Her handbags have been seen on the everyone from Eva Langoria, Jessica Simpson to expectant mom Angelina Jolie.
# Featured bags: Doris Clutch in petal satin with snake trim (carried on Desperate Housewives) - $307
# Emma Clutch in Kiwi (carried on Desperate Housewives) - $191
# Sophia bag in White Pearl Lamb with Natural Anaconda trim (sent to Jessica Simpson) - $481
# Espresso Baby Bag (sent to Angelina Jolie) - $425
# Gold Baby Bag (requested by Mariska Hargitay) - $425
Susan Fitch, the founder of Susan Fitch handbags, will be in studio to talk about her handbag company and why it is considered one of the “best” in Chicago. The segment will begin with Susan talking about how she got started in this business and her background. With a first-class flock of loyal fans, this meticulous designer has been catering to the au courant crowds across the country for years. Susan’s dedication to seeking out the finest materials, precise attention to detail and a hint of edginess, is her recipe for success.
The newest addition to Susan’s collection is her Million Dollar Baby Bag. After the birth of her baby, she realized it was time to create a baby bag worth carrying (with or without the baby in tow). Understanding that modern-day moms are looking for something fashionable and functional, Susan created a luxurious bag that is ready to tend to any trend-setting tot, while keeping up with mom’s style.
Recently seen on ABC’s “The View” and “The Today Show,” Susan Fitch bags are sold at Barneys New York, Kitson in LA, Holt Renfrew in Canada, and across the country at specialty boutiques. For more information about Susan Fitch, log onto susanfitch.com.
Shopping in Beverly Hills last week I strolled Wilshire Boulevard popping in and out of fancy stores sizing up all the new designer handbags. There are a number of new looks for Fall 2005, and prices have a new look, too. Did you know designer handbags have become the staple in most wardrobes? It doesn’t take a genius to buy a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, but to purchase the correct designer handbag to pull it all together has become quite an art.
In conversations with many handbag salespeople, it was obvious the upcoming season will offer a variety of wild colors, exotic leathers, and metallic finished leathers. They will appear in shoulder styles, clutches, slings and large totes. Most designer bags remain consistent in size and function. The variations from season to season come to color, hardware, texture and price.
Prices are a difficult topic for handbag lovers to discuss, it became the purpose of the Beverly Hills shopping trip. Which designers will rise to the top? Which handbags will have the highest price tags? These thoughts offered astonishing observations wondering through the high-end boutiques and department stores.
Doing a bit of mental gymnastics with a few designer handbag price tags, it became obvious a calculator was needed! Prices are competing with Los Angeles mortgage payments! One designer bag, constructed of scratch resistant, pebble grain calf leather, had a hefty $3500.00 price tag. Durability to last a life time is a major characteristic of a quality handbag, but let’s get real here, women change handbags as often as they change their nail polish. Paying hefty prices for a designer handbag a few times each month is fashionable, but not healthy or wise.
Not mentioning any names, a lengthy conversation with a handbag specialist in a very well-known department store shed light on the day’s mission. We strolled the designer handbag department with calculator in hand. Punching in numbers of our favorite high-end designer, we came up with a hefty five-figure total for 10 handbags. Then, with jaws dropped open, the average price was uncovered! As expected, little was left to shock and surprise. Based on a sampling of the designer handbag prices, the price for a brand new, high-end designer handbag this season averages an all-time high of $2000.00 USD.
Oh my! What a price we pay to pull it all together with that pair of denim jeans and T-shirt! We have become the hunters in search of the best designer handbag we can find. And, when we know it will coordinate with a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, then we know we’ve selected the best bag. We want to look good, and we want to feel good, too. It would be nice to know we can purchase a bag from a new designer and still make a mortgage payment this same month.
Here’s a solution. For those of us who know style and don’t want to compromise quality, find a designer handbag expert to coach and guide your investments. Lacking modesty, I’ll volunteer recommendations on a variety of designer handbags available at a fraction of what you’d expect to pay in a retail store.
You can actually purchase several handbags for the average cost of one designer handbag if you shop wisely. If you are a true designer handbag addict, and you purchase a new handbag whenever you get the urge, then you need a reliable source. Shop carefully at sites specializing in designer handbags, and you’ll find your favorite designers at as much as 50% less than the average cost on Rodeo Drive!
Speaking of colors, last fall it was all about sage greens. This year the color of the season seems to be brown. Brown is everywhere – suede jackets, pin-stripes pants, skirts and scarves. Add to that splashes of other fall colors like the ones mentioned above, mellow purple, fuschia, orange, etc. and you have the perfect Fall 2005 look. Here is a quick preview of this year’s fall fashions for those looking to update their wardrobes.
The Look: Old-world inspired. Think elegant sepia photographs from the 1940s and 50s. Casual yet sophisticated.
The Trends:
- Tweed skirts, pants (full length and cropped) and culottes in brown plaid or pinstripes. Also making quite a debut are knit jersey gauchos. Very comfy but cool casual.
- Shirts and blouses in floral prints in mellow fall colors. Nothing too overstated.
- Solid color sweaters (no diamond argyle prints like last year). And thanks to Martha Stewart who donned one on her homecoming trip from prison, ponchos! Stick to solid colors, experimenting with designs can get tricky.
- Knee high boots (everyone can carry these off).
- Animal print scarves, faux fur collars (so cool, I just love these)
- Large hobo handbags (must have, anyway). Also, texture is really in - suede, metal, houndstooth prints, anything out of the ordinary.
- Silk kurtis or Indian style tunics in large floral prints in blocks of fall colors.
- Embellished belts – with tassels, ribbons, sequins, etc.
- Fedora hats (if you like that extra touch of elegance). Some celebrities are also donning big floppy suede hats as well.
- Hairdos – neat, coiffed, styled, tied back, you get the picture.
Louis Vuitton is a name recognized throughout the world. Known for their fabulous design and quality product. One must ask how did Louis Vuitton handbags come to be?
In the early 1800s Louis Vuitton trained as a luggage packer for a wealthy Parisian family. He was then appointed by Napoleon III to pack the dresses of the Empress Eugenie. Little did he know this would be the start of his rise to fame.
Because of his extensive luggage knowledge, Louis Vuitton began designing luggage for the wealthy who traveled. His first invention was to design luggage that was flat and therefore easy to stack in railway carriages.
It gained popularity at lightening speed. It didn’t take long before his competition was copying his design. Soon after Louis Vuitton marked his luggage with distinctive stripes and checkerboard patterns.
In 1854 the Louis Vuitton business came to be, as luggage began to be replaced with Vuitton’s ideas for handbags. Who better to design women’s handbags than someone who was an expert in luggage.
Originally the Noe bags carried 5 bottles of champagne. To Louis Vuitton’s surprise the Noe bag was extremely popular, and it wasn’t long before wealthy woman began to carry this elegant bag.
The Damier Canvas design debuted in 1888. In 1896 the monogram design was launched in an effort to counteract the replicas his competitors were marketing. The monogram logo was made of an intersection of the initials LV, finished with a curved beige diamond and 4 point star intes.
Still today, Louis Vuitton is recognized for its high quality purse. At the factory level, if a purse does not meet the Vuitton standards it is destroyed.
Louis Vuitton has been in business for an amazing 3 centuries and continues to be fore front in the hand bag industry.
They are flashy, hot and very in for the season. Metallic, sequence and don’t forget the faux fur handbags. Just take a look at a crowd and you will see quite a collection of each of these three. They are not hard to spot and definitely make heads turn. Which head turning style do you like to carry this season?
Let’s start with the flashiest of them all, sequence. They are everywhere and everyone is carrying them. They do seem to be a bigger hit with the younger scene. They come in an array of colors as well as sequence styles. Carry them with any outfit and they’ll dress it up no matter what the look. Do be careful, the looks you get may only be on your handbag and not on you. If you want your great outfit to stand out, I don’t recommend carrying one of these handbags.
Metallic is all the rage also. Just wait for the holiday parties and you will see an explosion of these. They come in many different colors but bronze definitely tops the list. There will be the gold rush in December for all those fancy outfits. Gold is being paired with black and also brown. That black little dress is going to look fabulous with the metallic evening bag and the big beaded necklaces.
Now don’t forget the faux fur bags. Some stand out very much but not as much as the sequence and metallics. There are plenty of faux fur trimmed jackets, tops and boots out there. The faux fur handbag will set off the ensemble. Some are a bit on the wild side and others are just really neat looking. As long as they don’t make a roar, these are the tamest out there of all three.
Sequence, metallic and faux fur, get them while they are hot!
