It’s a genuine alligator’s foot’s skin, made into a coin pouch. Yowza!

You like?

“Quilt” Jacquard and croc-stamped leather, all on this sophisticated shape.

Lovely … But why is their logo letter “E”?

I’m all over this shape! (And pink!)

In fact, there are no tacky bags in their current collection!

Juicy Couture Distressed Leather Fluffy, Winter White

I was born and mostly raised in Massachusetts, always south of the heart of the city of Boston. I now live in a dream vacation land of Florida - in the nicest (read: safest) city in the state, to boot. But ah - no boots, not really. Yes, October starts the best of the season here in Sunny F.L., but I do miss my Mass. It started with tiring of the Chinese Food in this state, being the comfort foodie I am. And then I missed out on late-invited NYC Fashion Week events (not that I could afford plane tickets this insane financial year) and then … well life can get tough.

Recently my Facebook friend and fellow fashion blogger, Lady Coveted, posted a photo shoot in the northern crisp air with sweaters and oh - the turning leaves. And yes, I do miss those leaves!

My mother reminded me that the pretty palet changing symbolizes dieing and yet - there is this undeniable appeal, isn’t there?

Sunny Rising: Grape Leaves Clutch

Handbags can always come to the rescue though, or well in this economic crisis if one can’t truly afford a purse, perusing teases but still titillates. My misfortune could be good luck to a reader, though, because the clutch I have in mind can only be in one person’s two hands, for it’s a one-of-a-kind handmade on Etsy.com. (And not inexpensive, at a more-than deserved true-designer pricetag of $239.)

The burnt look of the tooling on this burnt sienna leather accessory nearly perfectly sums up the desire raging in us, no? And on the back, read words perfect for Autumn’s Sweetest Day: “grow love”.

Those are words to end a poem by, let alone a mere blog post.

These photos are rarer, so I couldn’t get many details. Enjoy a lesser known and her bags!

Credit: Scott Wintrow for Coutorure

Phoebe Philo in Fall 2005

Phoebe Philo is back, but not to bring smooshy leather idealism again to Chloé, but as the next creative director of fellow French fashion house, Céline.

LVMH Moët Hennessy confirmed to WWD exclusively on Sept. 4th. The magazine immediately published the news, but in short, almost byte form - so here you get a detailed reaction with enough information to match…

Despite creating arguably the world’s favorite IT bag with the company, Philo left the design world completely 2 years ago to stay home with a new baby, who’s now 3 with a younger sibling of 18 months*. The deal with Céline that appealed to the new mom is that she would be allowed to stay and work in her home town of London, and not the headquarters of both houses, Paris, France. (*Source) Why the success her Paddington and other beloved purses being responsible for Chloé’s clout of today didn’t cause Phoebe to merely take temporary maternity leave, with parent company, Richemont, offering this same compromise is beyond me. Click for more (story, photos, etc.) »

Casual, sporty, and ready for the beach or even summer school - enjoy!

credit for 1 - 5 & last to Scott Gries for: Coutorture
credit for 6 - 9 to Marcio Madeira for Style.com

These galleries are a courtesy to those of you who just want to check out the bags from the shows, whether you want to post about them on your blog or just peruse. I thank you for credting both bagdreamblog.com and the original sources.

Bag Dream is now, as a resource, showcasing (hopefully-all)-and-only-handbag photos in pure galleries from the Fashion Weeks. Reviews of particuliar styles will come later. If you use photos from these pages, please credit us (http://bagdreamblog.com) and our original source. Thanks and you’re welcome!

9.5.08 - Bryant Park Tent

credit to: New York Magazine.

FYI, posting’s been delayed while I worked on coding, including setting up displaying pictures in a new way. Upkeep like this is necessary as blogging scripts turn to new versions, old html is deprecated for new standards, etc. That should be about done, so there will be lots more actual entries coming all week!

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.

Based on the style-preference delusion that fashionistas don’t detest big fringe, and seemingly out of the 70’s, has arrived new bag design house MUXO. Designed and crafted solely by Camila Alves and her own dear mother, Muxo’s bags are painstakingly labored over by their own hands, tools and a rarer cowhide from Brazil - no not even sewing machines are used by this team. That’s not to say this indie business isn’t big biz backed or have gone/are going it alone en route to already-instant fame, for the designer is a fashion-and-Hollywood-insider as a former model and current baby-momma to Matthew McConaughey’s newborn son Levi.

So there’s no need for Camila to pray to label namesake, an African goddess of water, for help - which is lucky because what does water have to do with land-animal-skinned accessories? No, with unique “ironing” details and bags that go beyond leather-jacket fringe and long straps, such as a frame satchel and several nice clutches - I even predict mother-daughter team will encounter a bit too much success than four hands and not much more electricity than lighting can handle. Perhaps little Levi will help in the future? The 1 month old was recently quoted, “Dad, mom, I wanna go support mom’s purses”. Aww! I hope this couple is as open-minded as they’d seem.

If you’re interested in these unique bags, they range from $450 to $1,400, are available through their official website, or you can check them out in person at L.A.’s Kitson.