How much does it take to craft a handbag – or any piece of fashion, for that matter? With the amount of celebrity clothing brands popping up, you’d think it only takes some basic styling and drawing (maybe) skills. Nicole Richie, star of The Simple Life, is the latest celebrity to be developing a fashion line. Adding her House of Harlow 1960 brand, Richie will be designing a series of handbags. Known for her style and friendship with Paris Hilton, Richie is a moderate fashion icon. While her looks are somewhat inspiring but not truly unique, who knows what her handbag line will look like? Maybe it will be as successful as Paris’ perfume line.

But, while a celebrity designing a fashion line isn’t really news, the fact that designers want to take back their craft is. According to this recent news story, various designer houses, such as Dolce and Gabbana, Gucci, and Viktor & Rolf, are “declaring war” on celebrity brands. Part of their campaign against celebrities usurping their market involves vocal disproval of recent fashion lines by Madonna, Kate Moss, and Lindsay Lohan.

Wait, Madonna? Didn’t she just start an ad campaign for her Dolce and Gabbana sunglasses line, MDG?

Nevertheless, Madonna isn’t the prime example of a celebrity fashion fail. The fashion advice given by Lindsay Lohan appeared to sink Ungaro even further. With club wear-inspired clothing that appeared to be designed by strippers, Ungaro’s collaboration with Lindsay Lohan experienced many negative reviews and is the ultimate example of why celebrities need to stay out of fashion.

Aside from essentially bad-mouthing celebrities turned designers, these labels will be showing off their craftsmanship as part of their campaign to attract more customers. According to the article above, this will be through ads for their clothing depicting the designing and creation process behind fashion – showing that it’s more of an art form – and, in some cases, similar demonstrations will be held in prominent stores.

What is the line between opulent and too tacky? In the case of handbags seen on two reality TV stars recently, these styles clearly approach the line. Khloe Kardashian was seen this past month with a gold Louis Vuitton Miroir Alma bag, which, with the exception of the “LV” logo patterned all over, has a metallic gold color that nearly looks as bright as the red dress she’s wearing. But, pairing gold with red? While Kardashian’s outfit seems to hark back to many Christmas decorations, one thing it has going for her is the handbag, particularly as bolder is often better with many recent fashion trends.

But Khloe Kardiashian isn’t the only celebrity to be spotted with such a handbag veering on tacky. Whitney Port, the star of The City, was spotted around the same time with a gold studded handbag. Unlike those matte gold studs seen on Vanessa Hudgen’s Balenciaga bag a few months back, these small flat studs almost have a mirror-like quality. On a background on beige, these studs essentially make the handbag, a Rebecca Minkoff Heavy Metal Flame Satchel. Without them, this particular handbag would be no more than a beige leather tote.

You don’t need to go for the big names to get this type of style. Gold is in at the moment – and not through those Cash4Gold commercials seen on television. While metallic hues were popular last year, many of those handbags has a gemstone quality, like an amethyst or emerald color applied to a snakeskin or leather bag. Going gold is just an updated look for this gemstone look. If you’re looking for a handbag or clutch with this look, Best Handbag Wholesale has various gold sequined wallets. Keep all your basics and your cell phone in one of these sequined metallic wallets.

While actress Rachel Bilson doesn’t appear to be doing anything since The O.C. ended a few years ago, she recently became the ”eyewear ambassador” for Sunglass Hut, the chain store for designer sunglasses. Bilson admittedly has a strong attachment to sunglasses, particularly the wayfarer style in recent photos, and having her as a celebrity face for the brand seems inevitable. Given the title “style director,” Bilson will be doing public appearances, ad campaigns, blogging, and answering questions through the Sunglass Hut website. But, with so many celebrities deciding to get involved in fashion, does this actually seem like a good idea?

While Bilson just appears to be popping up on television and a few independent films since leaving The O.C., being the face of Sunglass Hut gives her something to do. And, unlike other celebrity fashion forays, she’s simply a face – no style input at this point. If there was anything to learn from the Lindsay Lohan-Ungaro debacle, it’s that celebrities, no matter how famous, aren’t fashion designers. In the case of Ungaro’s failure, they may make your clothing line into something resembling a club wear-stripper gear hybrid. But, as far as being a model for the brand is concerned, how difficult is posing for some ads and attending a few store openings?

Designer sunglasses, on the other hand, don’t need the same type of boost that the fragrance industry needs. With campaigns like One Mighty Drop, the industry is looking to build itself a bigger audience, although recently-publicized fragrance bans could be a blow to any efforts. But, with summer approaching, it’s time to purchase a new pair of sunglasses, and designer brands are always preferred. No matter if a celebrity like Rachel Bilson influences you into purchasing some Ray Ban wayfarer sunglasses or you decide for a different style, it’s the time of year in which eye protection is necessary.

Think fragrances could become any more celebrity-centric than they already are? In this case, you probably haven’t heard of the FiFi Awards. Hosted by The Fragrance Foundation, the FiFi Awards are the equivalent of Oscars for the perfume and cologne industry. As many celebrity scents have popped up over the past decade, having some kind of award category for them only makes sense. For both male and female scents, celebrity fragrances are nominated beforehand. This year, as explained in the linked article, the category for Best Celebrity Fragrance for Women has nominations for the latest Mariah Carey, Halle Berry, Avril Lavigne, and Faith Hill fragrances. The winner will be announced on June 10.

Last year, the latest Paris Hilton fragrance won this category. For the men, so far, Usher’s fragrance, going by no name other than his own, won for the best Male Celebrity Fragrance of the year.

Think celebrity fragrances are going too far? You’re probably not the only one. Nevertheless, scents attached to A-list singers and actors are still being churned out. The latest, a perfume by Eva Longoria, the Desperate Housewives star, will be appearing on the market in June, and Jennifer Aniston’s scent appeared in stores just a month ago.

But, is taking the celebrity theme too far? And, why do consumers continue to purchase these scents, even if many of them only have short-term popularity? Company MyDNA, which creates unique fragrances based on a person’s profile, will be launching a line of dead celebrity fragrances. No word yet if or when they’ll be hitting stores, but many of these scents apparently are based on deceased celebrities’ profiles. So far, scents for Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, and Albert Einstein have been announced.

Considering this last foray into celebrity perfume territory seems somewhat superfluous, don’t ordinary designer fragrances offer something traditional?