Smug-Worthy Spring '12 Bags

None of the products shown below are paid or solicited placements, though - as Saks is my witness - I'd accept payment in purses. Call me, Hermes! In the unforgettable words of Richard Marx, I'm right here waiting . . .  

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I just can't keep up the pretense anymore.

After yesterday's actually serious post, as well as my stay-at-home-parent link-up idea (JOIN US - it's cheap & easy! *insert joke here*!) , I just can't keep pretending to be a woman of substance.

Today, we go back to our roots here at the Pretty - aspiring to be Prettier than everyone else. After all, what's more important one's roots . . . which reminds me that I'm overdue for a touch-up of my completely natural blonde streaks.

Ahem.

Anywhoo, on this dreary winter's day here in Austin - no, really, we have rain and hail and weather-y stuff happening - my mind keeps wandering to this felicitous Kate Spade ad image:

Image via Prepaganda (and also Nina, I believe?); I'll be copying this look with lookalike-but-cheaper Old Navy jeans here.

That bright jolt of color, contrasted with that preppish, neutral navy top half, has got me in a spring sort of way despite the clouds. Naturally, this led me to thinking about refreshing my bag collection for spring. Naturally. I mean, I need some playful, colored bags to play off my neutral Smug-Worthy shoes, right?

Not that I will be doing any refreshing, mind you - I'm sticking with my Pippa and saving my pennies for some upcoming travel - but some of you may have a husband who needs to *accidentally* stumble across this post before Valentine's / Please Don't Buy Me One of Those Complicated Negligee Thingies Day. You know, just by chance. Because you left this post up on your monitor clear as day. Oops.

Whether you're avoiding a bad Valentine's gift or the weather, here's the best of what I've found so far, from the frugal to fantasy, I'll-never-own-this-but-it's-so-PRETTY leagues:

Left: Kate Spade "Rosa" (Edited to Add: "Rosa" on sale here as of today 1/27/12) / Right: Co-Lab by Christopher Kon "Frankie" 

"Starter Smug" Note: I struggled to find bags I loved in this price/age range, which is entirely typical of my "champagne tastes, beer budget" proclivities. That "Frankie" bag clocks in at under $100, which qualifies in my checkbook, though the "Rosa" is more Starter bag in look than in $$.

Left: Modalu "Pippa"; Right: MICHAEL Michael Kors "Hamilton East West"

"Operation MILF" Note: Fellow "Pippa"-philes, Modalu has a bevy of beee-you-tiful new colors out, including this "Sunrise Orange" one. It's so warm & on-trend with the Pantone's "color of the year", Tangerine Tango, isn't it?

Left: Celine "Luggage" Tote (waiting list only for this version); Right: Reed Krakoff "Soft Boxer"

"All-Star Smug" Note: Please don't mistake me - I am not suggesting that any of you spend bazillions of dollars on a handbag; I certainly can't. Like with art in a museum, certain bags exist to be admired from afar though I seriously contemplated a life of handbag crime when I saw this Celine being used as a diaper bag (!) the other day at the children's museum. I'm delighted just knowing that such beauty is out there somewhere in the world.

That being said, if any of you are looking to give away a Cezanne or Celine, I'm your girl. 

See anything you like? Want to buy me a bag or, er, priceless work of art?