Botkier

Oh Botkier, you continue to make me a happy girl. I was literally thrilled to see this bag today. The Botkier Aiden Satchel is beyond lovely. I am a huge fan of the burnt orange craze that is going on these days. This is a color I hope doesn’t go anywhere any time soon. Some stray away from bright colors like orange, but the darker hue is one that is bound to change minds.

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Ooh, Botkier just said The Magic Word. Lambskin.

There are few things I love more. Using lambskin to make a big, black bag with some small, well-edited industrial details is one of the fastest ways to my heart.

And at a reasonable price? For a bag I’d carry every day? Just show me where I sign up.

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If you’ve never had one of Botkier’s lambskin bags, you really should reevaluate your life choices up to this point. Lambskin is one of the most luxurious leathers out there, Botkier makes scads of bags in it, and they’re all reasonably priced and functional, not to mention stylish. So what are you waiting for?

If now’s the time for you to hop on board, may I suggest you begin with the Botkier Taylor Crossbody Bag.

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Wow. This isn’t the kind of bag I typically expect from Botkier. But you know what? That is not a bad thing. First of all, I’ve talked about the fact that I am a Botkier fan for a while now. And for any of you who are devoted to certain brands, you have got to expect a style, type of leather, or even color scheme. While I am not totally shocked that this bag is part of the Botkier family, I am definitely a little surprised.

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I’m an unabashed Botkier fan; always have been. My everyday bag is currently a Botkier Trigger, and it’s far from the only one of their bags that I’ve ever owned. So perhaps I’m a bit biased when I say it, but I quite like the Botkier Ruffle Clutch.

But really, I don’t think my love for this clutch is a result of bias at all; I think it’s a legitimately beautiful clutch, and I’ve got a few reasons that I think you’ll agree with me.

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So far, this week has been good for bags, as in, I’ve found some pretty great bags to review. But when I came across this Botkier Sydney Hobo while innocently browsing online, it was clear that those blissful three days of good bags were over. I saw this bag, and I just thought, “What is up with that?” And I still don’t know.

I even checked out the scale photo of the bag against a silhouette, and that really, really made it worse. It just made me think that this bag was made for some person to carry two really big bottles of water on each side- and who does that? Hey Botkier, a plain sports bag would do just fine.

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Botkier has done it again. Last season’s collection marked a return to form for the young brand, and it looks like more good things are in store, for them and for us, in Fall 2009. We’ve already covered a few of their new bags, but today is the first time I’ve gotten to see detailed pictures of the Botkier Logan Satchel. I really, really like what I see.

Monica Botkier has a history of using zippers and tassels to adorn her bags, and this one fits in perfectly with the look with which the brand is known. I prefer the bag carried as a satchel, but it also has a crossbody option and its sophisticated burgundy color gives the bag a chic look no matter how it’s carried. Despite the fact that the bag is glazed, it’s still made of lambskin (another Botkier favorite), which means it will probably still retain the soft, sumptuous feel even though the leather has been glazed. All in all, we’ve got a winner here. Buy through Luna Boston for $595.

I haven’t seen any other fashion outlets declare it yet, but with what I’ve seen so far, I’m comfortable being the first: fall is shaping up to be the season of the Big Black Bag. Everywhere we look, beautiful purses made of black leather (most with slightly industrial silver or nickel hardware) are popping up in preparation for the cold months. Despite my general dismissal of neutral bags, I really love this trend.

One of the most recent ones to hit the internet is the Botkier Claudia Satchel. This is one of the few satchel/crossbody combinations that I think works better as a messenger bag, mostly because of the connection points of the long strap and how they poke up, even when the strap is disconnected. One detail that I love on the bag that everyone should take a closer look at is the subtle, studded latticework at the bag’s lower corners – it’s details like that that will set great bags apart from the BBB pack this fall. Buy through ShopBop for $595.

One of the main reasons I love Botkier is that they use more lambskin in their line than almost any other similarly priced line that I can think of. And as any bag hag knows, lambskin is the end-all, be-all of non-exotic leathers. It’s soft and supple and I can’t stop touching it. Which is why I think everyone should take a look at the Botkier Venice Hobo. I’ve written about a bag from this line in the past, but that was before the hobo came out, and everyone knows that hobo are easily my favorite.

This one is no exception – the color is so sunshine-y and it’s the perfect shade of yellow to be able to wear in fall as well as spring and summer. I can only imagine how perfectly this bag will slouch when it’s broken in a bit – lamb leather is MADE for slouch, and this hobo’s shape was made for lamb leather. The tassles are an edgy touch and a signature of several of Botkier’s collections, and who among us doesn’t love a bunch of zipper pockets? I know I certainly do. Buy through Nordstrom for $595.

Isn’t Venice sinking? Don’t I keep hearing about that? I feel like I’ve been hearing about it since I was old enough to know what Venice was, so maybe they’re just crying wolf at this point. Either way, Botkier definitely isn’t sinking with the Venice Satchel (Har har, yes, I know, bad segue. Gimme a break, I just got back from vacation last night). It’s made of soft-n-wonderful Italian lambskin, sports both double satchel straps and an optional shoulder strap (as always, the best option with optional straps is to remove them), and has about as many zippers as anyone could ever want.

My mom, who takes the attitude of “the more zippers, the better” will certainly be excited that this has shown up, and I can’t blame here. It looks entirely functional, like you could absolutely carry it every day, while still being stylish and and having people ask you about it. The straps and zippers allow the bag to border on the industrial without being over the top, meaning it can be worn by a large variety of people, instead of just those that embrace a very specific look. Good job, Botkier – I’d love to see more like this. Buy through Saks for $595.