Are you heading to the beach this Memorial Day long weekend?

And do you have the right beach tote…

Marc Jacobs has put together a sleek, lighthearted beach tote, complete with canvas hat, flip flops and a towel.  Perfect for enjoying the sunshine while making a style statement!

The clear tote is accented with a Miss Marc character and crinkled patent trim.   It’s generously sized to keep your sunscreen, water bottle and book all close at hand and ready for some relaxation.

image: Saks 5th Avenue

Feminine flowers are showing up on accessories everywhere these days!

Soft and pretty or bold and graphic, flowers can add a touch of fresh, spring style to almost any accessory.

Valentino created this leather tote with metallic leather and accented it with lush flowers, made in the same leather:

The leather flowers on Carlos Falchi’s purse add a fun 3-D accent and the colors keep it fresh and perfect for springtime style:

Or you could go for drop-dead gorgeous with Judith Leiber’s “Morning Dew” hand-finished clutch purse:

images: Neiman Marcus

One of my good friends and I went to Anthroplogie yesterday and I cannot begin to express how much I love that store.  I’d love to live in there and just play dress up! Aside from their amazingly chic jewelry, decorative items, bath and body products  and the beautiful selection of clothes, Anthropologie has a great selection of handbags too!   Their handbags are a fun mix of girlish fun, shabby chic and classic shapes. Below are my picks for Spring and Summer.

Scarf Scene Print Tote (Anthropologie)

The Scarf Scene Tote is a fun patterned tote made of silk. It’s perfectly slouchy for those casual days  and the leather handles give it just the right amount of structure. It features three inner pockets, a simple drawstring closure and measures 13″H, 20″W, 4″D. $78

Lime Valley Bag (Anthropologie)

I really like the combination of the slouchy silver leather with  brown leather knotted handles and trim of this Lime Valley Bag, it’s very casual luxe. Measuring 12″H, 17″W, 5″D, it’ll fit all your essentials easily. The inside is fully lined in cotton and features three pockets to keep you organized. $288

Guiana Bag (Anthropologie)

This Guiana Bag is a great cayenne red, a perfect shade to add a great pop of unique colour to your neutral outfits. The leather is smooth and the ruching and whip-stitching gives it an edgy vibe.  It’s nicely sized at 11″H, 18″W, 6.5″D and fully lined. $478

Returning Bounty Tote (Anthropologie)

How pretty is this perfectly ripe red raspberry hued handbag? The Returning Bounty Tote is just the right size at 12.5″H, 18″W, 6″D for every day fun. The colour is a great pick me up for your ensemble. Made of smooth leather and lined in cotten textile the two inner and three outer pockets will fit your little gadgets.  $248

(Images: Anthropologie)

Waking up to an infomercial showing me a purse that could turn into other designs with the help of different “shells” is something I’d probably never forget in my life. That’s a weird fact to admit but working in the fashion, shopping, and beauty industry as well as loving it makes that statement a normal thing to say. Now back to the bag with different “shells“. It’s actually called Miche Bag.

Miche Bag

You are not looking at 20 bags. Actually, that’s 1 designer bag with different designed mats that are called “shells”. A Miche Bag attaches and detaches to make 1 bag look like you own many bags. The shells are shaped in rectangle and with the magnetic feature, you can attach a shell into a Miche bag so you have 1 bag for every outfit or occasion.

It is such a simple concept but I seem to be having a hard time explaining it here. It’s better if you visit the Miche Bag website so you’ll understand exactly what I’m talking about. I think Miche Bag is a cool concept and if I didn’t just spend money treating myself with a new hair cut, color treatment, and DVD purchases from Amazon.com today I would be all over it. Check Miche Bag out and let me know what you think.

(Image : Miche Bag)

Let’s face it - handbags are much more fun to think about - especially compared to the state of my mutual funds these days!

So why would I rather invest in accessories rather than the stock market these days?

1. Have you seen what vintage Dior is selling for these days?
2. “Vintage mutual funds”… not so much.
3. A good purse can be used for years, loved, adored, petted and then restored as needed.
4. Can you restore your money market funds?
5. Check out the price of gold.
6. That means that white gold Tiffany bracelet can only go up baby!
7. A good quality leather shoe can be repaired, re-soled and if you’re really careful, handed down to the next generation.
8. Do you really want to inherit someone’s mortgage instead…
9. Same thing with jewelry - gold & silver can be cleaned, pearls can be restrung and diamonds can be re-mounted to fit today’s trends.
10. How much pleasure can you get from a new purse?  Think about how much you dread getting your monthly investment statement.

I rest my case.  And now if you’ll excuse me, there is a pair of leather boots calling my name.

Louis Vuitton has just launched a new campaign for their Spring & Summer 2009 line of luxury accessories, featuring Madonna.  The photos are all over the internet - but do you want to see what happened behind the scenes?

Check out this fun peek behind the scenes with both Madonna and Marc Jacobs… and prepare to drool at the tables of LV purses!

It can be challenging for eco-conscious fashionistas to find quality, trendy accessories sometimes.  There aren’t a lot of options for high-end style.

Luckily, Vegan Queen is working to try and change that.  Their collection of luxury handbags are made with PVC-free eco-polymer material, veg-tan leather (the most eco-friendly way to create leather) organic cotton and other eco-friendly materials.  Best of all, the bags look great too!

There aren’t individual links to each bag, but if you click this link it will take you to their online boutique.  Just click the name of the bag you’re interested in and check it out!

The City Tote:

Boston Bag:

Noble Clutch Purse:

images: Vegan Queen

Let’s face it, most of us are trying to be a little more money-conscious these days - even when it comes to our beloved accessories!

Luckily, there are lots of stylish options for savvy shoppers out there.  With a little bit of detective work and flexibility, it’s possible to bring in your accessory shopping under budget.  Check out these great patent leather purses - all of them under $200!  After all - how often do you find a Dooney & Bourke clutch or a Michael Kors tote for less than that?

Nordstrom patent leather drawstring hobo - $128

Dooney & Bourke patent leather foldover clutch purse $155

Michael Kors crinkled patent leather slim vertical tote $198

Maxx New York dégradé pleated patent clutch purse $54.99

images: Nordstrom

I love cloth tote bags, and try to bring them with me when I’m out shopping.  But what’s the fun of carrying a boring, plain tote bag?

These charming embellished cotton tote bags from Showpony are a great solution to the problem.  The totes and shoppers are printed with vintage-look pictures, which means you can carry your groceries in a corset:

Or tie a bow around them:

Or even bring your milk home in an antique evening bag:

The totes are made from fair-trade organic cotton and are printed on both sides.

images: Indie Fixx

b5media’s Beauty & Style channel blog “Hot Mama Daily” is holding a contest to win one of these beauties:

That’s right - you could win your very own Handbag Heaven clutch purse!  All you need to do is click on the link at the top of this post and follow the directions.  Better hurry because the contest ends January 6th at noon…

images: Hot Mama Daily