We love all of the amazing independent designers out there. In order to find out more about just what makes all of these creative types tick, we present to you an ongoing segment called Indie Designer Interviews.

Today we'd like to introduce you to custom handbag and accessory designer Theresa M. Goodwin of Sakura Urban Studio. We love her leather poppy wristlets, pouches, necklaces and bracelets, not to mention all of her other fabulous designs!

Well, it beats spending time on a decades-long waiting list for an iconic Kelly, doesn't it?

New York blogger Karyn Bosnak drew our attention to a new feature on the Hermes website which shows you how to make your own Hermes bag, just like the real thing. The only downside? You have to make it out of paper... a fun craft project, perhaps, but not likely to withstand the first rainy day of summer.

If you'd like to make something a little more substantial (but only a little more substantial), why not try your hand at making a bikini?

We recently caught up with Sarah Johnson, the head buyer for LunaBoston.com, an online boutique that features a fabulous selection of handbags from modern and emerging designers like Olivia Harris, Jenny Yuen, and Treesje. We asked her what she looks for when shopping for new young designers to carry, and found out what trends she thinks will be hot for Fall 2008.

We love all of the amazing independent designers out there. In order to find out more about just what makes all of these creative types tick, we present to you an ongoing segment called Indie Designer Interviews.

Today's interview is with handbag designer Joanna Baker of Jobie Boutique, a line of handcrafted bags perfect for women of any age. Joanna creates hobos, satchels, wristlets and cosmetic cases using high-quality, classic materials such as leather and suede paired with cotton canvas in timeless prints like paisley and houndstooth.

Recession, schmession. We're not tightening our belts for any looming economic downturn.

Er, rather, we're not tightening the straps on our handbags.

When it comes to handbags, some of us seem to live in an alternate universe where there is no such thing as "budget." Forbes has picked out this (and next) season's "It" bags - those bags for which we won't be shy about taking out a second mortgage on our homes.

Why haven't I heard of Carla Braccialini? I walked by the store in Soho and did a double take. Their window was stocked with bold, bright, matching patent leather shoes and bags. It was so cool I had to stop in for a gander.

Look at this stuff on their great flash site! These lines don't even include the bright red and multicolored items I saw in their window. Look at the classy Looney Tunes stuff! I can't believe I just said that!

I'm a big fan of all of the amazing independent designers out there. In an effort to get inside the mind of the indie designer and find out just what makes all of these creative types tick, I present to you an ongoing segment I call Indie Designer Interviews. Today's interview is with the designer behind Oh So Retro, a line of fun handmade handbags, wallets and accessories.

Tell me a little about your work. I'm Adrienne, a seamstress turned designer hailing from Winnipeg, Canada. As my chosen business name implies, I am a fan of all things vintage and retro from furniture to dishes to textiles and books. I collect a little bit of everything and am always on the look out for vintage stock to incorporate into my designs. I do all of my sewing on a vintage Singer sewing machine from the 1950s which can prove challenging at times but things were made to keep back then. I try to incorporate that mentality in my own designs, to create something that is visually pleasing yet still functional enough to use everyday.

How did you get started running your own business? I started Oh So Retro back in 2004 as a vintage clothing boutique. I had been sewing my own clothing for years before that and took that knowledge into my reselling business by altering vintage clothing and doing custom sewing jobs. I began making matching bags out of the salvaged fabric from floor length gowns and much-too-small tweed skirts and soon enough the bags started outselling the clothing! I knew I was on to something good, and worked on creating my own line of bags and accessories. I was selling well from my own website and did some local consignment but things really took off for me once I started selling on Etsy.com. I'm really happy to have found my home on there.

Who are your favorite designers? The Vintage Zoo does some amazing things with her own brand of vintage + handmade clothing. Nice Face makes the cutest tunics I have ever seen. SRB Designs by Miss Bohl designs the most gorgeous clothing. I want everything.

What are your top fashion & beauty must-haves? It`s hard to be fashionable in the winter, but I try! Right now I`m loving skinny jeans and tunics paired up with bolero sweaters for a little extra warmth. I love flat shoes and I have an amazing pair of mary jane flats from Stops And Starts. I've been using a lot of extra large shoulder bags and still wear my over sized Jackie O sun glasses. I`m very simple when it comes to make up, just a touch of mascara and lip gloss. I use a great lip gloss from The Plaid Mushroom. Thanks to her I've not had chapped lips once this winter!

Know of a favorite independent handbag designer that you'd love to see recognized and rewarded for their work? Let them know about the open call for entries for the Second Annual Independent Handbag Designer Awards, sponsored by Handbag Designer 101. The categories for this competition are Best Student Made Handbag, Best Handmade Handbag, Most Socially Responsible Handbag, Best Green Handbag, Audience-Selected Handbag, and Best Handbag in Overall Style & Design. There are some great prizes up for grabs for the winning designers, including a free booth at the MAGIC accessories tradeshow in Las Vegas this August, an apprenticeship with the Henri Bendel accessory design team and more.

Okay, okay, so chances are that you're probably not a handbag designer, but maybe you're just a lover of purses? Handbag Designer 101 is still a great resource you can use to read interviews with up and coming bag designers, stay up to date on the latest trends in handbags, chat about your handbag must-haves, get your celebrity bag watch fix and find out about handbag related events and deals.

Speaking of deals on handbags, I just got word from my friends at Accessory Bug about their special discount offer for spring. Get 10% off on any order through April 30, 2008 by using coupon code spring08 at checkout. They've got the infamous "I'm not a plastic bag" handbag in four different color choices, plus a huge selection of clutches, hobos, totes, wristlets and other accessories.

The following is part of an ongoing segment I call Indie Designer Interviews.

Tell me a little about yourself and your company. I'm Wendy, the owner, operator, designer, model, seamstress, copy editor, accountant, ad rep, pin pusher, house keeper, material sourcing researcher, etc. of Moop. Moop is a small company (myself and my husband) devoted to well designed and fabricated handmade bags. We're working really hard to grow Moop into something that will last a long long time. I feel like I'm in a unique position to take advantage of the attention and energy surrounding Moop to keep this going with a focus on sustainability (80% of every bag comes from up-cycled materials left over from major manufacturers and fabric wholesalers) and fair labor (as we grow we're committed to keeping things here in house, not outsourcing to fabricators).

How did you get started as a designer? I started this business before I knew it would even be a business. I was a teenage single mom looking for a way to make clothes for my kid that didn't look like every other kid on the block, so I bought a sewing machine and taught myself to make things. 10 years later, armed with two degrees (a BFA and an MFA), a husband, a lovely 10 year old girl, a cat named Mouse and a really big sewing machine, I started Moop with one pretty alright bag. That bag has since become a really great bag..refined, honed, modern, understated and really well made.

Who are your favorite designers? I love Built by Wendy (there's no relation). Last season she had this cotton ripstop shift dress that I was completely in love with. I finally decided to order one, only to find they were sold out in my size and every size close to it. I've been thinking of it ever since. So, maybe in a weird way, that dress influenced some bags. I work a lot with ripstop. I love the subtlety of the grid.

Over the last few years, True Religion has mesmerized us with their fabulous jeans and signature pockets (and $200+ price tags). The company has now decided to venture into non-trousered territory -- they'll now be offering handbags.

Leslie Hsu, previously with Calvin Klein and Tahari, has brought her talent to True Religion and will use fine hand-dyed cottons and Italian leathers for the line of handbags. The collection is set to include weekend bags, hobos, satchels, clutches, and key chains, all of which will incorporate True Religion's signature look of modern stylings with a bit of Western edge.



As you can probably guess, you're not going to get the True Religion look without the price tag. The Leyla Day Bag, pictured here, will cost you $758 at Nordstrom. Some of the smaller items are set to go for less, with the line ranging from $58 to $898, and the pieces will soon be available at department stores and boutiques the world over.

Simple Shoes are made to appeal to the hippy in all of us. They are made out of all sustainable materials, such as hemp, recycled car tires, organic cotton and bamboo. And no, contrary to popular belief, hemp is not marijuana. To quote the Simple Shoes website, "I mean really, if the hemp we use in our shoes got you high, don't you think we'd have enough money to hire some models for our ads?"

Not only are the shoes made from sustainable materials, but Simple Shoes is committed to making their business 100% sustainable as well.

To do that, they ship with less packaging materials, and use boxes made from post consumer paper or biodegradable bags (you can bury the bag in your garden and forget about it). They even clean their office with biodegradable cleaning products! It's nice to see a company fully commit to a green lifestyle, rather than selling green products just because it's trendy right now.

Some of the styles may be a bit too hippyish for the mainstream fashionista, but I'm telling you, the next time I need comfortable sneakers, I know where I'm going to buy them. As a bonus, they also sell adorable baby shoes, some nice messenger bags and even a laptop bag with a button made out of a coconut!

While maybe not quite on the cutting edge of fashion, they still have some very cute, very basic shoes. You won't find any four inch stilettos at Simple Shoes. But, you will find great flip flops and sneakers that are easy on the eyes and easy on the conscious, for those of you more environmentally aware types.

Browse through the gallery, and if you like what you see, head on over to their to buy shoes and support a great company!

There's a new Gucci on the job. Although, she's not technically allowed to use the fashion giant's name. Gucci has been known to take legal action against family members who try to use the name to start their own brands. Alessandra Gucci will be creating a new line of designer alligator handbags, calling it AG. What are Alessandra's qualifications to design purses? Well, she has a degree in economics, and ummm, her last name is Gucci. Works for me.

AG will feature three styles, all made by artisans in Tuscany. There will be a pink, a blue and a jungle bag, each named after a member of the Gucci family, her father, Maurizio Gucci, her grandfather Rodolfo Gucci, and of course, Alessandra herself. Do you notice someone missing from that list? Yep, Alessandra's mom didn't get the nod.

There's actually an interesting back story on that...

Patrizia Reggiani, Alessandra's mom, had Maurizio gunned down after the two divorced. Seriously, it was an arranged murder. Patrizia got her henchmen to kill him in '95. But she's a sly one. The Italian police didn't catch up to her until two years after his death. When they finally got their act together and went to go take her into the slammer, she was arrested wearing a fur coat. It's like I always say, once a fashionista, always a fashionista. Patrizia was known for once telling people, "I'd rather cry in a Rolls-Royce than laugh on a bicycle," so is it really surprising that she wanted to go to jail dressed to impress? A women has to have her priorities straight! And things just got worse. In 2000 she tried to kill herself in jail but the suicide attempt was a failure.

I was going to say that this family's history would make a great soap opera. But, it's already a book -- The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour and Greed. If the story is already a book this means it's only a matter of time before it becomes a movie. Personally, I think Meryl Streep as Patrizia would make for a great fashion forward villain, don't you agree?

[Via WWD and CNN.]

For $26,000, I'd want a bag that could fly, do my taxes, or at least make my coffee in the morning. Sadly, the new "Warrior" bag from Burberry does none of those things. And yet, it's still worth significantly more than my car.

Sure, it's trendy-looking, has a nice shape, comes complete with armor plating and is cut from gold-painted alligator skin -- all of which should send up the price a little. But $26,000? Seriously?

And this isn't the only bag with a jaw-dropping price tag. In fact, compared to some, the Warrior is actually a bargain. That said, even if I had the money, I'm not sure I could justify spending that much money on an accessory I'd probably be bored with in less than a year. But maybe I'm missing something?



[via Jezebel]

Last week, a friend of Styledash asked for help in finding a gift for his wife for their 3rd wedding anniversary. After getting over the amazement that marriage has lasted that long (we live in LA and all we hear about our "marriages" that last no longer than the morning line at Starbucks), we started to panic. Third anniversary? What does one get one's spouse for a third anniversary?

Leather.

Putting visions of chaps and riding whips aside, we decided that a handbag would be the perfect leather gift. With a budget of $100-$200, and a willingness to go slightly over if it promised benefits, we found nine bags that would be perfect:

• Kenneth Cole Large Buckle Satchel - for a woman who has an entire shelf of black or brown leather bags, red is a great addition to spice things up. $204 at Bluefly.com
  
• Cole Haan "Paige" Medium Tote - A classic Cole Haan bag will always be the quintessential piece and will last forever, just like your marriage. $186 at Bluefly.
  
• BCBG Aloe Leather "Montana" Handbag - Shaped like a Boston bag, this handbag is functional and fashionable, especially in the brownish green aloe color. $161 at Bluefly.
• Hype "Canela" Satchel - Though camel color is usually associated with the warmer months, the Canela satchel is sturdy enough to work for fall and winter. $135 at Bluefly.com.
• Hype Chocolate Leather "Assago" Shoulder Bag - Chocolate colored leather is the perfect all-around bag since it dark color works well with both black and brown. $113 at Bluefly.com
• Via Spiga Pewter "Madeline" Leather Hobo - The hobo, though a relatively new-again trend, is now here to stay. In pewter leather, it's definitely "in" for the metallic trend of fall and winter. At Bluefly.com
• Via Spiga "Neela" Tassel Hobo - Another hobo style, and perhaps the best bargain of the bunch, the Neela is slightly more interesting with the addition of a tassel. $99 at Bluefly.com
• Furla Ivory Leather Logo Tote - Who says you can't wear (or carry) white in the winter? Furla certainly doesn't, with its simple, sophisticated ivory leather logo tote. $94 at Bluefly.com.
• Michael Kors "Wetherby" Large Shoulder Bag - This is the splurge for our friend, but the stylish lines of a functional shoulder bag are wrth it. It's Michael Kors. $348 at ShopBop.

I'm not going to deny that I have "a thing" for that little white cat with an oversized head and no mouth, but there are times when the associated color palette -- shades of pink that range from bubblegum to bright fuschia -- is a little much for my fairly neutral wardrobe. Rebecca Minkoff has collaborated with the cartoon cat and the resulting leather totes and coin purse are far more subtle than the usual Hello Kitty "stuff" that's emblazoned with the enormous white face and pink bow. Two leather totebags (about $600 each) feature Hello Kitty's tiny face engraved into the metal hardware, and only have a printed lining. The face is embossed into the leather coin purse. It's only the clutch that features a bright Hello Kitty print.

Available online at Sanrio, or Momoberry.