Archive for January, 2011


Sienna Miller Seen with Small Leopard Print Purse

Sienna Miller leopard print handbag

Sienna Miller is seen wearing a small leopard print handbag. Photo from Purse Page.

Slouch purses are on the way out, but that doesn’t mean that bigger isn’t still better. Like we saw a few months ago with Twilight actress Nikki Reed, bigger bags are practical but, from a style perspective, need some shape. Not everyone these days is carrying around a large bag, and Sienna Miller, actress and wife of Jude Law, was spotted with a leopard print Prada bag the size of a clutch. With a strap attached, the leopard print Prada bag functions more like a small purse.

When you look at Sienna Miller’s bag from a trend perspective, animal prints are still in, but big and shapeless styles are out. Could it be that celebs are carrying fewer accessories, leaving the makeup at home? Or is the size of a hobo handbag too excessive for the amount of things a woman – famous or not – needs to carry?

While this leopard print Prada bag costs more than a month’s worth of rent, you can still get the same style at a lesser price. Designer-inspired handbags are capitalizing on this trend, rejecting hobo styles for distinct shapes and a smaller body.

Best Handbag Wholesale has a zebra print clutch embellished with a flower. The clutch has the print all over and the accents – the flower and a few rhinestones – are minimal.

Animal patterns cover larger handbags, and much like the bag Nikki Reed sported a few months ago, these white leopard print handbags have some shape. The animal print, for this purse, has some variation, which we have seen over the past year. Additionally, as many of these designer-inspired handbags from Best Handbag Wholesale have some western inspiration, this particular bag is embellished with rhinestones. Although not as modest as Sienna Miller’s Prada bag, this leopard print designer-inspired handbag is a bolder interpretation of the same trend.

Lady Gaga’s Polaroid Sunglasses Debut at Consumer Electronics Tradeshow

Lady Gaga displays the GL 20 camera sunglasses she designed with Polaroid.

Revamping your brand, known for decades for instant photographs, begins with collaborating with the hottest pop star of the moment. While Polaroid and Lady Gaga started working together a year ago, only recently were their camera sunglasses revealed. Shown at the Consumer Electronics Tradeshow in Las Vegas, the sunglasses function as both a digital camera and, like ordinary designer sunglasses, protective eyewear. An Instant Mobile Printer and Instant Digital Camera (get the “instant” theme yet?) also made at appearance.

While fashionistas may pass up the printer and digital camera, these sunglasses are a curious item. Gaga and Polaroid have released them under the Grey Label Line as product GL20. Although the sunglasses have Gaga’s popular shield-frame look, a camera is embedded in the frame near the nose area, allowing the user to take pictures and videos. LCD screens are added over the eyes, and the user, then, views all pictures and videos instantly on the exterior of the shades. A USB port is added to the side of the frame, allowing the user to put any pictures or videos onto a computer.

A price for the camera sunglasses has not been listed, and the product is not expected to appear in stores until later this year.

Although the camera sunglasses are a confluence between fashion and technology, can Lady Gaga’s presence (she’s Polaroid’s Creative Director) revive the camera brand? Ever since digital cameras appeared nearly 10 years ago, the brand once known for instant pictures has been disappearing along with film and darkrooms. Why would consumers continue to use a product that produces a subpar image and does not hook up to a computer?

Polaroid cameras were convenient up until about 2002, and since then, they’ve become an item with the nostalgic value of cassettes and VCRs. Too cumbersome to carry around everywhere, Polaroid cameras were always a novelty item. While the GL20, too, seems like an expensive novelty product, it could be easier to take around and, maybe briefly, make the instant picture brand relevant again.

Jersey Shore’s Snooki to Create Fashion and Sunglasses Line

The Situation already debuted his clothing line, which looks like an Ed Hardy knockoff, and J-Woww’s Filthy Couture came to a stop, but Snooki appears poised to be the next Jersey Shore fashion brand, according to a story from the New York Post. Not entirely recent news, Snooki was expected to get involved in designing sunglasses with J-Woww back when Filthy Couture was in the works. Instead of being J-Woww’s partner in crime, the pint-sized guidette is going off on her own.

According to the New York Post article, Snooki’s clothing line will, in initial stages, encompass slippers, jewelry, and sunglasses, all blinged out beyond recognition. Clothing, lingerie, handbags, and beauty products may be added later. Brand Happy Feet, known for the large puffy slippers Snooki wears on Jersey Shore, is already beginning to collaborate with the reality TV star.

Although no designs have appeared, what do you think Snooki’s fashion line will look like? We can suspect that she’ll capitalize on her image, going for low-cleavage clothing and brightly-colored, and rhinestone-covered accessories. But, while Sitch’s line looks like cheap Ed Hardy gear and J-Woww took the lace and corset look too far, Snooki could combine these two tawdry trends or go for something completely different.

Snooki tweeted nearly a year ago about creating a line with zip up hoodies and decals, but who knows if she will follow through. As the overly-tanned reality star is doing a book tour at the moment, her fashion line may take a while to hit stores.

Examining her fashion choices, what should we expect? Rhinestones everywhere are inevitable, and her styles will make such Valentino sunglasses seem modest. Her handbags and clothing, if added later, may even out-bling some of the recently popular western handbags.

Kardashian Sisters to Design Clothing and Handbags Line for Sears

How do you change your image from a lower-tier department store for the middle-aged set to a hipper, more youthful character? You bring the Kardashian sisters on board. But considering their recent debit card debacle, is this a wise approach for Sears? Maybe or maybe not. Although no one really associates the Kardashian clan with financial responsibility, they – Kim and sisters Kourtney and Khloe – are often photographed by the paparazzi for their fashion and handbag choices. So with a Kardashian fashion line consisting of handbags, clothing, lingerie, and jewelry coming to a Sears near you, what should you expect?

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that their line, designed for the 17 to 35 age group, promotes a curvy body image. Aside from a sex tape and reality TV shows, though, isn’t this just what Kim Kardashian, along with her sisters, is essentially famous for? The clothing line, as well, will capitalize on their individual fashion choices, but, really, how often does a celebrity clothing line capture the star’s individual style?

If their line will truly take into consideration their individual fashion choices, what would be seen on store shelves? Youngest sister Khloe seems to have the most out-there style, appearing in red and gold in May and with a pair of western handbags at the end of 2009. If we are to take these looks as representation of Khloe’s style, bold attire and western handbags best describe her look.

As far as the other two sisters are concerned, Kourtney seems to be photographed the least, while Kim, despite a rise to fame with a sex tape, appears to go for a classic look. We reported her wearing a Chanel quilted leather handbag back in October, and more recently, she has been seen with Hermes Birkin bags — even at the gym.

Taking each look into consideration, what could this Kardashian clothing line look like? A mix of classic and western handbags and bold style? We have to wait and see.