2013: The Year Of The Liebeskind Berlin Bag

Feliz 2013! Hard to believe FashionBinge (she likes to be personified and referred to in the third person; she told me so herself) is going to be SEVEN years old this year. That's like 123 in blog years. 

Anyway, new year, new bag. 

$248, Liebeskind Capri tote, Nordstrom.com

I've gotten much much better at "shopping with intent" and buying only bags I can invest in and use for years (for ejemplo, my Olivia Harris black leather tote that I bought in 2010, and my lovely neon yellow Cambridge Satchel, and yes, I firmly believe neon bags are still "in,") instead of buying a super trendy, super cheap bag, using it approximately one and a half times, tiring of it, and then donating and/or helping it retire to a wasteful existence in a landfill. (Oddly though, I'm actually an enormous hypocrite, because I bought this $30 canvas striped duffle from Alloy back in July, and I'm still carrying it ever since.)

I'm trying to stick to that thou-shalt-invest-in-fewer-bags credo, but Liebeskind's leather handbags have been singing their sweet siren song to me every time I pass their storefront window on Lafayette Street -- newly opened in the Irregular Choice space this past September -- or come across one of their bags online. The German brand (also, THEIR BOOTS!) does big-girl bags with a fresh take on textures, shapes and colors. These bags have burrowed their way into my brain, and now I'm pretty much imprinting on their Capri tote, Jacob Black-style. (Halp! I'm in love with an inanimate object! Wot! Is that weirder than being in love with an infant? Y/N?) And ohai, those totally reasonable prices: like, Prada/ Proenza at sub-Coach prices. Realness. 

Check out some of Liebskind's leather bags after the jump, and maybe soon I'll stop pretending that I'm not going to pick one up very soon. 

Two Perfect Summer Bags, One Hu-normous, One Small

Going somewhere cool this spring? Coachella? Berkshires? Seychelles? Bali? Virginia Beach for Passover ( <-- bitter, Jewish personal interjection)? Stuff as many parts of your life as you can in this excellent cloth weekender by Stela 9.

$275, Stela 9, Nastygal.com

$195, Rebecca Minkoff, Shopbop.com

Or... this wee little Rebecca Minkoff straw neon MAC bag... if your plans only consist of the Highline.

Dr. Martens Black Leather Satchel: All I Want For The Second Night Of Chanukkah

$190, Dr Martens

Just look at this gorgeous Doc Martens black leather satchel (it's extremely similar -- too similar, some might say -- to the Cambridge Satchel, speaking of, I haven't taken mine out of the plastic since it came because it's so lovely to look at) and TELL me it wouldn't look like the unstaged photo-documentary-style picture of perfection with a trench coat... and that it wouldn't look perfect wrapped up next to my menorah.

Check out my first night of Chanukkah pick, a sky-high pair of taupe Charles Jourdan stilettos that would look JUST SO much better with your red holiday dress than boring black pumps. Just sayin'.

Rebecca Minkoff Black Friday Sale + Enter To Win A MINI MAC

Rebecca Minkoff's having a Black Friday sale that doesn't even require you putting on pants. Which is great because mine don't fit anymore.

Friday, November 25 at 12am ET through Monday, November 28 at 11:59, free shipping for orders over $100.

Y'all, some of these bags and shoes are around half off. No joke.

After the jump, check out a few of my favorites from the Rebecca Minkoff Black Friday sale, and enter to win a Mini MAC:

Was $295, now $160, RebeccaMinkoff.com

Was $295, now $165, RebeccaMinkoff.com

Was $195, now $100, RebeccaMinkoff.com

Was $395, now $200, RebeccaMinkoff.com

Was $295, now $140, RebeccaMinkoff.com

Enter to win a Mini MAC. 30 people with excellent luck will win!

Enter by November 30. Winners will be randomly selected December 4.

Coach Spring 2012 Preview

Coach's Spring 2012 forecast: fun, whimsical designs that prove that classic doesn't have to be safe. "I would just NEVAH do a white bag"? You thought that, right? But check out this white woven/ whipstitched carryall. THAT'S how you do an everyday white bag without looking like you belong to a yacht club or you're smuggling Easter eggs. It's all in the texture and hardware. Oh, you're into that terrific teal? Good, because that makes two of us. And those nude patent peep-toe stilettos are exactly what to wear with navy, orange, and every neon ever.

Don't think. Just put on the red, white and blue Coach hi-top sneaker.

Jelly watches? They never get old.

Bag This: Vegan Alexander Wang-esque Motorcycle Bag

$68, Shopnastygal.com

Let's just go ahead and call this black zippered motorcycle bag Alexander Wang... inspired, okay? At, like, one sixth of the price. Usually fake-leather bags skeeve me -- there are so many affordable leather bags that don't look have that cheap plastic patina -- but maybe this one's an exception. It IS vegan, right? So that means it's healthier.

$725, Alexander Wang, Barneys.com

Meanwhile, on the other side of the economic scale, this real Alexander Wang Brenda shoulder bag. Dreams.

Lust List: Rachel Roy & Keds Hi-Tops, Tie-Dye For Non Hippies, And The Best Summer Bag EVAR!

Welcome to my weekly lust list -- my fantasy shopping list of things I'd happily purchase right this moment... if only you were paying.

($99, Rachel Roy)

It was love at first click for me and these Rachel Roy blue Adinah hi-tops, created with surfer Karina Petroni. Love the summery surf fabric and I love that they're slip-ons. Honestly, being vehemently anti flip-flops (they're terrible and cheap!!! Step your GAME up!), these are a perfect substitute. 

($264, Collina Strada, DearFieldbinder)

I mean... a better summer bag has never existed. Leather, canvas, a happy little shadowy tic print, and plenty of compartments.

($19.99, Calypso For Target)

I've said it before, I'll say it again, and I'll keep repeating it if need be. Tie-dye can be HORRIBLE. TERRIBLE. Any Jerry Garcia-leaning swirls-and-fractals tee makes me want to gouge my eyes out with a brooch, straight-up Oedipus style. The ONLY way to do tie-dye acceptably is ONE color with few circles or stripes. For example: the tie-dye tops from the Calypso for Target collection. I'm pretty stoked for a super easy orange tie-dye tee (I think they come in a bright pink too). The collection hits Target stores May 1.

($90, Alexis Bittar)

That little pop of fuchsia in there? That's love.

($70, Keds)

Keds is rolling out their "How Do You" road trip series, which pairs (har) a pair of urban-inspired, limited-edition Keds with a city and a charity. My favorites of the collection are the hi-top foldover Champion LA Keds. They're lightweight, and, once again, perfect for flip-flop skeevers like myself.

The Perfect Yoga Bag(s)

Yoga is so ubiquitous these days that you can barely swing a cat without hitting someone in downward dog. Even I have finally succumbed to it, after much haranguing by my personal spirit animal, Tamar. So you'd think that manufacturers would have figured out how to make a decent gym bag for yogis. You would be wrong. I can hardly believe it, but most yoga bags are made to carry only your mat, with maybe a pocket for your keys and a few bills (and most of them are made of truly regrettable fabrics). But if you also want to throw in your own hand towel or water bottle or even if you just carry a large wallet, your options are limited. If you want to bring all of the above and your workout clothes because you're heading to yoga from work, forget about it. There are a few bags that allow you to strap your mat to your bag, but that just looks dumb, and if you need to set your bag down on, say, a dirty subway floor, well, why even bother bringing your own nongermy mat? (Answer: to save the $2 rental fee, but I digress.)

Anyway, I've been searching for days, and I only found two bags on the entire Internet that fit my criteria. Here they are:

Lululemon convertible Yogi tote, $54 (and free shipping!). Freakin' Lululemon, home of the $98 stretch pants: I never thought I'd buy anything from there, but this is the one I got. The mat goes in the bottom part, and you put your other crap in the top part. If you just need to tote the mat, turn it inside out. Genius. It supposedly has tons of pockets for little stuff, too. The reviews say the handles are too short, but I'm hoping I can deal. If not, or if it's just way too big, I'm going to plan B:

Sundara Studio "Urban Yogi" bag, $65. This one's handmade and designed for a casually rolled-up mat, with room for a few extras. I like the colors of this one—most yoga stuff on the Internet is so cheesily hippied-out you feel like you need to confirm it came from a patchouli-free home. If the Lululemon needs to be returned, I'm totally trying this out.

I Heart Pendleton Everything! + Weird '90s Flashback

I don't necessarily think Pendleton's Native American designs really flatter me, but that doesn't stop me from admiring their resurgence and their wonderfully wooly winter undertones.

Two Pendleton pieces that are on my fantasy shopping list (things I'll never buy yet would graciously accept as... you know... donations or something) are this Pendleton wool and leather weekender bag. It's so ruggedly handsome. It's like the Javier Bardem of bags, you know? But less scruffy:

($216, Pendleton, Shopepaulet.com)

From the sturdy, strapping leather details to the please-don't-get-me-all-super-dirty metal feet, to the luggage tag, I fully endorse everything about this Pendleton bag (as well as the lovely Epaulet, which you should visit in person or online.)

I ride a bike approximately once every... never. Seriously, I NEVER ride a bike. I haven't been on one since approximately 1997, and that was only for a brief moment to determine that up until then, I hadn't been on one since 1991 and since it was 1997, well, I sure as hell wasn't about to take up bike riding again. Hm. I wonder what I was wearing in 1997. Probably some really horrible "relaxed fit" DKNY jeans with zero shape. And a thrift store t-shirt that said "John Deere." And possibly a flannel.  Lovely. ANYWAY, I completely digress. If I WERE to ride a bike, Urban Outfitters' Pendleton bike (available early October) would be it.

BTW, here's me in the '90s. SO style-less that I HAD to share for the sake of comedy. Can you believe people actually COME TO ME for style advice now?!? Oh, and I'm pretty sure that was my "going out" shirt, and it was special because it was one of the sole things I owned from The Gap. I took good care to iron it. And those spoon-shaped gold sunglasses? THERE ARE NO WORDS capable of describing "the bad." I remember being CRESTFALLEN when they disappeared... Little did I know it was truly for the best. Live and learn, people. Live and learn.

Hideous/Awesome Bag Alert

After, what, five years of friendhood, it's safe to say I know my co-blogger. Consider the following text exchange.

MK: This hideous bag is at h&m. thought u might like

TL: Yeah get it for me! Wee

Ladies and gents, the bag in question.



Just thought I'd share.

Hayden-Harnett: Surprise Sample Sale!

I left the last Hayden-Harnett sample sale empty-handed, but they made up for it with this sale. They announced it on Tuesday afternoon on Facebook, but sadly I wasn't able to get down to the Nolita store until last night after work. It was obvious from the largely empty racks and the disaster-zone dressing room that they'd had quite a crowd during the day. Amazingly enough, the sale featured actual samples from the fall 2010 line, meaning mostly small sizes. And yet...she shoots, she scores!


The salesgirl was sort of instrumental in convincing me to buy this cool bomber, the Cromwell jacket, in charcoal herringbone. It also comes in brown (below, far left):



Only $60, and guess what it retails for? $538! Jeebus. (Methinks H-H's price points are a wee bit high, but their sample-sale prices, in this case, were just right.) In any case, I win. Is it time for wool jackets yet?



I also got a cozy, cropped sweater vest (above right, worn open). Love that scoop neck! And the zipper! Needed no convincing. $60. No word on retail price, as it's not on the H-H site yet. After a long, annoying day, that's what you call retail therapy, folks.

Some other things from the fall collection that I'll be on the lookout for at the next sale:


Welles large hobo tote, $544, and I guess a Welles hobo/cross-body bag (as yet unavailable)—love that poppy color!



Pistol & Dagger scarf, $95, in many awesome fall colors.



Coats and jackets galore!

The sample sale is at the Nolita store in NYC, on Elizabeth between Houston and Prince, and runs through Sunday, from 12-8 each day. Everything is $20-$70. Long live Hayden-Harnett!

Um, Seriously? What Happened Here?

($585, Maurizio Pecoraro, Luisaviaroma.com)

WTF is this macrame cage bag thingie?? It looks like a lab dissection gone wrong meets an arts and crafts project gone wronger. And is that an abstract vagina down the middle there?

Fashion Facts I Slept On: Rebecca Minkoff At Bluefly!!!!

Shame shame SHAME on me for not knowing that Bluefly.com has MAD Rebecca Minkoff bags!!!

($170, Rebecca Minkoff, Bluefly.com)

You ought to be adding this black-and-blue Rebecca Minkoff Morning After Bag post HASTE!

($285, Rebecca Minkoff, Bluefly.com)

SAMESIES for this black embossed suede Morning After Bag. So soft I could rest my head upon it and use it as a pillow.

Marc By Marc Jacobs USA Beach Bag

Not that I even KNOW from a beach these days, and seriously, if I see ONE MORE FUCKING FACEBOOK UPDATE about how you can't WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIT for your effing trip to Cabo Wabo or Sea World or Seven Flags or the beaches of Beantown or P-town or the Emerald Isle or whatever I will probably not be able to restrain myself and I will probably punch you. It probably won't hurt, and I'll probably be really because it's really immature, but still. What I'm trying to say is that A VACATION WOULD BE REALLY NICE! ONE THAT DOESN'T INVOLVE A WEDDING, FAMILY, OBLIGATIONS, OR SPENDING MY OWN MONEY. Not that weddings and family aren't nice. They are. But if someone wanted to give me a trip to somewhere with a beach and a bucket of Freeze Pops, that'd be fanfuckingtastic. I wouldn't know Montauk if it knocked on my door and evicted me.

Now what was I saying before I let out some pent-up aggression in an inappropriate setting? OH YEAH! Just that this vintage-inspired Marc by Marc Jacobs USA Tote is really cute. NOT THAT I HAVE ANYWHERE TO BRING IT.

($18, Marc By Marc Jacobs)

Binge Bag: Life With Bird Bag

($130, Life With Bird, Refinery29.com)

Granted, I need a new bag like Park Slope needs another Maclaren, but if I were in the market for a superfluous new bag, I'd go with this very '80s geometrical tote. Geotote! Actually, I COULD use it as a gym bag for my new CrossFit habit. And yes, I've read the Times piece.

This Old Navy Tote Bag INFURIATES ME!

($4.99, Old Navy)

WHO! Not "that"... it should be WHO! "I Heart Boys WHO recycle!"

THAT/ WHO Grammar Rule =
WHO = PEOPLE
THAT = THINGS

I refuse to believe it should be any other way!!!! Grrr!

Star Light, Star Bright...

Please let this Gustto bag get marked down even more -- preferably by like 70% -- tonight!

($199, Gustto, Tobi.com)

Cute Reusable Dinosaur Bag From ModCloth!

($7.99, Modcloth.com)

I've got about four trillion (and counting!) reusable bags. You really need to get one. Some of them come with little pouches, and other ones, like this one, roll up all nice and neat-like AND have dinosaurs on 'em. Use 'em instead of getting yet another crappy drugstore bag every time you run to the corner for like TWO little items you barely even need a bag for. Sure, you'll feel like a bit of a yuppie, but at least you're not extinct, right? Now roll one up, stick it in your purse, and STOP thinking about yourself so much.

Old Navy Stripey Yoga Bag

($14.50, Old Navy)

I am the world's worst yoga-er, probably because I'm super impatient, and if I'm laying on my back, it'd better be in a bed. But I do love this fun Old Navy yoga bag because it doesn't have that super granola-y goddess/ mung beans look. Instead, it's got a nice, bright "Get In Shape, Girl" '80s style. Do it!

Alexandra Cassaniti Continues To Woo Me, Wow Me

($230, Alexandra Cassaniti)

The first obviously great thing about Alexandra Cassaniti's laptop bag (via Refinery 29) is that it's got a built-in smiley face! Next best, it's covered in fake hair! Well, it's a print, but it looks like stubble! Hee!

I don't love it AS much as I love her pink eye tote:

... But it's still great. Not so practical at $220, but still cool and LOL-arious.