Here’s the perpetually flawless Miranda Kerr, walking around NYC with her gray calfskin suede Balmain x Aurelie Bidermann Pierre Bag. Aurelie Bidermann is a Parisian jewelry designer, and the two brands’ collab on this bag has yielded what is without a doubt Balmain’s most popular handbag ever. The Pierre seems to be making it into all the right hands, right out of the gate – Miranda Kerr, Kate Moss, Diane Kruger – what more could Balmain ask for? You may very well be looking at the It Bag of the uber-stylish set. It’s not available online, but you can shop all things Balmain at farfetch.

If you’re worried about the origins of that rather large, sharp tooth adorning the Pierre, don’t fret! French Vogue reports that it’s a faux ivory tooth – a design element obviously contributed by Bidermann. If you’re determined to make this bag yours today, it’s available in-store at Barneys, Harrods, and Balmain Paris for $4350, as of this posting.

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If you’ve been visiting PurseBlog for a while, you probably remember Want It Wednesday, which was a short weekly roundup of what some of the PurseBlog team is lusting after on any particular Wednesday. Because we’re ladies with long shopping lists and nearly endless desires to discuss them with each other (and with you), we’ve decided to bring back this wishful-thinking feature. Today, I’ve got my mind on the summer-perfect Rosantica Aurora Necklace, while our social media specialist Bea wants to get her hands on a pair of Frends Layla Headphones.

Bea

I’ve never felt enticed to buy a pair of big headphones; frankly, I’ve never really thought I could pull the look off. Personally, I think Beats are ugly, and my iPhone headphones have always worked just fine, so I never really found the need for new ones. However, my disinterest in headphones quickly ended the second I laid eyes on the Frends Rosegold Layla Headphones. The size is perfect (just big enough to cover your whole ear), and the rose gold, well, that needs no explanation. They’re the chicest headphones I’ve ever seen, and the perfect summer accessory for long walks home. I have a feeling these will soon make their way off my “want” list and onto my ears. Buy them at Nordstrom for $150.

Amanda

When it’s warm out, I wear a lot (a lot) of black maxi dresses. Not only are they a simple way to look pulled-together on even the hottest day (no peek-through sweat marks, no unfortunate wrinkles), but I love black year-round and the shape makes me feel more statuesque than my rather sturdy 5’6 frame naturally is. To avoid looking like I’m wearing the same thing every day, accessories become important. I’ve got the whole bag thing down, so jewelry is where I try to mix in new pieces and create new moods. A black maxi makes a great canvas for accessories, and the Rosantica Aurora Necklace is particularly well-suited for a dress with an open neckline, open back or both. The tiny beads keeps the necklace feeling delicate, but the rows upon rows of them provide a bold impact. I can already see this gorgeous necklace on top of my favorite deep-V maxi. $780 via Net-a-Porter.

The post Want It Wednesday: Rosantica Jewelry and Frends Headphones appeared first on PurseBlog.

The sheer volume of product that Chanel manages to put out six (6!) times a year never ceases to amaze me, particularly when it comes down to the brand’s yearly Metiers d’Art collections, which are all perfectly thematic around a place or city that Karl Lagerfeld finds particularly exciting. For Chanel Metiers d’Art 2013, that place was Scotland, and more specifically, Edinburgh. We explored the collection’s bags, which have recently made their in-store debut, last week, and now we’re here to take you on a short tour of the collection’s small leather goods.

In these simpler, smaller forms, some of the Scottish-inspired details really sing, like the tartan-embossed buttons and delicate leather finishes, which range from metallic to ever-so-slightly distressed. Because of those details, these workhorse accessories are likely to wear well; if you’ve been jonesing after a new wallet or key case, now might be the time to make that happen. Check out the collection below and contact Chanel at (800)550-0005 for price and purchase information.

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If you’re a true bag lover, there’s nothing more exciting than flipping through the available pieces at a luxury auction. Sure, it’s fun to walk into a store and see what’s available, but when you’re shopping for vintage or pre-owned bags, the entire world opens up to you. Bags that are only available to longtime VIPs or that disappeared from store shelves season ago are suddenly at your fingertips, and there’s no better shopping rush than laying hands on something rare that you’ve been lusting after. Luckily for you, the Christie’s Vintage Couture Handbags and Accessories Auction is going on now through June 24.

The auction features the usual suspects in the world of highly covetable handbags – Hermes, Chanel and Louis Vuitton. In it, you’ll find lots of exotic, special edition and otherwise hard-to-find bags in excellent condition, including several jaw-dropping crocodile Birkins in colors like hunter green and dark purple. Below, check out our favorites from the sale and then head over to Christies.com to bid on this auction, which is exclusive to the venerable auction house’s website. If you don’t have an inheritance to rely on, don’t feel left out – bags in this auction start as low as £250.

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It’s not often that I’m confused by handbags. Not only have I been writing about them (and obsessing over them) for a living for a few years now, but I have all the powers of Google at my fingertips, which means that I can generally clear up any questions I have without any problems. With that in mind, the fact that I can find literally no information about Time’s Arrow Handbags only makes me more intrigued. The fact that the bags are modern, well-priced contemporary staples doesn’t hurt, either.

Seriously, I looked. I searched. I tried domain names that I thought might be helpful, and even called a cryptic phone number that I found on one of them that, in hindsight, didn’t indicate in any way that it was associated with a handbag brand. (No one picked up.) I learned that “Time’s Arrow” is a term somehow associated with the videogame Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and after a short detour to find out if anyone’s made a Zelda iPhone game yet (they haven’t), I decided that the best I could do would be to show you what’s available from Time’s Arrow at Neiman Marcus, which is the place that I first came across the brand’s bags a couple of days ago. There’s some definite Celinespiration going on here, but the brand does a pretty good job pulling it off. In particular, the smooth, flat leather achieves a nicely high-end look that so many brands look for but never quite achieve. Our favorites are below – check out the full selection from this mystery brand at Neiman Marcus.

Time’s Arrow Trilogy Crossbody Bag
$695 via Neiman Marcus

Time’s Arrow Jo Bicolor Pocket Tote
$765 via Neiman Marcus

Time’s Arrow Jo Pocket Tote
$765 via Neiman Marcus

Time’s Arrow Infinite Tote
$595 via Neiman Marcus

The post New Handbag Designer on the Block: Time’s Arrow appeared first on PurseBlog.

Here’s Rihanna, leaving a club in London whilst carrying a Stella McCartney Holographic Clutch. This bag was from Stella McCartney’s Resort 2013 collection, so it’s no longer available online, tragically. As with all Stella McCartney bags, the leather here is faux, but in this case, works to the bag’s advantage, as the holographic effect is much stronger than what you’d usually see on a leather bag. If you love this look, we found a similarly gorgeous, iridescent Stella McCartney clutch for $895 at Neiman Marcus.

Ri-Ri’s outfit here looks crazy camera-ready. If I had her abs, this is exactly what I would wear for a fun night out with my entourage – flashy top, casual jeans, great heels and accessories – it’s a winning club combo. Granted, it’s been years since I set foot inside anything that marketed itself as a “club”, with the exception of a Costco. But stranger things have happened.

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With last night’s episode of Real Housewives came a reminder that next week’s episode is the series’ 100th, and it’s kind of hilarious to look back on the very first season of Real Housewives. Does anyone even remember that it all started as a reality-TV response to Desperate Housewives? Or that it used to be centered exclusively around women living in the Coto de Caza gated community? Or that Jo, Slade’s first Housewives girlfriend, was the original RH wannabe pop-star? We’ve come so far, but at the same time, we haven’t. Maybe we’ve even regressed! In that spirit, let’s go over what went on last night.

1. Lydia’s getting ambitious with her Alexis powwows. Perhaps because the meeting she brokered between Alexis and Tamra was so successful, Lydia decided she wanted to see if she could get Alexis and Heather to do the same. The difference, of course, is that Tamra is in serious therapy and trying to be a better, more peaceful person, and Heather is just Heather. People like Heather and people like Alexis are natural enemies, you can tell that simply by looking at their hair. Lydia may have overlooked this in the afterglow of her nascent diplomatic success.

2. Now that Tamra’s reunited with Vicki, suddenly Gretchen’s a “difficult” friend. Tamra hasn’t said an ill word about Gretchen all season, as far as I can remember, and she had a majorly emotional moment with her just last week in Mexico. When Vicki’s the one doing the asking, though, Gretchen’s self-centered, difficult and hard to have around. Granted, all of those things about Gretchen may be true at times (or usually) (or always), and it’s okay to think those thoughts about friends occasionally. It only becomes a problem when you start, you know, yapping about it to people in front of a full camera crew, which is what Vicki masterfully goaded Tamra into doing without any hesitation. Nascent narrative arc, ahoy!

3. Heather and Alexis’ diplomatic summit went south quickly. Maybe Lydia should have come to babysit them like she babysat Tamra and Alexis, but it probably wouldn’t have helped all that much. As soon as they sat down, the bickering began. I couldn’t even tell what most of the sniping was about, honestly, but after resolving absolutely nothing, they agreed to start fresh and be nice the next time they saw each other. That’s sure to work, of course. A zillion previous fake detentes in past Real Housewives universes have taught us that.

4. Brianna’s husband deploying to Afghanistan is a fairly stark reminder that Real Housewives is incredibly stupid. Real-life drama like Ryan’s military service makes a good storyline, I suppose, but Real Housewives works best when it exists in its own universe of petty problems and superficial feuds. Juxtaposing the contrived drama of Lydia’s salsa party with the actual drama of war just makes everything we’re watching seem dumber than we already knew it was. It’s in Bravo’s best interest not to remind us of that. I hope Ryan serves his deployment safely and gets home quickly.

5. Slade thinks it’s appropriate to comment on Lydia’s weight to her face. Yes, Lydia is quite petite, but saying someone needs to eat a cheeseburger is idiocy, just like saying an overweight person needs to stop eating a cheeseburger. Lydia’s weight and body shape is not within Slade’s purview, it’s not his business and commenting on it in any way is rude. It’s not a compliment. Lydia’s body is not community property and it’s not there for Slade’s enjoyment, so telling her she needs to change it to please him is nothing but nasty. (This is a huge pet peeve of mine, if you hadn’t already picked up on that.) The weird, almost predatory look in Slade’s eyes when Lydia challenged him on his rudeness tells you all you need to know about the amount of respect Slade has for women, in case you hadn’t already figured that out based on all the other nasty things he’s said about people’s appearances on this show in the past.

6. Brooks might be dating a porn star when he’s not surprising Vicki to get a little camera time. Lauri is a font of information, most of it likely embellished if not entirely false, but I do enjoy listening to her tell ridiculous stories about things that may or may not happen off camera. I wish that they were true, and based on Vicki’s reaction to the information in the previews for next week’s episode, this little tidbit actually might be.

7. Gretchen thinks Alexis shouldn’t come wedding dress shopping with Tamra because it’s “so personal.” Because having an extra person along to watch a wedding dress appointment that’s being filmed by a professional television crew for the consumption of millions of people at home is really a violation of privacy, you know? And maybe if Alexis comes, then Gretchen doesn’t want to go because Gretchen is so selfless and doesn’t want to create a distraction by being three seats over from Alexis on a white couch in some cheesy wedding salon. You’d think that Gretchen would be old enough to know that attempting to withhold your friendship from someone in an effort to get them to change their relationships with other people always backfires. Then again, if Bravo was casting women who understand the finer mechanics of successful interpersonal communication, this show would have lasted all of one season.

The post RHOC: “Tell him not to get involved in our bickerment.” appeared first on PurseBlog.

The grace with which the Olsen Twins walk the fashion-celebrity tightrope never ceases to amaze me. Not only is The Row one of perhaps only two celebrity-owned fashion lines to generate any true industry respect at all (the other, arguably, is Victoria Beckham’s), but Elizabeth and James, the sisters’ long-running contemporary label, churns out wearable, stylish, reasonably accessible clothes for chic young women, season after season. Often, I forget that it has an celeb associations at all, but when I saw these backpacks, from the brand’s first handbag collection, the connection to The Row felt pretty clear.

Is there any better-known or more widely discussed backpack in fashion than The Row’s? It’s sleek, modern, and in alligator, it costs in excess of $30,000. It makes sense that Elizabeth and James would have a little-sister version of that bag, even though the two brands aren’t all that closely associated with each other; The Row’s backpacks sell out like crazy, and of course women with a similar sense of style but more modest budget are interested in getting the same look without searching for a straight-up knock-off. This bag retains the simple, clean feel of the more expensive bag, but it’s a little slouchier, a little more casual, a little more 90s. It’s also a lot less expensive, starting at $445 for regular leather and ranging up to $595 for spotted calf hair.

The post Elizabeth and James’ First Handbags Have Arrived appeared first on PurseBlog.

Now that summer is well underway, the next long weekend that we’re looking forward to is the Fourth of July. Whether it’s a picnic in the park or a full-on beach party that you’ll be attending, celebrating in style is always on our minds. In that spirit, we’ve teamed up with Michael Kors to show you what would be in the ideal July 4th weekend bag. We also want to hear about what you’ll be carrying (or wish you were carrying) for the impending holiday. Tell us: #WhatsInYourKors? Below, find out what’s in ours.

We know that you guys have lots of opinions when it comes to bags and accessories, and Michael Kors wants to hear them. On Twitter or Instagram, use the hashtag “#WhatsInYourKors” to share photos of or links to the things you’d be packing away in your Michael Kors bag for a weekend jaunt to celebrate our nation’s independence. You can check out more about our collaboration with Michael Kors on DestinationKors.com, and make sure to watch this space – we’ll have more answers to the #WhatsInYourKors? question coming soon. For now, check out the contents of the Independence Day-themed MICHAEL Michael Kors Jet Set Travel Tote below.

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I’ve always been a bit of a magpie. I’ve probably owned more pairs of silver shoes than black in my adult life, I’m prone to buying costume jewelry that doesn’t fit my personal style just because it’s so fun and crystal-covered that I need to have it in my possession, I own a shameful tube of glitter eye-liner. We all have our crosses to bear. Unsurprisingly, when the Valentino Glam Lock Crystal Bag popped up late last week, it was like a shot of serotonin straight to my brain’s pleasure centers.

Valentino has done these kinds of jewel-encrusted bags in the past, but this one, with its muted use of silver, gold and ivory and signature studs amidst the hardcore glamour, might be my favorite. It’s the kind of treatment that almost any other designer would reserve for a tiny evening bag, but as a leather-based mini crossbody, this bag could conceivably be taken out for daytime use. If you’re the type of person who thinks it makes sense to eat dessert first because you never know what might happen during dinner, then maybe some serious bling at brunch would also be to your liking. This bag sold out in a matter of days, but it retails for $3,455 via Net-a-Porter, where you can still add it to your wishlist for notification when and if it becomes available.

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