Stylish with Substance

A superb sewer, designer Mary J. Malouf is professionally trained in textiles and design. Inspired by the beauty of South Florida around her, she chooses to create handbags for her own line. With a love of texture, her quilted, multi-fabric-ed designs are quality and just enough luxe for any crowd. Her pricetags are well deserved, like this Scarlet collection bag (seen here in red, or 'scarlet', tones) for $175. Your money goes to fund a dream of independent design, not a corporation, and has that handmade touch, so if you have it and red-hot love it, it would be a wise investment.

See more Scarlet bags and Mary J. Maalouf at www.maryjmaalouf.com and her Etsy shop.

The Elliott Lucca brand's work with leather is usually innovative or at least interesting and usually gorgeous. And this mid-sized clutch slash strap bag is on sale for roughly $106.

With its double-diamond-design in a quilted stitch, in lavender, chocolate, olive and black, the bag is 13" x 6" with two removable straps for different wearing lengths.

Isn't that ... 3 bags in one for one modest price? In these times, that's priceless!

Sure, there are bigger and ultra gorgeous, but more expensive, bags in the Catina collection, too. Check it out.

FOSSIL has a new line of finer leather bags, but the style boost is only minimal from their ever-classics for everyday. The cutest purse in their current collection is quite trendy though, and will accessorize you well right through Autumn. The multi-colored strips on the canvas version of the Julianne Clutch are not only fun and eye-catching, but the unique pattern of color-changes makes you want to run your fingers along it. You won't find what appear to be stringy pieces of strippy fabric, but you'll probably love the newer, more luxurious leather - goat skin, precisely. The canvas clutch also sports strips of brown leather trim and another trend of a turn-lock clasp, as is the Julianne style.

Haute skins and a more contemporary look boosts this collection to $125 for this canvas clutch. The entire new line ranges from there up to $465.

How? They've collaborated with the new creative director of Mulberry, Katie Grand, to produce a jersey fabric version of the house's famed "Roxanne" handbag, in the name of "charity" for (Product) RED.

And I want you to turn red with outrage. Why?

(That's great, put out a highly exlusive handbag, so that unrelated parties can make profits without giving any proceeds to help! Ridiculous [and 150% foreseeable].)

What can we do, besides go along with this or ignore it?

First of all, Fashionistas must make being Patriotic mean we'll support politicians who will turn our poor, laughable economy around. We also must create an uproar in response to designers catering to the fancy European cities (what about Anya Hindmarch's original release of "I'm Not a Plastic Bag" only being available in the UK?)!

Then, when the bags start showing up on eBay, perhaps we should chastise the sellers and/or request they give 100% of their final listing value, minus fees, to the same charity. I bet they won't do it! But we'll hopefully leave an impression in some of their minds.

To sum up, and most importantly: It is just not right for a company or the designers to not take a pay cut when producing for charity. To pass the act of donating 100% toward the consumer, mostly poor fashion fans, is not quite right. Even at $85 American, it would be a tad overpriced. Sure, there's the designer's name and of course the great, recognizable shaping, but it's a fabbing jersey material bag! (From Gap!)

Part of what makes designer purses worthwhile is the quality of genuine leather! One can't get the same use out of a simple nylon bag (sorry Prada, NOT) or, in this case, fabbing t-shirt material! Besides, it was probably manufactured by Gap, not Mulberry!

Ridiculous!!! Unacceptable!

(And for a similar matter, do not send me any more invites to NYC events. Geesh! -- Unless you pay for the plane tickets. And no - I do not want to offer reports on NYC's sample sales to my worldwide readers. Gah.)

*Via Fashion Week Daily*

We could get soo excited about model Lydia Hearst's new bag for Puma, a re-do of last year's now called the Lydia 2 Holiday Bag, a multi-function bag in either black with blue trim or silver. The bags aren't too expensive at $120, and yet they are for "environmentally-friendly material" or pleather? (Unconfirmed.) Which actually isn't eco-friendly, due to the manufacturing process of plastic. Hmm.

Right photo from TheRunwayScoop

Let's get right to it. The bag looks totally cute and fresh with that very Miu Miu/Prada ruching, until one sees it from just the wrong angle (left). The ruching part sticks out in a trés poofy way. It looks weird, but it functions as an outer zipper compartment that even has its own zippered pocket inside.

The generously-sized bag is out today, and available on store.puma.com, just in time for your holiday business/exercise/shopping/gifting.

If you're not sure, this video interview on FlyPaper with Hearst showing off both colors should answer a lot of wonderings!

When does the phrase "hand made" really mean something? "Designer bags" are "hand made". Yeah, right -- we can't actually know the level of strictness that label really means for most brands (below Hermès). And then there's the hand made for which straight stitching means it's, well, "cute" straight - if-ya-know-what-I-mean. And that's great! Nothing wrong with a little amateur purse making.

It's certainly SOMETHING Special!

Take the bag above; look at the lines, the uniqueness, the leather, the hardware (and the symmetry, thank you)! This bag was made by an Etsy seller, and it sold (yes, it's sold) for (only) about $200.

They're not all bags this spectacular and luxe over at Cha Cha's shop, but there is a nice demi flap purse going for $145. If you fell in love with the bag above, though, one other great aspect of indie design and shopping is that you may ask the designer to make another - and she probably will!

A tisket, a tasket, a gingham plaid picnic ... duffle? Kind of cute is Dooney & Bourke's new print for a Spring range of bags; Picnic. Featured here on the large new "duffle" shape, the fabric comes in Dooney's usual array of colours.

The Large Duffle is truly large enough to use as a picnic basket alternative itself, at 19.5" x 11" x 9". Think it's silly to waste a handbag for that purpose? You won't when you read the duffle's price: $195! Oh yes.

The rest of the picnic shapes start at $125. Pick your colour, pick your shape. Then pick your friends up for lunch!

Polka dots make me happy, and that is the feel of Dooney & Bourke's new "Mini Bubble" collection. In their classic shapes, they've miniaturized their "Bubble" circle logo and put them on different colours such as cream/black, sky, cocoa, multi (pictured) and more.

The mini bubble is cute and depending on colour can suit any age. It's not in-your-face or tacky, no these tiny bubbles are just fine.

No surprise here, on the list of Top Ugly Bags is the new Dooney & Bourke: #3 Dooney & Bourke Bumble Bee bag.

The complete collection features bags with overly cartoonish bee drawings carrying "Ds" (the letters) but no "Bs", for the bees are the "Bs" - get it? It's a form of signature, then?

It's busy, it's corny and it'd be cute for the too young to afford $185.

The second week of our top 5s to ring in the new year is all about wallets: something else you can snatch up easily and quickly as presents.

Number 5 is a Vivienne Westwood key holder wallet in a gorgeous, colorful plaid. It individually holds more than 5 keys and keeps them securely under wraps.

4th & 3rd Top Wallet
2nd Top Walet
1st Top Wallet!