Fashion,Style & Beauty on Fashion Girls

When it comes to wearing and other outfits, it seems to me that the fashion world cares more about the women than the men. I don’t know exactly why, maybe because women care more about their apparels than men? Or maybe because I always just always pick the women’s.

Anyway, I do believe that guys deserve some more fashion attentions, and here’s something for the boys: Rebecca Minkoff dishes on the man’s bags you’ll want to steal.

Rebecca Minkoff stole out hearts years ago with the so-called Morning After Bag (MAB, for short), and now she’s out to steal our men–or the spot on their arms, at least–with the introduction of Ben Minkoff. Inspired by her grandfather, a World War II fighter pilot, the collection-for-guys promises all the rugged durability and old-school details we love…and, with any luck, the cool factor required to make your significant other spring for a new look. We won’t tell if you want to take one for a spin, either.

Want some real information on this new Ben Minkoff collection? Here’s a short interview of Rebecca Minkoff:

Many times, designers going from catering to women to targeting men will just add chunkier hardware and adopt a more rugged design. But your products tend to be hardware-heavy and durable to begin with. Was it difficult to really make this line stand out and feel more masculine?
Rebecca Minkoff: With the Ben Minkoff collection, it was important to take a step back from our female customer and think about what men are really looking for in terms of functionality of a man bag. We did include similar brass hardware that we use in the women’s collection because I love the aged look. And it’s not super shiny, which gives the bags that vintage feel. I believe in the little details that make things unique, whether it’s a bag for a man or a woman.

The Ben Minkoff line is visibly inspired by the 1940s. Where specifically did these bags come from? Does each one cater to a slightly different person?
The spring 2011 collection was inspired by the bags the Air Force used during the ’40s and were based off of the three classic bags–the map, mail and motorcycle.

Who do you imagine are the men who will use these bags? Can you describe your dream client?
We pictured a west coaster-meets-urban kind of guy who would look at the bags and see classic, functional, but stylish pieces. My dream client is simply a cool guy looking for versatile pieces with a timeless feel. We’ve even had an incredible response from our female customers who wanted a more masculine bag!

How cohesive does this line feel in terms of your past work? Did it feel like a very different direction for you when designing it?
Designing Ben Minkoff was a natural next step for me as it’s a great way to grow the Rebecca Minkoff brand into more of a lifestyle brand. We had an abundance of requests to create a men’s line and felt it was the right time to introduce the collection to our customers.

What are you inspired by lately? What influences can we expect to see in your next line?
I get a lot of inspiration from vintage pieces and traveling. Being absorbed in history and other cultures is pretty inspiring. Before I set out to design a collection, I typically put together a mood board with a mix of vintage designs, beautiful photography, sketches and mementos I’ve picked up from my travels.

Well, this is the story we’ve got, and you can now start gossip with your friends or boyfriends. And in case you don’t already know, the Ben Minkoff line will be available this spring at BenMinkoff.com.

Bet you’ve already spotted lots of nice fall bags, maybe even bought several by now. But I’ve found this one particular one, totally glamorous one, you got to check it out! Is it jewelry? Or is it art? Pamela Love’s Metallic Purses are both, you will absolutely love the cute gorgeous purses, believe me!

“If you keep them pretty stuffed, they aren’t too noisy,” laughs jewelry designer (and CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund finalist) Pamela Love of her metal purses. These limited-edition, compact, hear-me-coming pieces fall neatly—or clang musically!—into fall’s small-structured-bag trend. Except, Love has crafted them from pewter that’s been plated in silver, copper, or brass, and strung with a dangling feather and metal bird-claw charm. “I love the idea of mimicking fabric and leather in metal,” says the former assistant to Francesco Clemente, who clearly still calls on her nonconformist artistic flair when it comes to design. But it’s not all about concept; they are functional pieces too, she says: “They fit your phone, keys, credit card—all the essentials!”

So, do you love it? Well I do, it’s totally gorgeous, a perfect fall bag that is something different and fabulous in the mean while. The Pamela Love bag retails for $3000, available from August 13 exclusively on revolveclothing.com.

I literally cheers for every weekend, although sometimes I just stay at home and have a nice rest. But most weekends I’d love to have a picnic or do something else with friends and family. So since we might be out for a whole weekend, I really need a nice big weekend bag.

In case you don’t already know, I’m a sucker for a good weekender bag. There are so many excellent ones out there–from the preppy to the minimalist to the, dare I say, directional. (As directional as a weekender can get.)

Given that it’s a holiday weekend, I’m assuming plenty of you are heading off to a family barbecue, a country cabin, or most likely, the beach. Maybe a combination of all three. I, for one, am writing this on a plane to Chicago. (Yes, American Airlines has Wi-Fi at every altitude!)

One thing’s for sure: Whether you want to spend $10 or $10,000, no one should be without a sturdy, good-looking weekender. And this might be a choice for us:  Pendleton Spirit of the People’s Weekender retails for $198.

I’m totally into Pendleton’s weekender: the colors, the print, the longevity of virgin wool. Now I just want a Pendleton blanket to match.

OK, how do you like it? Or you have other ideas? Please tell me in the comments.

Heads up fashion girls, the warmer season has absolutely arrived and that means it’s party time now. So would you like a gorgeous soiree purse for those many parties waiting ahead?

Well, are you a little tired of being elegant, or are you attending to go with a little more girly look? If so, this Betsey Johnson Betsey’s Soiree Crossbody Clutch is just something you’re looking for.

In case you were, for some reason, completely unaware of Betsey Johnson’s affinity for all things pink, sparkly, bow-adorned and in-your-face girly, her new Betsey’s Soiree Crossbody Clutch should clear things up right away. Awash in an ample dose of sequins that gleam for miles and miles, this petite purse is designed to hold all of your evening essentials in style.

What I love is that it has a shoulder strap, so it’s not merely relegated to being awkwardly switched from hand to hand and tucked under your arms all night long. Merely for convenience, that’s a great thing. It’s also available in three other hues, so if you don’t take after Betsey and her pink-ness, you might find favor in gold, black or gray.

I’d really go with this pink one myself, it looks just totally girly and gorgeous as well. This shinning bag retails at Nordstrom for $98 each.

We all love Chanel classic flap bags and Louis Vuitton Speedy bags as well, but as poor as me always find these luxury bags are really kinda out of reach. So you might can imagine how delight I was to see the Chanel LV beauties at Costco, however now comes the new that Costco might not be selling them for much longer.

You know how Costco ‘occasionally’ sells Chanel and Louis Vuitton bags? Well, they might have to stop, if luxury brands like Omega have anything do with it.

The warehouse club is taking the Swiss watchmaker to the Supreme Court, appealing a lower court ruling that said Omega had the right to control who bought its products in the grey–or secondary–market.

The grey market, which is something luxury brands don’t like to talk about, is where lots of leftover product goes. There’s a secondary seller who buys it from the luxury brands at a major discount–that seller then passes it offer to discount retailers. It doesn’t happen often, because luxury brands tend to burn or melt their extra/imperfect stock, but it does happen. And that’s how and where poor people can finally afford a Chanel.

In related news, the European Commission has released a set of rules that say luxury goods makers can block Internet-only retailers from shilling their goods. eBay, which boasts the biggest second-hand luxury market in the world, could be severely affected by this.

Luxury goods makers might think they’ll benefit from tighter control, but will they? Do discount retailers really tarnish a brand?

Well, honestly I’m not so sure about that. I actually think this market is quite sweet to the poor, and I’m pretty sure it won’t affect the rich to reach for the latest design bags. Anyway, how do you think?