Forget the flowers! Mom wants a new designer handbag for Mother’s Day

What mom really wants for Mother’s Day is a new designer handbag so eFashionHouse.com is making shopping for mom easy with free shipping.

Sky Valley, CA (PRWEB), April 24, 2008: Gone are the days where shopping for mom meant a pretty floral arrangement or a box of her favorite chocolate. Today’s moms are more interested in trendy or classic designer handbags, so eFashionHouse.com is making shopping for mom a little easier with free shipping for Mother’s Day (May 11).

Named Best of the Web by People StyleWatch for below retail priced designer handbags and recognized by About.com as the top of three online retailers of off-priced Chanel, eFashionHouse.com has all the designers and styles moms want. From handbag darling Elaine Turner, to couture legend Chanel, to American staple Coach, eFashionHouse.com offers the latest in designer handbags for all budgets.

"It’s not only fashionistas that want the latest designer handbag all the time, today’s mom is very hip and wants to carry a nice leather handbag as well" said Anna Miller, eFashionHouse Owner. "To meet the needs of our clients, we now carry handbags that are age-friendly…meaning most of the designers we carry cater to women of all ages who simply love fashion."

Not only does eFashionHouse.com, and its five fashion ecommerce stores (BrandsBoutique, LuxuryVintage, DesignersLA, ItalysOutlet and ValueBags), offer a wide variety of authentic designer handbags but they guarantee the lowest prices online for Tano, Melie Bianco, Murval, Elaine Turner and Pietro Alessandro. Plus the site offers a layaway plan that allows its clients to pay over time and still get the bag of their dreams.

If you still don’t know what to get mom, here’s a couple of hot selling bags that are sure to make her smile (and maybe even giggle with glee):

• COACH Hamptons Cream Large Tote – 26% off
• ELAINE TURNER Andie Platinum Distressed Leather Satchel – 24% off
• Tano Bauhaus Leather Tote – 21% off
• Gucci Brit Medium Tote in Brown – 26% off
• Yves Saint Laurent Downtown Tote in Cream – 21% off
• Vintage Chanel Quilted Lambskin Shoulder Bag – only $499

In addition to huge savings on brand new, 100% authentic designer handbags, shoppers will receive free ground shipping from April 24th thru May 2nd on purchase over $100 with coupon code MD08. Plus there is no sales tax on all purchases worldwide.

About eFashionHouse.com
Anna Miller is the President of i-GlobalMall.com, Inc. She operates the website http://www.efashionhouse.com/ and sells high-end authentic designer handbags and accessories at off-retail prices. EFashionHouse.com was named Best of the Web by People Magazine StyleWatch for Discount Designer Handbags and Purses. eFashionHouse.com should not be confused with any other website selling a similar product or using a similar name. EfashionHouse.com is the home of five fashion ecommerce stores: BrandsBoutique, LuxuryVintage, DesignersLA, ItalysOutlet, and ValueBags. Anna is considered an Internet Pioneer & Ecommerce Entrepreneur. She’s been reselling Designer Merchandise online since the early 90s. eFashionHouse.com has an extensive Press Page and a Fashion Blog Network. Visit the site for more details.

Making a statement's in the bag

Pietro Alessandro - Guaranteed best prices online. We'll meet or beat anyone's price!

By SARAH HOWDEN

OPEN any glossy magazine and its pages will be peppered with the latest looks, hot off the catwalk. Look a bit closer, however, and you'll discover that it's not just the clothes that are taking centre stage any more. Today's savvy shoppers are more likely to mix cleverly chosen high street buys with key pieces – bags in particular. But this season's designs haven't been created merely with functionality in mind, they are style statements in their own right. Bags have become lifestyle necessities and fashion accessories, and it seems having only one – or even two, three or four – just won't do. More than £350 million is spent on handbags in the UK every year, according to a Mintel report, and apparently the average 30-year-old today owns a staggering 21 handbags and buys a new one every three months.

With many designer bags now coming with a three, four or even five-figure price tag – like this season's "must-have" Burberry Warrior which is a whopping £13,000 – just what is the attraction? "They appeal to everyone, irrespective of size, age or shape," explains Mulberry's creative director, Stuart Vevers. "It's something every woman needs to carry as well, so people don't mind spending a bit more money on things they use every day – especially if they think it will last more than one season." Sam Withal of the Sam Thomas Accessories boutique in William Street agrees. "Accessories have changed. The bag is now as important as the coat or the shoes." Three bag-lovers reveal their precious collection and explain just what the attraction is.

LISA ROWAN
High-street, designer or knock-offs, so long as they make her look and feel great, Lisa Rowan doesn't mind. So it's no surprise that the 32-year-old events manager for The Caves has more than 40 bags worth in excess of £5000. "The first bag I ever bought was a merlot-coloured velvet DKNY bag that I love and still use loads today. I just love how a great bag can make you feel . Even if you're having a fat day a bag will always fit you. "It's not always about the label – it just has to have that special something that makes you immediately fall in love with it. A bag keeps you up to date and makes a style statement. " Lisa's favourites are her understated Mulberry and Miu Miu bags, but she's already got her eye on Prada's multi-coloured shoulder bag. "I don't have lists for the season – I just see something that catches my eye, something makes me feel six foot tall with 36 inch legs . . . a girl can dream."

AIMI HAUTAU
With designer bags from labels such as Paul Smith, Chanel, Mulberry, Tanner Krolle and Stuart Gladstone, Aimi Hautau has more than 30 handbags in her current collection. "I've always loved handbags" laughs the 32-year-old stylist for Jenners. "In all my childhood photos they mostly seem to be me with either a bag or my mum's high heels on. "I now have well over 30 – some of them have even still got the stuffing inside them because I've never used them. From time to time I like to get them out and look at them. I get a bit worried about using them though as I don't want to damage them. It's completely insane and irrational, I know, but that a woman's relationship with her bags." According to Aimi, a woman's love affair with handbags is down to the style – and lifestyle – statement they make. "It's a bit like looking at a man's shoes or tie to judge his taste," she adds.

Aimi's collection reads like the Harvey Nichols accessory department, with a Mulberry Piccadilly (£795) and a Paul Smith shoulder bag (£495) among her collection totalling more than £6000. This season alone Aimi hopes to snap up the Marc Jacobs Deep Shopper (£690) and a Stuart Gladstone OZ in shocking pink (£75). "I always look for size as they need to be a reasonable size so I can fit my life in them," she explains. "It also needs to be something that will look good with at least four or five of my outfits . . . although I have been known to plan the outfits around the bag. And what does her husband think? "He just prays we never have a daughter otherwise he'll have to work nights as well. "Honestly, men just don't understand."

HANNAH TULLOCH
Like Aimi, 29-year-old Hannah Tulloch's love of bags started early. "I used to watch mum pack her handbag in the morning, and there was something mysterious about what she put in them," recalls the assistant buyer at Hamilton and Inches. "She had and still has an enviable collection of bags."

The self-confessed "handbag whore" now boasts a designer collection of around 25 bags, including two Mulberrys, one YSL and a Gucci. "I'd rather not eat for a month if it meant I could afford the bag of my dreams – there's just something about them, from the way they're made to how they make you feel," she laughs. "I think you can also tell a lot about a woman and her bag. She can be dressed in jeans and a T-shirt but if she's clutching a bag that costs £400 upwards, you know she means business. It's all about the statement they make." With Mulberry's patent Roxanne tote and Alexander McQueen's Elvie bag on her wish list, doesn't the value of her bags – which surely must be around £10,000 – shock her? "I could have probably paid off my student loan by now if I didn't buy bags, but it's worth it. I think women only buy bags to impress other women with anyway!"

WHAT YOURS SAYS ABOUT YOU...
"HANDBAGS and their contents say much more about our personality than we might think," says Kathy Eisman, author of How to Tell a Woman by Her Handbag. "While you can't judge a book by its cover, they can help you unlock and understand the secrets of their personality." Stephanie Pedersen of What Every Woman Should Know says: "Women who prefer shoulder bags refuse to be a fashion victim." She also says the Tote Bag girl is fun-loving, generous and sociable, with a youthful outlook, while the Clutch Bagger is confident and doesn't need her whole life in a bag. A small handbag tucked under the shoulder implies sophistication and class, and though It Bag lovers may look on-trend, they're also high-maintenance – it's a reflection of expensive tastes. Women who go for an oversized bag are practical people – and they're seriously hip for spring/summer 2008.

Designer desires

PIETRO ALESSANDRO designer purses banana pebble grain with croc embossed leather designer handbags 2063.

by Emily Wax

Amid buttery leather handbags and US$200 (HK$1,560) torn jeans, Anuga Shah and her friends were shopping in Ahmedabad's newest mall in Gujarat recently, proudly humming that they were "spendy." "This week, it's all about Tommy," Shah, 26, cooes as she pets hooded sweaters inside a glitzy Tommy Hilfiger boutique. "In India today, we love to be branded. I'll spend my whole salary for a really swank brand and eat idli (steamed rice cakes) for the rest of the month."

India's growing middle and upper- middle classes have recently given rise to self-described "brand freaks," who crave the latest luxury goods. In Ahmedabad - where the father of the nation, Mohandas Gandhi, once located his austere ashram and rejected foreign textiles - it is Chanel, not homespun cloth, that generates excitement these days. India's elite have long enjoyed luxury goods imported from the West. In recent months, though, Indians who cannot afford US$600 sunglasses - but who still have some disposable income - have been splurging. Designers, including Prada, Jimmy Choo, Gucci and Louis Vuitton, as well as brands such as Rolls-Royce and Mont Blanc, have either set up shop or beefed up operations.

Last month marked the opening of two of the country's highest-end malls. At New Delhi's Select City Walk, women nearly caused a stampede as they crowded into a MAC cosmetics store in search of a popular brand of eye shadow. Women said they were thrilled that their husbands did not have to go abroad to shop for them anymore. "This year, India really unleashed the brand beast," says Saloni Nangia, associate vice president of Technopak, a marketing research firm that estimates the middle and upper-middle classes at eight million to nine million people and growing, in a country whose population is 1.1 billion.

"It used to be just five-star hotels that had the high-end shops," she says. "But now India is actually getting upgraded with both premium brands and very high-end luxury. The right real estate is here now and the brand-freaks market is only going to get bigger." In the fall, Vogue, the bible of high- end fashion, launched its thick Indian edition, the most glamorous in a long line of magazines from Elle to Marie Claire that now have editions in the country.

"This is the year of the Indian woman as a confident brand-buyer, not abroad but finally at home," says Bandana Tewari, fashion features editor at Vogue's Indian edition. "I find it refreshing that we have choices and a better lifestyle riding the optimism of the economy." In a country with a rich tradition of textiles, Indian haute couture is flourishing, too.

"India still loves its colorful silk saris. We haven't gone to wearing black and white like the rest of Asia," Tewari says. "We refuse to change our intrinsic personality. We are remembering that India has always had superbly expensive jewelry, and insanely luxurious hand-woven seven-yard saris that are 800 years old. We were sprinkling saffron on our dessert before we got caviar." Such enthusiasm is not shared by everyone. For many, the rising popularity of Western brands has served only to highlight the stark gulf between the rich and poor in a country where the majority still live in abject poverty. Along a main highway in Ahmedabad, Tag Heuer billboards jockey for space with towering posters of Mont Blanc pens; below, barefoot children beg for money.

"We are changing a lot and too quickly as a nation," laments Vijay Bhai, 81, the caretaker of Gandhi ashram. "Everyone should remember that some jobs are good when the malls go up. But we shouldn't forget what's important in Indian life. Gandhi was a humble man who wore a loincloth when he went to shatter the British empire, not some glitzy brand-name clothes." THE WASHINGTON POST