Fragrance sales have been down since 2006, the year in which celebrity-branded scents became full blown. Two news pieces over the past few weeks touch on what might happen to the fragrance industry: More of the celebrity trend and also an ad campaign targeted to get more of the public interested in wearing perfume or cologne. Although the recession has seen sales across all aspects of retail dip, fragrance sales have seen a sharp decrease, mainly because of its use as a luxury item and not a necessity like clothing. Nevertheless, possibilities for reviving the fragrance industry include more than waiting through the recession.

One option is an upcoming ad campaign by The Fragrance Foundation called “One Mighty Drop.” The website for One Mighty Drop is designed to make scents appeal to everyone, including features for designing you own perfume bottle to tips for wearing fragrances. One notable suggestion is waiting 10 minutes after spraying a fragrance. At this point, you’ll be able to smell all three parts to a scent, and you’ll be able to tell if you’ll enjoy wearing it or not. After all, some perfumes can even take up to 30 minutes for revealing the lowest layer.

Another option is choosing which celebrity will be branding the fragrance. While some celebrities with fragrances come and go, such as Hilary Duff or Ashanti, others, such as Beyonce, appear to have more staying power. Since her start in Destiny’s Child, Beyonce hasn’t really left the public eye, even when an album or single wasn’t entirely stellar. Her recent fragrance, Heat, has been selling fairly well and, according to the linked news item, the promotion for it at Macy’s Herald Square generated about $60,000 in one day, with customers purchasing $122 sets of Heat. Perhaps, in the near future, companies like Coty and Elizabeth Arden will be pickier about which fragrance they brand with a celebrity.

Both Vanessa Hudgens and studded handbags are old news. While the actress hasn’t appeared in anything significant since High School Musical, studded handbags have appeared on every celebrity this past year. It’s a look we’ve seen too much of. The basic design consists of a black leather handbag embellished by silver studs arranged in a pattern of some kind. Many of these have been bullet studs, but others, such as on a handbag worn by Lindsay Lohan, have been triangular shaped or dark colored. Of course, because both western style and rocker chic have been in for about this amount of time, studs are nearly on everything – clothing, shoes, handbags, and jewelry.

What’s somewhat notable about Vanessa Hudgens’ purse are the studs used. The handbag is a Balenciaga and appears to be the centerpiece for her outfit, but, instead of a silver-on-black design, her bag uses gold-colored, angular studs placed at various points on the leather. Although gold and silver studs are seen together on some lesser brands – take a look at the selections in the latest Forever 21 offerings – the gold studs on Hudgens’ bag stand out from their color and design. Think of a chunky gold bracelet added to a black handbag and, essentially, that’s what this Balenciaga bag looks like.

Similar handbags can be found on discount and designer-inspired websites like Best Handbag Wholesale. Some of these designer inspired handbags have the same combination of studs on a hobo style handbag, much like Vanessa Hudgens’ bag above, but the stud option include silver, gold, and rhinestones. The bag under the link, for example, has a line of clear rhinestones around the edge of a beige-colored hobo bag. Other similar handbags still keeping up with the western style use studs of several sizes and shapes around the edge of the purse.

Celebrity fragrances have been around for years, although this past decade saw a significant surge in their creation and popularity. So, how well can a celebrity’s name sell a particular fragrance? A recent list compiled by Stylist shows the best-selling celebrity fragrances. The top fragrance, of course is White Diamonds by Elizabeth Taylor, a floral perfume introduced in 1991. Other celebrity fragrances, such as those by P. Diddy, Antonio Banderas, and Britney Spears, are all part of fragrance lines associated with the particular celebrity and have some longevity on the market. Aside from the celebrity’s popularity, some scents like White Diamonds are simple enough to stand out without the celebrity association.

The main issue we’ve seen with celebrity fragrances is that the scent is too convoluted. Many perfumes, for example, combine floral, fruit, and dessert scents together, and the resulting product can’t be defined clearly enough. Is it sweet floral or a flowery fruit scent? Men’s colognes often suffer from a similar issue. Although fewer celebrity colognes are on the market, some of these, be it Paris Hilton’s or David Beckham’s brand, can’t decide on what it wants to be. Combining leather or tobacco notes with wood, patchouli, or grass notes doesn’t always work successfully. Neither does combining any fragrance to the classic amber-spice-lavender framework for many cologne formulas.

But celebrity fragrances aren’t going anywhere. Anyone on the A-list seems to be coming out with their own fragrances in the present, including Beyonce, with Heat. The perfume combines some light floral and fruit notes with vanilla. Beyonce isn’t the only one, however, and, as the linked article mentions, Rihanna and Kanye West both plan to come out with their respective fragrances. This means that consumers might be seeing an umbrella-shaped perfume bottle with a rain and floral scent in stores later in 2010.

Handbag trends change several times during the year, and a roundup of all notable trends during the ‘00s seems a bit excessive. However, 2009 saw many distinct trends after a decade – and the 1990s – of mostly basic leather handbags. From colors to patterns to sizes, handbags generally saw more of a significant transformation this year than in years’ past. Here’s what we saw this past year.

• Reptile prints. We’ve seen these on other pieces of clothing before but not handbags. Although python skin was the most popular – and this was genuine python skin for designer brands – alligator and crocodile skin both made a distinct impression. While the natural color pattern and texture of the scales was kept intact, many of these reptile prints were often dyed a solid color.
• Hobo handbags. As a throwback to the slouch purse of the ‘80s, hobo handbags were – and still are for the moment – spacious. If you’ve seen someone appear to carry a shapeless art portfolio-style bag over their shoulder, the bag is a hobo. But even on a smaller scale, these spacious bags give celebrities more space for carrying their miniature pet, a la Paris Hilton, be it a Chihuahua or a pint-size pig.
• Studs. Whether you call it rocker chic or western, studs were seen on many leather handbags this year. Not to be excessive, the studs, typically rounded silver ones, appeared on solid color leater handbags.
• Patchwork styles. Combine five different materials on a bag, and you’ve got a patchwork handbag.
• Animal prints. Jungle animals have been the most popular, although cow print has been seen. Generally, these jungle animal prints have seen on a leather or patent leather handbag.
• Brightly colored leather. From hot pinks to royal purples to metallic shades, a solid leather handbag’s color shouldn’t be dull.
• Tattoo styles. Ed Hardy clothing may be seen at your local Salvation Army but, for a few months up to the summer, everyone wanted to have this brand’s tattoo style, complete with studs and rhinestones.
• Western style. From fringe to studs, having a leather handbag fit for a rodeo suddenly became popular.

We haven’t seen too many celebrities carrying around designer patchwork bags, although the labels, such as Coach, seem to think that combining several materials on one bag is the next big thing. Coach isn’t the only brand with such styles, and Louis Vuitton carries similar patchwork handbags, including a hobo style patchwork handbag seen on Jessica Simpson recently. The bag itself, as seen in the photograph or under the link is a standard patchwork style, with the traditional monogram leather Louis Vuitton material juxtaposed with textured animal print. Beyond that, this bag is simply a variation on the typical Louis Vuitton handbag, with the sharply contrasting leopard print popping out at the bottom.

Both Coach and Louis Vuitton have a few patchwork bags added to their lines, and, for both, the patchwork style is simply a variation on their basic monogram bags. From clutches or hobo handbags, each employs a variety of materials that are stitched together. While the monogram material is included, textured cloth, such as corduroy, suede or solid leather, animal prints, and basic patterned cloth are all part of a patchwork handbag. In some cases, for more sharper contrasts, patent leather may even be added.

If you can’t afford the hefty price tags associated with Coach and Louis Vuitton handbags, many designer inspired lines carry similar patchwork handbags. These combine the similar set of fabrics listed above, but the monogrammed material is designed to appear similar to – but not quite like – the designer brand’s style. Coach is imitated more often on these bags, especially with a sans-serif C design that doesn’t quite look like Coach’s and not quite like Chanel’s. Aside from this style, other designer inspired patchwork bags are cloth only. These cloth handbags use a set of fabrics with varied patterns, such as the pinks, camouflage, and cross pattern seen on the bag under the link.

Trends some and go, and some come back reinvented as a total rehash. Take the ‘70s fashion nostalgia from 1996 to 1998. While it brought back bellbottom jeans that soon became flared leg, polyester shirts and psychedelic accessories soon passed within months. Sunglasses, on the other hand, seem to last longer, although each decade appears to be defined by a style. The ‘80s, more often than not, are associated as much with wayfarer sunglasses as much as they are with Wham! and A Flock of Seagulls and acid wash. The ‘90s, similarly, had wraparound sunglasses and grunge music for most of the decade. The ‘00s? Trends this decade were divided distinctly between those for women and men, and all styles appeared to reflect back to the ‘80s.

The most significant trend in sunglasses for the decade was oversized shades, but these were exclusively for women. This style appeared last in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s but, at the time, was basic. Designer sunglasses at the time often had a black or mock tortoise frame and dark, solid color lenses. Oversized styles for women this decade used the same basic model but became more feminine. Both frames and lenses could be pink, red, or purple and embellished with rhinestones. Juicy Couture was one of the brands for designer sunglasses with such style, although almost all designer lines for women had this style.

For men, the aviator shades were the most popular this decade. The last time aviator shades were seen, outside of a South Park episode, was the ‘80s, in which many male movie or television characters appeared with a basic black or mirrored pair. This time around, though, mirrored shades were out but gradient in, and the frame, instead of being basic metal, could be plastic and colored. This allowed for aviators to be a style also seen on women. Similarly, wayfarer sunglasses had a similar comeback at the end of the decade for both sexes, with a myriad of color and frame possibilities.

The formula for celebrity fragrances is this: Attach the name of a celebrity to a bland or overly sweet fragrance and the bottle will sell quickly for a short period of time. Not all celebrity fragrances can be Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds, and most stay on the shelves for a few years and then disappear. But, although we mentioned that celebrity fragrance sales are down – and many won’t buy a perfume with a less-than-desirable celebrity name attached – fragrance companies still churn them out. Avon, for example, put out celebrity fragrances by Reese Witherspoon and Patrick Dempsey this past year, while 50 Cent, with an album that no one noticed, came out with his first fragrance.

The latest list of celebrity and non-celebrity fragrances can be read here.

With 50 Cent, when your album doesn’t do well, you create a fragrance to make up for the copies no one bought. While Before I Self Destruct has yet to even go gold, the fragrance released around the same time called Power has a combination of musk, spices, patchouli, and woods. Most men’s colognes focus on one of these fragrance types but, as we’ve seen with celebrity fragrances before, they attempt to smell like multiple types and don’t really go anywhere. While 50 Cent says this smells like “success,” the sales of the cologne have yet to live up to that notion.

Similarly, rapper Nelly has released a fragrance to accompany his Apple Bottoms clothing line. This scent, at least by the description, appears more focused as a women’s perfume. The main notes appear to be floral with some fruit hints. The good news is, while apple blossoms do appear in the mix, the perfume isn’t scented like apples, and the upper notes of citrus, peony, and rose and offset by sandalwood and musk.

Similarly, other B and C-list performers like Faith Hill, Jennifer Lopez, and Pamela Anderson have all released fragrances – debuts or new to their line – this past year.

The Grey’s Anatomy star was seen recently with an animal print handbag, More specifically, the animal print is leopard, and one that looks more natural, too. Although Halle Berry was seen recently with a clutch of a similar print, the brand behind Heigl’s handbag is Gucci, a brand sometimes known for monogram styles. Patent leather has been an “it” material for handbags over the past year or so, and Heigl’s bag seems to have this look. If not actual patent leather, the material is shiny enough that it appears similar. Additionally, this bag takes the hobo look and attaches it to a shoulder strap, which has been a rarity for such handbags.

While it appears that the python look from this past summer is past us (at least for now), other animals prints are still popular. We’ve seen leopard and cow prints on celebrities recently, as well as cheetah prints and zebra stripes. With Hermes Birkin bags still a celebrity mainstay, even crocodile skin is still here for now. But, as animal prints or skins stay in popularity, what’s the average consumer to do for such a handbag?

The main solution, if you can’t afford a designer handbag, has been to go down the designer inspired route. Many retailers or wholesalers of designer inspired bags stock up on the latest trends and, over the past year, this has been various animal and reptile prints from cow hide to colored snake skin. At Best Handbag Wholesale, such animal print handbags are part of the product selection, and this includes leopard spots and zebra stripes – sometimes even on the same purse. As patchwork styles are another trend this season, animal print patchwork handbags and wallets combine two popular styles for handbags and wallets that are en vogue but affordable.

Rhinestones on sunglasses are nothing new and this trend has been around for nearly a decade. But when does a pair of sunglasses simply transcend the simple rhinestones design and become all-out bling? Recently, Kanye West protégé Kid Sister was spotted wearing such a pair of iced out sunglasses by A-morir. The sunglasses, a clear shield style, are encrusted with rhinestones and spikes around the edges. While you might not want to get physically close to someone wearing such sunglasses, having bling on your sunglasses beyond a few rhinestones isn’t exclusive to A-morir. In fact, other designers have been adding rhinestones to their styles, as well, with some more subtle than others.

Valentino is one such designer brand, and these iced out shades include many small rhinestones on the side of the glasses. While Vision in Style carries discounted versions of these bling sunglasses. These particular shades by Valentino, which appeared on the market in 2008, have a shield style as well, but the rhinestones are toned down compared to the shades worn by Kid Sister. These sunglasses are designed with a rose pattern on the side and this rose is outlined in small rhinestones which stand out against the black color of the frame and lenses.

Having detail on the side isn’t exclusive to Valentino sunglasses, however. Brands like Juicy Couture have side detail, often in metal or rhinestones on a pair of shield or oversized sunglasses. While the larger or thicker frames allow for such detail, these are often an enlarged logo for the brand. While this is common for women’s sunglasses, some men’s styles, such as those by Hugo Boss, are designed similarly, as well. Although a much more basic style, these side details on a pair of men’s sunglasses are still added to display the brand.

Over the past year, many celebrities have been sporting the wayfarer look, including Lindsay Lohan in last week’s post. While this trend is a direct throwback to the ‘80s, nearly everyone in Hollywood has been spotted with a pair of wayfarers at some point, and this includes standard black-on-black sunglasses and styles that are more outrageous. More appropriately, they are unabashedly ‘80s or early ‘90s (take your pick for the tackiest period in fashion). As seen by Madonna’s daughter, Lourdes, on the left, these sunglasses often incorporate bright shades, even neon yellow or green. In general, these styles are made by Ray Ban, but other designers looking to bring back their classic styles and update them a bit are also going along with this trend.

What style do you go for when choosing to wear wayfarers? As with all sunglasses, wayfarers have more low key looks, while others are deliberately bright and tacky. For something low key, Ray Ban and other designers stick with the classic black-on-black look and also use tortoise frames and black lenses. But if you’re looking to be more adventurous, a range of colored frames and lenses are available. When you go to a website like Vision In Style, you’ll find that Ray Ban wayfarer sunglasses in the classic style can be customized in colors like purple, red, or pink. These can have light colored lenses to match or they can be designed with darker colored lenses.

Wayfarer sunglasses are, essentially, the equivalent of Converse sneakers for the eyes: Take a basic template that looks good in either sex and jazz it up in a number of ways. Converse has experimented with nearly every color of the rainbow for their high top sneakers, as well as a number of patterns, while Ray Ban, in particular, goes through many colors for frames and, with the recent trend, pairs them with either a light or dark lens. Who knew such a basic pair of sunglasses could have so much variation?