another "It" bag

from Pylones, Lexington Avenue at 63rd Street. I think of Pylones as a toy store for days when I'd rather be in Paris, but it's a great place to take pre-teens who need to be rewarded for having been patient while the grownups were looking at clothes. There's a Pylones in Rockefeller Center and another in Soho. I also love their retro (40's and 50's) kitchen gadgets and the TDF aprons.

This is another "it" bag, canvas tote with picture of costly arm candy.

spring bags

The LLBean canvas bag that I was looking at when I put up this post has arrived, and it's going back. It doesn't pass the HWE test, it's Heavy While Empty. I wanted it for travel, which means I'd have to carry lots of stuff in it all day, day after day. Around here, a travel bag has to earn its keep.

A trip to Florida is imminent, I love woven straw bags in non-big-city warm weather. I'm waiting for some enterprising merchant to knock this one off:


Dolce & Gabbana, $1975, well, looks like a long wait.

Although there are some contenders:


TLC, $90. That's more like it.

I'm also attracted to this one, it looks like you could find things in it without fumbling.




Also TLC, $99.

You can see that great big unlined straw totes hold little appeal for me, although I use them at the beach.

The real advantage of the small to medium travel bag, straw or anything else, is that if your traveling companion asks if you have room for his paperback /guidebook /sunglasses /passport /hat /keys, whatever, you can say NO with a clear conscience. After all, what's the point of limiting the weight and volume of my stuff to avoid back, neck and shoulder aches, if I wind up lugging his stuff?

Hmm, D & G make a bridge line, no?

What's your favorite travel bag?

Sold out on pre-sale: reflections on good design, craftsmanship and the bag of the century

Lovely reader Southern Belle PhD has been kind enough to direct my attention to this timely post on The Daily Prep, in which the blogger visits a New England leather goods factory where bags without logos are handmade. The bags are impressive, although Muffy -the blogger - is too well-raised to discuss prices in front of any possible blog-walking strangers. She quietly provides a link to the company's site, where you can find out for yourself, should you be so inclined. I have observed that New Englanders of any ancestry are impressed by the concept of "value for money," which I think results from a naturally-occurring mineral in the regional water tables, rather than DNA, and these bags are a good example of that concept. Thank you, Southern Belle!

Here's why I find that post timely: the bag I really want, while not yet "on the market," will make its appearance March 1, and I'm sure when it does it will already be sold out on pre-sale.


It was designed by Leonardo DaVinci, but like so many of his brilliant ideas, never produced that we know of, until now.


Well. Here's a link to a more detailed description of the bag and the Discovery of the sketch, and all I can say is I have rejoiced in rediscovering my once and future favorite designer. The Huffington Post has a link to a video of the bag's construction, which also fascinates, and I wish I could get that link to work on my blog but since I can't, go over there and check it out.

So I'm sure that by now the Leonardo bag is "fully committed" and I'm also sure that knock-offs are in production at all price points. Sigh.

Here's a travel bag I can afford:






You can find it on the LLBean website. I have also provided an example of why user reviews are a public service. I wonder if Leonardo included compartments for poison rings and finely engraved stiletti in his bag. Meanwhile, since we're planning a Florida trip in February (didn't want to miss the NY-Seattle rotten weather and flight cancellations this month, but that's another post), my Florida must-do list includes keeping my distance from any guys toting the LLBean bag.

handbag update: luxury isn't what it used to be...

The photo leading off this post is shamelessly copied from the Hairpin, on which is posted a very thoughtful discussion germane to my post of yesterday, in which some of us considered whether or not the availability of cheap copies diminished the pleasure we take in a costly "real" bag, and if so, do we care? Brent Cox, the author of the article (which originally appeared in the Awl and you should follow my link, it's worth reading) goes a step further and if I read him right suggests that even if the cost of producing a Wonderful Handbag appears excessive -- $39,000? not a typo -- the fact that such bag was produced by the Olsen Twins devalues the bag before it even reaches the store. I have noted that I'm reluctant to appear in or with anything that has appeared on a Celebrity, whether one of no talent, little talent, or great talent indeed. That doesn't mean I won't go for the precious thing, it just means I really think twice before deciding. It's not just the Thing. It is the Aura of the Thing, in kind of a negative way.

Also of interest in the article are some quotes from Handbag Industry Notables (you didn't know there were such people? me, neither, see how educational blogging can be?). The HINs echo the craven words of one Dear Leader and his Acolyte-in-Chief, She Who Must Be Praised, in whining about the conflict between sourcing and production costs and desired profit margins. Hey, guys, it's tough for all of us.

Naturally, during the expected torrential rains and high winds, my handbag of the day should I need to step outside of Flintstone Manor and carry anything, will be a double or triple layer of those awful plastic bags from the supermarket. If I can't find my rubber boots, they'll be footwear as well.

Stay safe, everyone!

another lovely bag surfaces at Target

Handbags have a lot to live up to. They have to be at their best in all weather and in almost all situations. They have to yield up their contents under pressure (BUS PASS. NOW. I MEAN IT.) They must refrain from bad habits, like eating your manicure. And they have to be as poised as Melanie Wilkes when someone who's having a wet pizza for lunch runs into you as you're running downstairs. They have to have a pocket ready at all times into which you can stuff still another free sample of Remede eye cream (worth it). Here we arrive at the great handbag conundrum: if it costs enough to do all of that and still look terrific doing it, chances are it will cost a fortune and you'll hesitate to wear it out among the Visigoths. Yet what is that capital investment doing for you if it spends most of its time in its sleeper bag on a shelf in a well-ventilated closet?

It is for the purpose of resolving this conundrum that a loving and compassionate Higher Power allows Target to flourish upon the land.  From a distance - usually a great distance - Target knock-offs look good. Target knock-offs often look good enough to foment litigation. I discussed my adventures with Target's version of this past spring's "It" bag here Target knock-off 1 and my further adventures with said bag Target knock-off 2 here.

J.Crew Jericho Tote
(shamelessly copied
from web site)

Target knock-offs
(Iphone strikes again!)

Recently I visited my friendly local Target  to reconnoiter where they might put out the cream of the Missoni collaboration, when I noticed the reverse of the "It" bag adventure: that is, I already own the original and now it's being knocked off. Very cheaply, I might add. However, the black and the taupe are definitely basic, hard to get more basic, the vinyl is spill-proof, and you can certainly put stuff in it and get it out again. Unlike the previous "It" thing, you don't smell it from across the store either,  definitely a plus.



Now another conundrum: Which is preferable?

• to buy a cute cheap bag and find out that it's meant to be a version of a v. expensive Madison Avenue arm candy (how uncool of me not to know!)
• to buy the v. expensive Madison Avenue arm candy and see the knock-off everywhere
• to buy the v. expensive Madison Avenue arm candy and see the knock-off everywhere, but only after a few years or some decent interval of your choice has elapsed so that you don't feel offended by the knock-off
• to buy the  v. expensive Madison Avenue arm candy for occasions and grab a few of the knock-offs for days like the field trip to the Great Swamp that your neighbor signed you up for in revenge for your writing her name on the Cookie Chair list....
• to buy the knock-off because it's Cheap, and it's There, and not to worry about stupid things like v. expensive arm candy, because the spouse of one who is Serving His Country will be visiting us soon and boyoboy do we have better things to do with the money! 

catching up again - The Return of The Smelly Bag, more about That Skirt

The Smelly Bag is gone! Took it out to Target this weekend to return in person. It had spent a few days out on the terrace in the city, but the odor remained, so I wrapped it up, put that package into a plastic shopping bag which I taped shut and stuck in the car trunk. Drove out to the Little House Off the Expressway with windows open in the drizzle just in case.
The Lethal Package spent the night in the garage, and I was at Target at 8 the next morning. All the doors were open -- they must have been expecting me! I thought I was having olfactory hallucinations when I entered the store, and was afraid the smell was emanating from me and The Lethal Package. However the return was uneventful, and as I left, I noticed RACKS of The Bag, in several colors (quite nice colors, actually) and a couple of sizes, right at the front of the store, and that must have been why all the doors were open. It didn't help the odor situation, and I was actually quite concerned because there were smokers gathering at the entrance. I ran before someone lit a match.

More not world-shaking news: bought the red paisley skirt, and a cotton tank in "smoldering brick" plus a featherweight short cotton cardigan, also in "smoldering brick," to top it off. Used some promo or other; was just concerned that the colors I wanted wouldn't be around when I needed them. Not thrilled with name of red-orange color, why not just call it "Arson: Still A Felony"? Note that IRL, the arson color is one of the colors in the paisley pattern, just not the main color. So that's ok.

This concern was brought on by seeing the skirt styled with a navy-and-white striped tee at the Madison Avenue store. There are times when it's necessary for me to get dressed in the dark, but it's not a look to which I aspire.... Anyway, liking the monotone look over the busy bottom, and having the top in 2 pieces is good for travel in hot damp places with over-air-conditioned restaurants (looking at you, N.O.) And will love the tank/sweater combo with tan linen pants and tortoise bakelite link necklace as well. Don't you love multi-use travel wear?

the bag I've dreamed about

Haven't been able to get near stores, living on takeout, crazed with paperwork, wanted to share this:

At last I can carry this bag without causing my French friends to wonder whether there's an older man making an investment in me (LOL, read Le Divorce). It's produced by a company called Thursday/Friday, and to noone's surprise, has been on backorder since it appeared. Loki, god of the internet and all things electronic, was pestering someone else the day I ordered it. It arrived about a month ago and having tested it thoroughly, I now report:

• good size for a tote
• sturdy, lined, useful interior pocket
• design is on all 4 sides and bottom!
• design appears to be laminated on fabric, not inkstamped
• 3 colors, red, blue, caramel
• almost forgot: the price is right! $35. Yes. Thirty-five. Dollars. American.