favorites” from the past five years make a return to production in recent months, and this line is the only one whose return brings me any sort of genuine excitement. Are you excited for the Gaufré’s return?

From left to right: Available via Saks for $2195, $2195 and $2100.

Original post by Amanda Mull

As for the rest of you, please go get a paper towel to mop up the drool before we go any further.

Ready? Great.

I have a little theory about exotics that I’ve postulated around these parts before, and it goes something like this: if I’m going to pay a premium for crocodile or python (or, in this case, both), then I want the skins to be featured in the most glorious way possible. Maybe it’s just me, but I think that the Carlos Falchi Caiman and Python Oversized Shoulder Bag is pretty much the definition of “glorious.”

What first caught my eye is that this bag is so slap-full of texture that I want to try and touch it through my screen. Predictably, that didn’t work so well, so I zoomed in on the pictures instead and things just kept getting better, the closer I got. Not only does the color variation highlight just how luxurious both the python and Caiman crocodile are, but it makes the bag far more interesting to look at than your average brown tote. Buy through Neiman Marcus for $3995.

Original post by Amanda Mull