It Starts with the Handbags, Honey

Fashion 101: Every Day Handbags, Black
As most of you know, I am a bit of a handbag whore, so I'm not advocating my lifestyle in anyway nor am I presuming that building a collection is easy or cheap. I am merely pointlessly pontificating, and hopefully among this dribble, some of you may find some applicable pointers.

First of all, a women should have every day handbags in at least two colors. For me, it's primarily black and some shade of brown. We'll tackle other colors and patterns later. Also, depending on where you live, your colors and fabrics will, unfortunately, vary seasonally. I will tackle that later as well. For now, it's basic black, daytime. Evening is a whole different, er, bag.

Black-and-gold is very in this season, and it's always been a fave combo of mine, so that's what I tend to rock the most right now.

These are my current daytime, black-and-gold bags. Let's start from oldest to newest...



You can never go wrong with a Chanel. And this one is a true classic. Mom and Lynn bought this bag probably 20 years ago. Mom handed it down to me about three years ago, it's still in great shape and apparently, I've inspired Lynn to break it out of the archive. And mom keeps saying how she wants it back, but then she goes into her closet and promptly forgets. My mom rocks.



Another classic, this one the Gucci Jackie O. They've been producing this style for years. When I first moved to NYC six years ago I had a (former) good friend who worked for the company, so I got this one at 40 or 50% off. It's suede though, so I don't get much use of it anymore due to the climate and the fact that suede is sooo difficult to keep pristine. (Schwartz, wanna borrow?:)




I absolutely adore this Dior bowling-type bag. It was a birthday gift from mom, purchased at the Woodbury Commons Dior outlet a few years ago, for more than 50% off. Though as much as I love it, I don't use it much either because it's heavy and hard to get in and out of. Though due to the multitude of hidden pockets and nooks, it really came in handy traveling after the liquid/gel restrictions took effect.



Out of all my daytime black bags, this is my current fave. It's another Chanel classic and I actually bought this one at full price, as a present to myself for my 30th birthday. I love, love, love this bag. It's the perfect size, the shoulder strap is comfy and there's an outer side pocket that fits my cell phone and Bluetooth. I don't think I'll ever tire of this bag.