In my head, I have a very active fantasy life that often includes me wearing a kaftan. To me, the kaftan is the most ideal type of garment for lazing and being pampered: it’s long, it’s flowing, it’s completely non-binding, there’s usually a beautiful print involved. If I could have the type of lifestyle where kaftans were my daily uniform, I’d jump at the opportunity. I’m just not sure I’d wear one through the streets of New York like former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger did recently. There are so many murky puddles out there in which to accidentally dip that voluminous fabric.
Not to mention that the huge sleeves on this particular piece make it easy to snag on random objects; I could see myself taking out fruit carts and hooking on to fire hydrants left and right. I’m just not a person with enough innate grace to pull it off in a city filled with obstacles. At a beach resort? In my imaginary summer home in the Caribbean? That’s a completely different story. One thing that is great for city use, though, is Nicole’s Balenciaga Work Bag – it’s lightweight and roomy, which are both critically important for an everyday option.
Bag Nicole’s Balenciaga Style via Neiman Marcus! View The Gallery →
I secretly (maybe not-so-secretly) love photos of famous people at the airport for a few reasons. First, it reminds us that flying sucks for everyone, even the rich. Second, it’s a good way to demonstrate that the lighting at airports makes everyone look bad, not just you, so don’t worry about it. Third, it’s a good opportunity to see everyone’s handbags and luggage, duh.
There’s no better way to start Monday than with a genuinely talented young star carrying not one, but two gorgeous handbags, and that’s exactly what I have for you today. Some of you are surely fans of Kristen Bell from back in her Veronica Mars days, but more of you are probably familiar with her work in Forgetting Sarah Marshall or her hilarious repeat appearances on Craig Ferguson’s late night show. I hear she has a new show on Showtime, but I also hear that it’s bad, so I’m avoiding it because I don’t want to taint my genuine love for Ms. Bell.
If you’re a PurseBlog reader, you know how Megs and I feel about Jessica Alba and her handbag choices – we love her and we love what she carries. I especially love that she’s always with her kids, Honor and Haven. Here’s Jessica with little Haven, and I can’t decide who’s cuter, the baby or her lovely mama. (I mean, it’s probably the baby. Look at those lil’ cheeks.)
Elizabeth Olsen, often referred to on the Internet as the new Olsen, obviously has the hookup when it comes to bags from The Row. People love to speculate about which stars got what for free, who was given a discount on which bag, what designers are gifting and to whom they’re gifting it. Nothing brings out the conspiracy theorists like the thought of free stuff! Here’s how it works: a lot of stars get a lot of stuff for free, but famous people buy things too. They go shopping like the rest of us! And if the brand is one that regards itself as super high-class, but the person who’s carrying it has a different reputation? She bought it. And if it’s Hermes? Everybody bought it, even Jane Birkin. (So she says.)
Excuse me while I share my one second-hand Courtney Love story: Courtney Love once stole my friend’s shower curtain. It was a long time ago, when this friend of mine was in a band and Courtney Love was not yet famous, and somehow she ended up at his house. When she left, the shower curtain apparently left with her, which is exactly the kind of story I love to hear about someone like Courtney Love, mostly because I think it gives you a nice little window into her psyche. It wasn’t something she could sell, or a table cloth or curtain that she could perhaps Scarlett O’Hara into a new dress, but a plastic shower curtain. And that’s just…perfect.
Remember what I said yesterday about certain handbags and certain celebrities going together like peanut butter and jelly? That’s how I feel about Coco (Ice-T’s wife, for the uninitiated) and Louis Vuitton. Vuitton positions a certain part of its product line to appeal to consumers who, quite frankly, are far more interested in flash than they are in subtlety. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course; flash can be a ton of fun as long as you don’t take yourself or others too seriously.
A lot of the time, a celebrity and the handbag she’s carrying make sense. Kim Kardashian carries lots of Birkins because she’s all about flaunting her wealth, Miranda Kerr carries a lot of Celine and Prada because her style is more in line with fashion people than celebrities, the Olsens carry a lot of vintage bags and It Bags before they catch on because they tend to set trends rather than follow them. As for Kate Hudson, I don’t see her make appearances on paparazzi sites all that often, but if I had to imagine what type of bag I’d expect her to carry, it’d be something that fits her luxe-hippie public persona. Perhaps one of those embellished, patchworked Simone Camille bags, or something made of brown suede and trimmed in fringe.
To be clear, the bag design – the Alexander Wang Lia Sling Shoulder Bag – isn’t new. In fact, it’s been out for a few season and has even made its way to discount sites at times (and quickly sold out). It seems to be a new addition to Miranda Kerr‘s closet, though, and I should know – I’m a little bit 
As a general rule, I try to feature as many genuinely talented women (and occasionally men!) on this site as possible. Sometimes that’s difficult, because not only are less-talented celebrities overrepresented on photo aggregators like the one we use (they need the exposure to extend their careers, after all, which isn’t quite as important for the genuinely gifted among us), but the talent-challenged tend to focus more minutely on constructing interesting outfits in order to encourage people to write about them. In short, the Kardashians tend to carry better bags than Oscar-winning actresses, so that’s why they show up here more, for better or for worse.
The Stella McCartney Falabella Bag has provided a ton of mileage for the brand. I’m not entirely sure it was even intended to be a bag that garnered serious attention – McCartney generally doesn’t rely on her accessories for market traction – but for seasons now, the bag has sold well to both the ethically concerned and leather-lovers alike. Actress Michelle Trachtenberg, for instance, carries plenty of leather bags, and here she is with the McCartney favorite.
If you live in the US, odds are that you don’t quite realize how popular Mulberry is. Sure, it’s a big brand among US handbag aficionados, but when you cross the pond, it seems as though nearly every British celeb under the age of 35 carries the bags regularly, if not exclusively. When you compare it to the American penchant for Chanel and Hermes among the same set, the saturation is nothing if not impressive. Mulberry is very effective at getting its bags into the hands of the young women who influence the personal style of the brand’s British customers.
