June 2008 Archives

The highly anticipated collection from Hannah MacGibbon for Chloe falls short of my expectations. A former protegee of Phoebe Philo, I was hoping she'd recapture the brand's romantic bohoemian chic past. Instead, we are offered poufy blouses and polka dotty skirts. Hopefully she finds her groove come September for the Spring 2009 shows. The chain strap bags shown alongside the ready to wear are also nothing new nor exciting. Will Chloe ever recapture it's glorious past? What do you think?

Diamond Lock clutch- Lizard and silk satin $2250 at Tod's- call Justin 214.363.6600

Gwyneth Paltrow has certainly been making up for lost time since coming out of motherhood-hibernation. Snagging the Tod's Fall campaign as its new face with a short film for Tod's to be debuted in Cannes, it's clear that Gwyn is baaaaaack!!!!!!! She said in a recent interview that she never misses a day of working out and even while traveling, she exercises with her trainer via the internet. Now that's dedication-- and it really shows, look at her legs! She also said it's hard work to look the way she does (two hours a day 7 days a week) and that she does not wake up looking like this-- especially now that she's a mother of two toddlers. I love her candor, how many actresses pretend they never work out and that they roll out of bed looking gorgeous!?!??! (Jump for more!)

I am excited to introduce this new designer of impeccable quality and style. He is an artist with sculpture as his medium, which translates perfectly in his bag designs. If you think about it, it makes total sense, bags are like little sculptural pieces of art that reflect our character AND is useful!! And this clutch is especially useful, not just to hold our stuff but functionality is incorporated right into the design with the top strap that allows you to hold on to or slip your 4 fingers through with thumb on the other side. This eliminates all the drawbacks I have with clutches, I feel like my fingers are going to cramp up having to cling on to the clutch in my hand the whole time. The flap is balanced so that the front and the back of the bag looks the same. It is lined in his signature lilac on the interior, the underside of the flap is black leather. The python of course adds another level of major pluses with this clutch, the skin quality is so supreme you will go nuts over the price (well because it is on sale now). The full price was $2000 which I find steep for an unknown designer even with the perfect quality, but on sale at $1200, it is an amazing bargain for an exotic that can be used forever and with everything. Get it at LuxCouture. There is a beautiful light lavender for Summer but is still full price at $2000.

Our family has grown since we started in 2005 and you probably know them all by name and post now but we thought you should meet them, face to face. We would not be able to handle all that is involved with running our network of blogs without our girls (and boy!).

Tina Craig (left) and Kelly Cook, Owners and Founders(Photos of Craig by Next Media and Cook by John Sciulli) Sharon Feiereisen, Writer. Sharon is 24 and lives in New York City. Sharon writes for all four of the Snob sites in addition to attending events on our behalf in NYC. When she's not blogging for us, Sharon enjoys jetting to Paris, Morocco and other exotic locales.

Richard Cook, CFO and Chief Tech Nerd (AKA Kelly's Hubby). Richard is a Software Engineer and is responsible for helping us get started, he trained us (no easy task as we both have short attention spans) and he still maintains our site. He also pays our Bag Snob bills (with our money but neither Kelly or I can balance a checkbook to save our lives so we depend on Rich to tell us how much money we have to spend!) plus he keeps all the ads and artwork on our sites current. We don't pay him regularly but the privilege of being Kelly's husband is payment enough for him.

Liza Powel O'brien is a frequent contributing blogger on our sites. She has a MFA in fiction writing from Columbia and is totally over qualified for this job!  We have no idea why she agreed to guest blog but are grateful she graces us with her wit and fine writing.

Kerri Loughlin is our LA based assistant.  She brings with her years of administrative experience and we are hoping she will organize our chaotic workload!

Christy Nguyen is assigned the task of market research and will be assisting with social media networking for the Snob sites. She is our newest intern and shows promise as a beauty writer being a total beauty snob herself.

My friend Sasha introduced me to Gerard Darel's North American PR rep today and we spoke at length about the line and the lack of merchandise here. We both pondered if the demand would be as hyped up if it were readily available in every street corner!?!? The answer will remain to be seen come next Fall as Gerard Darel bags set sail stateside. She also gave me the lowdown on how Eva Longoria Parker became involved (which will be another entry next week-- it's too long to write here) and a password to the Gerard Darel press page so I can get exclusive photos and info for you! So here are photos of the newest spokesmodel for GD-- Mamie Gummer, 24 year old daughter of Meryl Streep and Don Gummer, shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin in New York. I find her intelligent and quirky good looks to be vastly appealing, not to mention her mother is my all time favorite actress! The ready to wear is also from Gerard Darel-- so retro chic! I bought a few dresses and pants for myself and my god daughter (the children's line is tres adorable!) Jump for complete Fall Ad campaign!

The perfect throw around summer bag for all of your beach gear and sandals, this Martine Sitbon silver sac bag is a must have for bag snobs on the go! Already a Cheap Thrill at full price of $525, it is now on sale for a ridiculous bargain of $367!! Silver is in fact the perfect color for summer, we all love white but what's a girl to do if you are wearing white? You pair it with a silver bag, of course (NOT white). There are other great finds at Vivre's Summer Sales Event, including amazing shoes!! Get the Martine Sitbon Large Silver Sac Bag with Free Shipping with code "VIVRE2008" (their normal shipping rates are high so take advantage of this!!), code is good until July 3rd so shop away!!

While in Paris, I spent a lot of time at the Givenchy boutique and I was besotted by all the cool bags, shoes and ready to wear that I had never seen in the US before. I am waiting for their PR to send me those images but in the meantime I stumbled upon this Saddle bag with Alligator harness...er strap. Is it me or do the straps look almost X-rated to you too? Seriously, the first thing that came to my mind was the get up that the Gimp from Pulp Fiction wore.The harness straps are confusing and I don't know how one is supposed to carry it. I guess they were trying to be interesting but sometimes it's best to just leave a simple saddle bag alone. And uh, it's quite expensive for a plain bag with a scrap of alligator stuck on the strap don't you think? Is it any surprise I did not see this in Paris? I always say the buyers of the Paris boutiques pick the best bags and I think this proves my point. $2,295 at Barneys New York. What do you guys think? Snob, Slob, or Gimp?

We've been known to diss shoe designers when their forays into bag design comes up short but in the case of Sergio Rossi designer Edmundo Castillo-- the results are spectacular! I've always adored Sergio Rossi signature sky high heels but never gave their bags a thought (to be honest, I didn't even know the brand had bags!) until a very clever intern at Sergio Rossi emailed us about stumbling into a bag closet at the SR headquarters in New York! Kelly and I were immediately intrigued and asked for look books, pronto-- and received them via Fed ex yesterday. It is always exciting to discover new bag designs and knowing the quality of Sergio Rossi shoes, I am expecting the bags to be just as meticulous. I have not seen these in person yet but hope to see samples very soon! I predict the duffel bag (shown above) will become the line's signature. This periwinkle crocodile version is to die. Front pocket bags are nothing new but with the subtle details in the flap and twisted handle plus the unusual colors, Sergio Rossi has made it unique and interesting.

I cannot believe this is a Ferragamo because honestly, I am quite frightened by the rest of their bags for Fall. Without these details, this is just a generic frame but we all know it is all in the details - like the interwoven patent leather in the straps and the lucite clasp. Of course the most important detail is the python, an extremely lush quality python at that. All of which make this a very cool bag, so much so that I am seriously moved to buy. The best part is that for a python at this quality, it is pretty reasonable at $3150 - a very worthy investment. The rounded bubble shape is fresh and makes for a very roomy bag. The frame opens wide for easy access, which is always a huge consideration when buying a frame. The long strap makes it easy to go over the shoulder although for something like this you normally hold it in your hand. The bag is big enough, 15" x 12", for the long straps to look OK even if you do hold it in your hand. By far the best Ferragamo I've seen. At Saks Fifth Avenue for $3150.

Watch video here!
Check out the DVF Cruise/Pre-Spring show in Florence I was invited to last week. I could not attend as I was still in Paris but to receive an invitation to the show in addition to cocktails and dinner with DVF after the show was enough to make me swoon. The event was held at the largest private garden in Firenze-- Giardino Torrigiani-- which includes portions of the original Medici walls built under Cosimo il Vecchio. Ms. von Furstenberg showed her collection with "La Petite Valise" in mind, "When you figure out your suitcase, you figure out your life," she said. And the entire collection was filled with packable pieces fit for a jet setting Princess. I was tempted to hop over to Florence from Paris for a couple of days with my own petite valise in tow to attend this amazing show and dinner but this trip was about spending quality time with my family and I felt too guilty to take off. Judging from the video I missed out on a fabulous show but at least I didn't miss out on the wonderful trip with my hubby and son. The many sumptuous bags and clutches shown down the "green"way also proved that DVF bags are here to stay. More photos after the jump!