Discount Designer Handbags Without The High Price

By: Tori A Hewitt

ELAINE TURNER designer handbags Alexis bone distressed leather bucket bag shoulder bag designer purses at Designers LA

Women love designer handbags and women love bargains. Put together these two things, and you get the discount designer handbag. Many times, women who love the appearance and quality associated with designer handbags don't want to pay retail prices. The great news is that they may not have to. There are many different places where a savvy shopper can find a discount designer handbag.

There are several online retailers who offer a fabulous selection of genuine designer handbags at discounted prices. Brands Boutique is one such retailer. Brands Boutique boasts of a sizable inventory and wide selection of discount designer handbags, as well as many other types of discounted designer merchandise.

Those who shop with Brands Boutique can enjoy deep discounts on a wide variety of popular, high-end designers merchandise. The wide selection of designer merchandise available from Brands Boutique includes a wide selection of handbags designed by Hermes, Dolce & Gabbana, Dior, Diesel, Chloe, Chanel, Burberry, Balenciaga, Armani and many others. In addition to great deals on discount designer handbags, bargain hunters may also discover discounts on famous designer apparel and other accessories at Brands Boutique.

At Brands Boutique, bargain hunters have found excellent discount prices on classic handbags including the Gucci vintage aqua blue Jackie O shoulder bag -- the coveted red Birkin bag. Discount prices are also available on some of the more trendy designer handbags such as the Christian Dior denim handbag, the G Star recycled paper tote bag and the Dries van Noten distressed leather shoulder bag.

Another excellent online retailer specializing in discount designer handbags is Handbag Crew. While you aren't likely to find designer clothing at the Handbag Crew website, you will find an amazing selection of high-end discount designer handbags. This retailer specializes in the most sought-after designers such as Prada, Marc Jacobs, Fendi and others.

If you don't find the discount designer handbag of your dreams at the first online retailer you investigate, keep looking. There are many online retailers that offer a wide array of designer handbags at excellent discount prices. Remember that bargain hunting takes time and sometimes requires strategy. That is why it is called hunting! Make sure to purchase your discount designer handbag from a retailer that certifies the authenticity of your purchase and offers deeply discount pricing. There is nothing more satisfying than finding a great deal on the perfect designer handbag to complete your wardrobe.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/

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If you really love leather handbags and want the hottest color on earth, pick yellow this season. Pietro Alessandro makes top notch leather bags. Better than many others for the price point. Most Pietro Alessandro bags sell for under $200. That's pretty good considering handbags have become so popular these past few years.

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Pietro Alessandro Handbags - Best Prices Online

People StyleWatch featured Pietro Alessandro
at eFashionHouse.com

If you are looking for a Pietro Alessandro handbag at an unbeatable low price, look no further. These gorgeous leather handbags are selling like hot-cakes. We can't keep them in stock! Plus, if you see a color not shown at DesignersLA online store, they will special order the bag for you in the color you want. There are a variety of colors and styles to choose from in stock now. Click here for more information.

All you can carry

Pietro Alessandro Handbags

by Lara Zamiatin

Statement handbags are hardly new but if you were lugging a massive leather tote around a couple of centuries ago, you were quite clearly a peasant or the hired help. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the smaller the bag, the richer the owner was likely to be, says Glynis Jones, curator, fashion and dress, at the Powerhouse Museum.

"There's a sense of people [in those days] not having to carry much," Jones says. "Wealthy women had servants to buy things. A handkerchief was all they needed."

In contrast to 21st-century clubbers whose bags bulge with mobiles, make-up and life's modern necessities, revellers at 19th-century balls went out with few requirements. "If you went to a ball you had a little booklet and pencil," Jones says, "and you'd write down your dance partners for the evening."

A "reticule", or small drawstring bag, was carried by hand or wrist and rose to prominence when straight cut-tight-under-the-bust empire line dresses became fashionable and bags could no longer be hidden beneath outer clothing. Previously bags - or "pockets", as they were called - were tied around a woman's waist and concealed under voluminous crinoline skirts. A small slit in the garment allowed the wearer to reach her pocket. Resembling the inside of modern-day pockets, such bags, Jones says, were often exquisitely embroidered by their owners. Likening the unseen labour to corsetry, Jones says: "There's that secret pleasure of wearing beautiful things that aren't seen."

The secret and not-so-secret pleasures of the handbag are the highlight of a new exhibition at the Queen Victoria Building, Handbags Through The Ages, which displays more than 140 antique, vintage and modern bags. Twentieth-century creations from fashion houses such as Escada, Longchamp and Versace are on display, along with wares from several QVB retailers. There are also 122 handbags, dating back to 1760, from the 4000-piece Darnell Collection of vintage garments and accessories - the owner, Blue Mountains collector Charlotte Smith, also curated the exhibition.

The Darnell pieces include a brown velvet beaded bag from 1840 that was owned by the young Bostonian Lizzy Boott, wife of American artist Frank Duveneck, and an Edwardian suede pouch that was crafted by an Austrian accessories designer for the French couture firm The House of Worth.

Bags that made it into the exhibition, Smith says, "were either typical of a period or pieces that you'd never associate with a period". An example: Vivienne Westwood's petite Orb purse, which would not look out of place in a Jane Austen costume drama.

As well as pockets and reticules, Handbags Through The Ages contains examples of chatelaines and miser's purses, typical of the Victorian era.

Named from the French chatelain, or "lord of the castle", a chatelaine hung decoratively off the waistband by a hook. Women carried useful household items such as thimbles and scissors.

The miser's bag was anything but decorative, Smith says. "The Victorians were so conscious of style, shape and detail," she says, and yet the miser's bags "were ugly, looking like slugs". There was an opening in the centre, into which owners pushed coins that were held at either end of the bag by a metal ring. They were called miser's bags, Smith says, because "if you were a miser you pulled out only one coin at a time".

By the early 20th century, with women travelling more frequently, handbags expanded and became more of a statement, Jones says. The introduction of chemical dyes brought in vividly coloured bags. New technology in the 1920s enabled manufacturers to created tightly woven mesh and started the trend for the decade's fine mesh purses. Innovative early plastics such as bakelite and zeolite came into play about the same time, producing moulded bags in an array of weird and wacky shapes. In Britain in the 1930s, women started co-ordinating bags and shoes.

Reflecting the new role of women during World War II, no-nonsense go-anywhere shoulder bags entered the fray.

By the '50s, handbags started to resemble the large items women now carry, Smith says. By this time they held "car keys, big sunglasses, lipsticks and lots of stuff".

Handbags by necessity are functional accessories, yet functionality is a term that rarely enters the vocabulary of Sydney retailer Claudia Chan Shaw and her fashion designer mother, Vivian. For the Shaws, form reigns supreme over function.

"We're the sort of girls who like things that are unusual and quirky," Shaw says. "If you're going to be creative with a handbag, you can be a bit nutty with the shape or form." The Shaws have lent 10 bags for the QVB exhibition, including a Brazilian bag from 1987 that is made from a recycled Coca-Cola can and embellished with cut crystal; an American handbag resembling a loaf of bread; and a gigantic asymmetrical leather bag from Italy that has semi-circular curves not unlike the sail-like structures of the Opera House.

Fashion historians charting the rise of the It bag pinpoint the '50s as the era when designers began naming individual bags. Citing Chanel's quilted and chained 2.55 bag (named because it was first produced in February 1955), Roger Leong, curator, international fashion and textiles, at the National Gallery of Victoria, attributes the emergence of It bags to the phenomenon of leather travel bag companies such as Louis Vuitton and Fendi expanding into apparel, particularly since the early 1990s.

"These houses have a long tradition of craftsmanship and then they launched themselves into fashion," Leong says. "The trend of the past 15 years has been for these companies to employ very creative designers to produce some fantastic collections of clothes but the money is made on their extremely desirable handbags, shoes and belts.

"Young women will buy a chainstore outfit but they'll save up for the It bag. Shoes and handbags are the success stories of the last 15 years. Accessories used to be seen as accessories. Now they've become the main story."

Nicola Sault, the owner of the Grandma Takes a Trip vintage boutiques in Surry Hills and Bondi Beach, happily admits to owning about 350 handbags. "A beautiful vintage bag is an easy way to add a unique style to an outfit," she says. Likening her handbags to old friends, she explains: "They're always there and hopefully you never lose them. They look after your stuff, they're charming and they make you look fabulous."

Pietro Alessandro Handbags - New Colors! Lowest Price Online

Being a handbag designer is tough business. The competition is fierce, and the manufacturing costs are high. Pietro Alessandro handbags are all leather made in the USA. Based out of NYC, the designer handbags shown above are difficult to keep in stock.

Click the photo above to read more details about Pietro Alessandro. The hottest style and the best price. Pietro Alessandro leather handbags hit Spring with vibrant neutrals in the famous design shown above. We found the site that will beat anyone's prices online. Click here for more details!

How to buy designer handbags with confidence

from Women's Handbag Blogspot

It can be difficult buying a designer bag these day. With the proliferation of on line sites selling fakes as authentic and unscrupulous salespeople. With all the designer knock-offs being called "authentic" it's easy to be misguided into spending way too much money for a fake without knowing it. There is a difference between buying a designer knock-off and knowing it and being told you're buying the actual bag when it's not.

When you see that Chloe python Silverado bag on i offer you are told it is 7 star quality and mirror image up front, that's honest salesmanship. I don't see a problem with knowingly buying a designer knock off. However, watch these knock-offs too. There are many different qualities. Some will sell an inferior quality knock-off bag for much more than it's worth. I saw a seller on i offer who offered the same exact bag for two very different prices. When I questioned her as to why the same exact bag was being sold for two different prices her reply was that she had to "fix" her description. Hmmmmm. I have also noticed nothing in the description of these bags has changed. I wonder how many people have unwittingly paid for the more expensive of the two bags. Investigate before you buy.

Know the old sayings "if it's too good to be true it probably is" and "you get what you pay for" hold true. You can be assured that lovely Fendi Spy Bag on that online auction, the one starting at $249.00, the one with the bright yellow Fendi tag is not the real thing. No one would offer an authentic Fendi Spy Bag for $249.00.

Who you're purchasing the bag from is of utmost importance. You can be guaranteed that when purchasing that Prada bag from Nieman Marcus or that Gucci from Bergdorf Goodman you're getting an authentic bag, although perhaps not a deal. Check the e-luxury site. Louis Vuitton is one of the actual owners of the e-luxury site. Purchase your Coach bag from their online site. Needless to say authenticity is guaranteed.

Before purchasing a bag on e bay visit their Community Chat Room. There is a wealth of information on how to detect counterfeit bags. Even an e bay "powerseller" can be offering fake bags. When e bay is alerted about a particular seller it may take them some time to investigate. During the time it takes for the investigation the seller could have sold many counterfeit bags. E bay has shut down dealers selling counterfeit bags, but even e bay cannot protect you from all the unscrupulous sellers out there.

Some buyers take their bags to stores like Nieman Marcus or Lord & Taylor to have them authenticated AFTER they purchase them. These department stores will not give a written authentication on a particular bag, but the salesperson will probably tell you whether or not they think the bag is authentic. Don't purchase a bag from anyone without a money back guarantee - ever. If they don't offer a money back guarantee you can be assured the bag isn't authentic. Even if it's the bag of your dreams don't buy it. There will be another one.

Don't be fooled thinking that only authentic bags have holograms and serial numbers. Those that make their money producing knock off bags are on their toes and keep up with any changes made in authentic bags. Even more importantly, when you see a designer bag for sale, do you really know what the hologram should look like? Do you know if the serial number should be on a separate metal plate or embossed somewhere inside of the bag? Should the name Gucci also be imprinted on the hardware of an authentic bag? I've seen Chloe Silverado bags with and without Chloe embossed on the flap - which is the authentic bag?

Pietro Alessandro Straw Leather Mustard Satchel

We don't know how Pietro Alessandro constantly creates such distinct handbag styles but they do and they do it well. We weren't sure exactly what material this Pietro Alessandro handbag was made out of but straw leather sounds right. The smooth texture of soft leather but the look of fine grade straw, the Pietro Alessandro straw leather handbag collection is gorgeous. We especially like this mustard satchel because we've been hooked on the color for a while but the bag comes in a variety of colors like red, turquoise and champagne. Shop Pietro Alessandro handbags now.

Send an email to CustomerCare@eFashionHouse.com that includes the style number and color. If the handbag is available, we will order it for you directly from the designer. Plus, we will beat anyone's price for Pietro Alessandro handbags. Send an email with the other website's link, and we'll do our best to get the purse for you at a lower price.

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Pietro Alessandro Gold Carry-All Shoulder Bag

Always unique and never boring, PIETRO ALESSANDRO handbags are a must-have if you want to add some excitment to your handbags collection. Although we appreciate all types of designer handbags, especially the classic styles, every now and then we look to Pietro Alessandro to add one that isn't mainstream and expresses our individuality. Similar to the Carry-All tote bag, the Carry-All shoulder bag doesn't convert into two styles but one is enough when you are carrying this bag. Shown in a rich gold hue here, this Pietro Alessandro bag comes in silver and champagne as well. Pietro Alessandro purse measures 17" L x 4" W x 11" H. Shop Pietro Alessandro handbags now.

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Pietro Alessandro Medium Carry-All Tote

We already own this bag in black but we love the look of turquoise for spring. One of our favorites in both our collection and Pietro Alessandro's collection, the Carry-All leather tote was bound to be an instant success. Two handbags in one (the tote converts into a messenger bag when folded in half), the ultra-modern shape and roomy size adds to the bags appeal. Plus there are a whole bunch of new colors for spring so it's time to add another bag to our growing collection. Pietro Alessandro purse measures 17.5" L x 2.5" W x 13.5" H and is made from soft Italian leather. Shop Pietro Alessandro handbags now.

Send an email to CustomerCare@eFashionHouse.com that includes the style number and color. If the handbag is available, we will order it for you directly from the designer. Plus, we will beat anyone's price for Pietro Alessandro handbags. Send an email with the other website's link, and we'll do our best to get the purse for you at a lower price.

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Italian Leather Handbags

Pietro Alessandro Pebble Leather Clutch

By Seth Miller

Most companies design and create Italian leather handbags with high quality Italian top calf leather and crocodile and ostrich leather. Italian leather handbags are scratch resistant, durable and lightweight. Available in different colors, Italian leather handbags have their own unique style. Skilled designers come up with new, fresh designs every season. Handmade Italian leather handbags are also available, which are noted for their workmanship.

In Italy, handbag factories usually comprise a small handful of people who specialize in particular areas of handbag making. Italian manufacturers give great importance to providing maximum comfort for the users. So, these bags are light and easy on your back and shoulders. These bags are meant to be used and are also beautiful pieces of artwork.

The vast range of Italian handbags include classic leather handbags, fashionable leather handbags, original leather bags, soft leather handbags, leather bags with long adjustable straps and leather handbags with fashionable accessories. Classic leather handbags are characterized by clean lines which impart a refined look. Fashionable leather handbags are suitable for trendy women. Original leather handbags breathe feminine elegance. Soft leather handbags are beautiful both to the eye and to the touch and those with long adjustable straps allow you to carry them comfortably. Most leather handbags have magnetic closures.

Most Italian leather handbags have two or more interior compartments. They also have one or more interior zippered pockets and one or more outside snap pockets. The inside features of some bags include cell phone holder, business card holder and zippered inside back pockets. Zippered front pockets, double rolled leather handles or double adjustable wooden handles, and beautiful nylon or cotton lining are the attractive characteristics of these bags.

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Making a statement's in the bag

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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.

Italian Designer Handbags - A Beginners Buying Guide

Pietro Alessandro Burgundy and Olive Croc Embossed Italian Leather Handbag

By Gabriela Rupp

When you want to compliment your wardrobe while making a bold fashion statement, Italian designer handbags are the perfect accessory. Whether you are searching for evening bags or everyday handbags, there is a wide selection of Italian designer handbags online, from which to choose, from handbags, sturdy totes, stylish purses and more to suit your personal needs.

Although there are various options, it is difficult at time to buy an Italian designer bag today. First, you must consider the multitude of Italian brands and style of bags available. Do not be fooled by the creation of online marketers who pass off fakes as being authentic. These types of online sites call their entire stock of designer knock offs as being authentic and you pay too much money for a fake and not even know it. We can help guide you through the jungle of Italian designer bags, while helping you find true authentic bags.

Here you will get a small Italian Designer Handbags buyers guide.

Functional Handbags provide ample room for groceries, documents, workout gear and much more. Examples of functional bags are:

- Briefcases
- Duffle Bags
- Messenger Bags
- Diaper Bags

An exceptionally beautiful briefcase is the Fontanelli Black Ostrich Stamped Leather Briefcase.

Everyday Handbags allow room for makeup and accessories, cell phone and other items you may need while being away from home and these include:

- Shoulder Bags
- Shopper Bags
- Satchels
- Doctors Bags
- Hobo Bags

When it comes to using an everyday handbag, the Nuovedive Front Pocket Italian Calf Leather Satchel is essential.

When you are out for an evening, you can dress up your eveningwear with an Evening Handbag, such as baguettes or a sophisticated clutch. You will be thrilled with the Roccobarocco Evening Baguettes.

You can make a true fashion statement with an Iconic Italian Designer Handbag. These stylish signature bags compliment a polished look. If you are looking for something practical and stylish, a Gucci Horsebit Hobo is perfect, since the hobo is relaxed, slouchy and features bold metal hardware. It is a perennial favorite of everyday wear.

According to fashion editors and Hollywood starlets, the Balenciaga Le Dix Motorcycle is the current popular bag to use. This is a hard to find bag, seen on such celebrity trendsetters such as Sienna Miller and Kate Moss. This bag has just the right streetwise flair, while details define the distressed leather, tasseled zippers, double-rolled handles and a few well-placed buckles.

Once you determine which style of handbag you prefer as well as your favorite brand, you will face choosing the difference between buying an actual Italian designer bag or making a knowing purchase of a designer knock-off handbag and being lied to by a marketer of such bags.

Keep in mind the old adage of if it is to good to be true, it more than likely is not, or you get what you pay for hold true when selecting Italian designer handbags. Know that the lovely Gucci Horsebit Hobo you have found in an online auction with the Gucci tag, beginning at $149.00, is not authentic. No one would offer an authentic Gucci Horsebit Hobo for that amount of money.

From whom you purchase, your italian leather handbag is extremely important. For instance, Nieman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman sell authentic Gucci and Prada handbags, although they do not come cheap. You should visit Forzieri, a charming Italian designer luxury shop. Select your Coach Bag from their online store, where authenticity is a guarantee.

Always purchase a bag from those who offer a money-back guarantee policy. If there is not money back guarantee, you will know their bags are not the real thing. Even if you find your dream bag, you should not purchase it there, since there are others who are reputable.

The best way to protect yourself from fraud is to educate yourself before making a purchase.

Do not be mislead to believe that only authentic bags include serial numbers and holograms. Those who fraudulently make money from their knock off bags, stay abreast all the changes of the authentic bags. More importantly, do you know an authentic hologram when you find a bag on sale anywhere? Do you know whether the serial number is on the metal plate or embossed inside the bag itself? Do you know if the Gucci name imprint is on the hardware of an authentic Italian designer handbag?

Knowing what you are looking at while making your selection increases the chance of buying an authentic handbag.

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The Beauty of the Handmade Designer Handbag

Pietro Alessandro Handbags feature Italian Leather and are handmade

By Monique T. Evertse

As Designer handbags continue to serve both as fashion and function, there will always be the latest bag which exceeds thousands of dollars with an army of bag lovers ready to admire. Most seem to sway towards the actual handmade designer handbag.

Is it the fact that the handmade as opposed to machine made are more limited and can even boil right down to one of a kind? A handmade handbag can accent your outfit to perfection. Its a guarantee that a women gets a nice compliment about her new designer handbag only making her confidence rise. That's the beauty of a handmade handbag. Not only with this, but the one size fits all thing is just great! No change room line ups, or attempts to jump down a size, usually just a visual scan and then a slight dream of what outfit could be worn with the designer handbag of choice.

It's all these little things that us women can relate to and be thankful that we have such wonderful accessories to admire! Handmade handbags continue to top the charts in the accessories market. Some research groups along with my instincts say it should stay that way! Long live something, anything that is handmade in this day and age!

Designer Purse Trend Carries On

Having a nice handbag or purse can be a fashion statement or a wealth statement, depending on your point of view. Young female celebrities have made it so popular to carry these high priced beauty's. So people buy these designer purses and use them to up their social status...so what? Some say it is just ridiculous, but how could they say that! It's the little things in life, well ok maybe not that little. Hey it just makes me feel good for some reason to get a new purse!

So with the replica thing is this also upping the status of the owner of the true designer purse? Is this helping us or hindering us in the designer handbag world. Its tough to say. It's just really sad seeing such a god awful amount of replicas rolling around. Just thinking of fakes makes me shudder. Oh well, with there being enough of us true enthusiasts who absolutely refuse to have anything to do with these fakes, the designer purse and handbag industry should continue to boom.

Carrying a designer handbag means a female has something of quality and style. Designers come up with new lines and collections all the time, so these designer handbags will always be popular. Years from now, designer handbags will still be trendy because of the look and what it stands for.

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Before You Buy a Handbag

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From Caitlin Tew

A handbag can make or break an outfit. Wear a fun bag out with friends to show your personality. Or carry the ultimate bag to work and impress your boss. But if you choose the wrong bag, your look suffers.

How to Choose the Right Handbag
Just like a great pair of jeans, a handbag should fit your body type. The shape of a bag shouldn't match your figure: instead, choose the opposite of your body type. For example, pick a bigger bag if you're a tall and thin woman. Don't be afraid to try the handbag on at the store. Get a feel for how it fits. Pass on anything that makes you uncomfortable. Basic designs and styles will last you through the years while maintaining a sense of up-to-date style.

Fakes vs. Lookalikes
Fakes are complete knockoffs (with fake logos most of the time) and lookalikes are pieces that are merely inspired by the original (like many department store handbag lines). Fakes may seem great at the time of purchase--they're cheap and have the designer label--but counterfeiters have ties to all types of crime. How to know if your buy is fake and not the real thing? If the deal seems too good to be true (i.e. Coach bag for $20) it probably is. Learn more about fakes.

Get the Low-Down on Designer Bags
Most designers have websites for you to check out their merchandise. Go ahead and get an idea of which bag you like, and if it's in your price range, get it. But if it's a little too expensive, designers have specialty outlet stores and there are also plenty of websites that offer legitimate designer bags for a reasonable price.


'It' Bags
Now that you know the difference between fakes and lookalikes, you'll want to study up on which styles are hot in the fashion world. "It" bags -- expensive designer bags that get must-have status each season -- don't come cheap. Remember that fashion goes in cycles, so hold on to these pricey investments: they'll be back in style in a few years.

Hobo Bags
Style yourself like a chic street urchin with a crescent-shaped bag known as a hobo bag. This basic style of bag flatters almost all figures. It's found big and small, or just right in the middle (also known as perfect). They range from boho designs to classic, structured designs.

Our purses, our selves

Click here for more information about Pietro Alessandro Handbags online.

The Purse and the Person exhibit offers bags full of previously undocumented women’s history

By Ellen Snortland

My inner women's-history geek leaped for joy when I found out that the Pasadena Museum of History is highlighting the most public and personal possession that a woman has: her purse. Men need not feel excluded since many men now carry purses too. I know, I know. Just as boys' dolls are called “action figures,” to avoid the dreaded taint of “sissified” toys, some men may cringe when their “bags,” whether they are briefcases or knapsacks, are referred to as purses, but purses they are nonetheless! Hey, GI Joe is a doll, OK? A briefcase is a square purse.

I would like to encourage people, men and women alike, to get out and see the “The Purse and the Person: A Century of Women's Purses,” exhibition. You have until the end of March —which also happens to be Women's History Month — to take a stroll down history lane from the perspective of our purses, our selves. If you don't carry a purse, you at least are intimately related to a few purse carriers. A purse may well have been your first toy, since most mothers know how entertaining they are to a child — girl or boy.

Why would the PMH displaying purses be a source of delight to me? As a women's history buff as well as museumgoer, I know all too well that women get short shrift. For example, women artists are vastly underrepresented in fine art museums. As the famous “hit and run” artist activists the Guerrilla Girls, aka “the conscience of the art world,” have pointed out, “Do women have to be naked to get into the Metropolitan Museum? Less than 5 percent of the artists in the modern art sections are women, but 85 percent of the nudes are female.” By the same token, it's rare that women's lives and cultural artifacts get front and center stage, or in this case, the main display rooms in a museum.

Traditionally women's lives have been considered less valuable, and by extension less interesting, than men's. We therefore don't occupy as much space in our collective storytelling, whether that narrative is in the form of column inches, movies, television, books or museum curating. After all, a society documents that which or those whom it respects. Said another way, history is written by the victors. Museums are showcases of history and women have gone missing in many historical accounts.

As writer Jenine Baines noted in her article about “The Purse and the Person,” in the Jan. 31 edition of the Pasadena Weekly, one of her male colleagues exclaimed incredulously, “An exhibit about purses?” You most likely won't get that reaction from a woman or girl; they know the richness and vital natures of their hand “baggage.” The exteriors of our purses announce who we are (or aspire to be), and the interiors contain the most intimate aspects of our lives: secrets, keys, birth control, contact information and finances. For some men, purses are emblematic of women's frivolous natures. Oh, but just wait until they need a tissue or wonder if we can carry their keys for them! No wonder they carry their own now.

Thanks to the volunteer efforts of professional photographers Rob Greer, Gilda Davidian and Terry Miller, “The Purse and the Person” exhibit adds a local perspective (pursepective?) through custom posters and a slide show of local notables and their purses, including popular actor and activist Jane Kaczmarek; former Assembly member and state Senate candidate Carol Liu; LA Times columnist and natty dresser Patt Morrison; Doo Dah Parade Queen Naughty Mickie; and the first woman Tournament of Roses president, Libby Evans Wright.

There are too many others to list here but, in a nod to recent purse history, also included are several men who are secure enough in their masculinity to display their purses, er, briefcases: Sheldon Epps, executive director of the Pasadena Playhouse; Raul Rodriguez, award-winning float designer and HRH Andrew, Duke of the Doo Dah parade. All of them has a narrative about what their purses means to them.

Behavioral scientists say that smell is one of the most emotionally evocative ways to remember someone or something. I remember the smell of my mother's handbag in the '50s like it was yesterday. It smelled like Revlon lipstick and a slight dusting of talcum powder. Viewing the purses on display at the PMH was strangely powerful: the women's movement expressed in all our decorative, utilitarian and yes, sometimes frivolous styles. We carry our history, our bags and lives on our arms and shoulders with pride.

“The Purse and the Person” is at the Pasadena Museum of History through March 30. The museum is located at the corner of Orange Grove Boulevard and Walnut Street. Parking is free in the museum lot. Exhibit hours are noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. Suggested donation is $5. Children under 12 are admitted free.

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from I & Fashion, Fashion & I

For as long as I can recall, I have been completely obsessed with designer handbags. I spent the majority of my youth dreaming of the day when I could afford to buy my favorite designer handbags. Here I am, some ten years later, still looking forward to that day. While I have been known to skip out on my bills to buy the latest trendy handbag, I have yet to spend more than $1000.00 on an individual bag. A girl can still dream, can't she?

I was leafing through some catalogs over the weekend, and I was amazed at how incredibly expensive some of the high-end designer handbags really are. I knew they were expensive, but I had no clue how very expensive. Oh…the innocence of youth! I decided that it would be useful for our legion of faithful readers to have a handy reference of the most expensive designer handbags on the planet. So here goes…

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If there was one other bag that creeps into my dreams with any regularity, it would be the "Muse" from Yves Saint Laurent. It is very much like a traditional bowling bag in shape and design. The first time I saw her was at Saks on Fifth Ave in NYC, and from that moment I knew one day she would be mine. If I had my way, I would choose the oh-so-supple white crocodile version. I cannot think of anything I would rather spend $20,000 on…aside from the "Birkin" bag mentioned above. Wouldn't I make the perfect girlfriend? Wanna go shopping sometime?

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