Luxist

Why Ms. Minkoff, what a saucy name for your satchel! The Rebecca Minkoff Morning-After Mini Satchel is great for the morning after, true, but we think we'd carry it around all day.

First of all, we love this pick-me-up shade of blue (it's called "Deep Turquoise" and thankfully it's not at the green end of that color range). We can't think of a person who wouldn't be flattered by this color -- wouldn't this look great with your hair? We bet it would.

The shape is simple and attractive; we love the boxy look. At 8 1/2"H x 13"W x 7"D, it's not big enough for your portfolio, but it is big enough for your toothbrush and a change of ... socks (nudge nudge wink wink).

The Rebecca Minkoff Morning-After Mini Satchel is available from Neiman Marcus for $550.00.

The Ritz-Carlton has something new up its sleeve: a collection of smaller, unique, boutique-style hotels in stunning natural locations. The first Ritz-Carlton Reserve will be opening December 22, 2009 on Phulay Bay in Krabi, Thailand.

"Ritz-Carlton Reserve will feature signature, one-of-a-kind boutique resorts positioned in unique settings, each with a distinctive personality and sense of place reflecting its history and culture," says Simon F. Cooper, president. "Phulay Bay in Thailand is a natural choice for the first Reserve."

Why? Because it's awesome. Phulay Bay, on the Andaman Sea, is surrounded by rocky forest hikes with hidden waterfalls and sandy beaches. From the resort, you'll be able to fly around the coast via sea plane, take a meditation class with local monks, ride elephants and visit ESPA, the swanky new spa. Can you think of anything else you'd like to do on your luxury vacation? Just let them know; they'll figure it out.

"We want guests to enjoy and discover the extraordinary diversity and beauty in this part of the country in a setting of relaxation and rejuvenation," says Estelita Sebeto, the resort's General Manager. "We have worked with nature to maintain a setting that evokes the very best of the natural environment of the hotel and sourced local and sustainable materials in its construction and styling. We see the resort as an ambassador for the local environment and for the tradition of the land here in Phulay Bay."

The fabulous boutique hotel and 54 adjoining villas comes with extra-special service, so the price is extra-special as well. The rooms start at approximately $582.18 per night, and the villas at $809.99.

Visit the website for more information or to book.

The hit HBO vampire series True Blood has a terrific new collection of modern goth jewelry designed by Udi Behr (right), the Chief Designer for Love Peace and Hope. We attended the launch party for the fierce new True Blood line and chatted with Behr himself about all things jewelry and vampires. Read the interview to find out why Udi Behr wants to be a vampire, and then check out the gallery of the sexy bling True Blood inspired.

Luxist: Do you like True Blood?

Udi Behr: I love True Blood! I don't do anything I don't love.

L: What's your background? Where are you from?

UB: My background is very confusing. My father is Dutch, my mother is English, and they met in Israel, so I was born and raised in Israel. I moved to New York 26 years ago on Halloween Day.

L: Perfect.

UB: My first night in New York was the Village on Halloween night.

L: How old were you?

UB: I was 23.

L: Oh my gosh, that must have been the best night of your life.

UB: Exactly -- if you ask me what happened, this is all because of that first night in New York. I blame it all on the first night in New York! I live near the village today, and I still remember what I saw 26 years ago, but I don't remember what I saw last year.

L: So your True Blood designs are based around the infinity symbol?

UB: The infinity symbol and two fangs that link into it. If you look at my line, a couple of the specific iconic shapes are teardrops of blood with rubies, I'm doing the 8, eternity, and the chains. I use either leather or stainless steel, because vampires get very damaged if they wear silver, so, just in case Louisiana vampires or Texas vampires want to buy jewelry, tada! They can!

L: So, there's no silver in the collection?

UB: The rings are silver, and the earrings are silver.

L: So the vampires should shy away from those.

UB: Yes -- but there are people who want to protect themselves from vampires, too. Not all vampires are great. But, on a serious note, it's hard to manipulate stainless steel in rings, so all the rings and earrings are silver, and all the chains are stainless steel or leather.

L: So, who's your favorite True Blood character?

UB: That's a good question. Let's see, everybody likes Eric. Everybody wants to be Eric, he's the coolest vampire. He's so cool, you know? He's not in love, he doesn't want a girlfriend, and Tara, I like Tara very much, she's a really cool girl.

L: What do you think of her boyfriend?

UB: Well, for me, he just pisses me off every time I go to the gym. It's hard for guys to compete, you know?

L: I would imagine!

UB: I want to be a vampire. That's why I'm doing this. You sleep all day and you party all night! And you live forever! Only one thing: I like to go to the beach.

You can shop for Udi Behr's hot new True Blood collection at TrueBloodJewelry.com.

Like this shoe? I hope you have an iPhone.

Mark Ronson collaborated with Gucci Creative Director Frida Giannini to design this exclusive beaut for the launch of the new Gucci iPhone App, as well as a new Gucci pop-up shop tour called GUCCI ICON-TEMPORARY.

If you haven't heard of pop-up shops, they're designer stores which exist for just a couple of weeks -- sort of like a trunk show, only it's way more involved, and there's way more money involved, as they open up a whole store. Big name designers have been opening these kinds of stores all over the world.

GUCCI ICON-TEMPORARY will open up to the public October 24 in NYC on Crosby Street and peddle sneakers for just two weeks. The store will then tour to Miami (December 1st), London (2010) and Tokyo (2010). If you're in the US, one model of the Gucci Ronson sneaker collection will be available only to iPhone and iTouch users who've downloaded the Gucci App (click here, it's free).

The Gucci App also features music playlists by Ronson and Giannini, as well as access to the Gucci Little Black Book, which has "best-of information for hotels, restaurants, bars and clubs in more than 20 major cities around the world. Also included in this section is a list of Giannini's own favorite spots around the world," and the Gucci Music Channel.

We love it when music and fashion collide.

"I spent many many years as an avid sneaker collector, so I wanted to make sure these Gucci shoes were truly special, both from an aesthetic point of view and a collectible one," says Ronson. "Frida and I also agreed it was important for there to be a unique musical element to the project, so I'm going to be collaborating with artists, making limited edition tracks for each store opening."

The Gucci Ronson sneakers will come with their own exclusive packaging and a 12" vinyl record with tracks selected by Mark Ronson himself. Visit the GUCCI ICON-TEMPORARY website for more information.

The Juicy Couture Leather Lock-It Worth-It Crossbody Hobo Bag is an unusual bag for Juicy. Not only do their items typically come in candy colors, but this bag has a utilitarian, grungy, urban look we're not used to seeing from the young (13-year-old), typically girly brand.

We're not sure we love it, but we're highlighting it today because well, it's interesting. The pieced-together leather, the rough-looking logo plate, the long, braided leather toggle ... what does it all mean? Is Juicy trying to be less cute?

The Bloomingdale's description says, "Juicy Couture's studded, distressed leather crossbody hobo adds a casual influence to your fall look." Hmm. Perhaps this is intended for the college freshman who want to serious-up (seriousize?) their style for that Women's Lib class ... but really, it's perhaps not all that well-executed. It's large enough for books and all (13"W x 15"H x 5"D), but is it kind of ugly?

Also, the name -- "The Juicy Couture Leather Lock-It Worth-It Crossbody Hobo Bag" is unconscionably long. It's like they couldn't quite decide what it was themselves. The whole thing kind of reeks of "trying too hard."

Vote, and tell us what you think in the comments.
The Juicy Couture Leather Lock-It Worth-It Crossbody Hobo Bag is available from Bloomingdale's for $398.00.

The Coach Poppy Signature Zip Around Wallet is a breath of fresh air in a season of dark colors.

This fun little wallet is just 8" by 4" -- small enough to throw into one of your larger bags to avoid depression. Just looking at it makes us smile. It's large enough to hold entire bills and has six credit card pockets and an inside zip pocket for coins. You can use the 14" strap as a wristlet to take this out at night -- and ditch your big bag at work.

The pretty poppy print is adorned with an embossed poppy logo plaque, retro goldtone hardware and metallic leather trim. Adorable.

The Coach Poppy Signature Zip Around Wallet is available from Nordstrom for $158.00.

The See by Chloe Backstage Crossbody is an unusual bag with a ton of functionality and a great shape.

This attractive little bag (10.75"W x 9.75"H x 3.5"D) is soft, buttery leather with snakeskin-embossed trim, a generous strap (21" drop) and a "look at me" logo in goldtone hardware. We love the "Backstage" name for it, as this is just the sort of thing we'd expect to see dangling from a runway model when she arrives for work or stuffed on the makeup table as she gets made up. The eye-catching color makes it easy to find post-show, too.

The drawstring closures are enhanced by a hidden magnetic snap, so even though it's a crossbody, you don't have to worry about pickpockets. Just worry about someone stealing the whole bag -- because it's gorgeous.

The See by Chloe Backstage Crossbody is available from Bloomingdale's for $470.00.

The Michael Kors Skorpios Hobo is a classy Resort season hobo which practically emanates wealth and exclusivity.

To begin with, the bag is white, which instantly establishes that either the wearer doesn't ever get near anything dirty or that if they did, they could afford to throw it away and get a new one.

This hobo is the size of a big tote, at 16 1/2"W x 14"H x 5"D, and the slouchy shape can be expanded by undoing the goldtone clips at the sides. The soft leather face of the bag is trimmed with brown snakeskin-embossed leather, and the handle is brown braided leather with nautical-style clips -- very cruise ship.

The Michael Kors Skorpios Hobo is available for pre-order in limited quantities from Nordstrom for $1,095.00.

Shocking, isn't it? Most of us (myself included) thought this day would never come, but ... we actually like this purse hook. In fact, we love it.

When you have a luxury handbag, you don't want it on the floor -- it's dangerous and usually dirty -- but you don't want to cheapen its glamour by hanging it from something that looks like it came from the dollar store. Pavina finally has the solution with its line of Handbag Holders, available for $45 - $68 from marlobrands.com.

Above is the Pavina Olivine, a perfectly lovely, $45 purse hook that finally does a little justice to our beautiful handbags. It's more like elegant jewelry than the plastic junk we've seen (and scorned) before. It's no wonder that Pavina already has quite a celebrity following, including Angelina Jolie, Nicole Richie, Alyson Hannigan and Gwen Stefani, among others.

The Handbag Holders are made to support up to 25 pounds, and have padding on their flip sides to prevent damaging any restaurant tablecloths or hardwood bars (see gallery). Each design is lead-free and handset with Swarovski crystals and semi precious stones.

We had to see it ourselves -- and try it out in several New York City restaurants -- to believe it. These Handbag Holders really are classic looking, unobtrusive, and while most people didn't even notice them, when they did, we got compliments. And our purses have never been safer.

Zara Terez is a young and fabulous handbag designer who we recently met at a Bagtrends event in New York City. She's shown here at right wearing one of her most exciting new items: the 14th Precinct Holster, which is part of her Fall 2009 collection (available here). We chatted with Zara about her fresh and fiesty line of handbags, including this gun holster she just couldn't resist.

Luxist: Tell us about the gun holster.

Zara Terez: Well, I actually saw a gun holster, and I thought it would be a really cool idea to make it into a handbag. It's good to go out with, and for mommies who have little kids, they can carry around their diaper bag and have their cell phone and their credit cards [in the holster]. And actually, my sister said that it's really good for exercising, like, you need a bag you can run around with.

L: So you are manufacturing them?

ZT: I am, everything's made here in New York City.

L: Is that suede?

ZT: This is suede, and we also have it in pebbled leather. All the leather comes from Italy; I bring it in.

L: Excellent, and how much does one cost?

ZT: $125. It's really, really fun, we have it in multiple colors, and you can use it day or night -- it's perfect for everything.

L: Tell us a little bit about these other materials you're using,

ZT: Everything is leather. Embossed snake, embossed croc, and what I love to do is, I make sure that there's always a ...

L (discovering the inside of a feathered bag): There are sequins in here!

ZT: Yeah! There's always a splash of surprise in each one. There's a surprise in every bag. It's really all about you, and what represents you as a person.

L: So, where do you get your inspiration?

ZT: My friends, my family, New York City as a whole. [The bags] are all named for different places in New York City. My holster's actually called 14th Precinct, which is the precinct in the garment district.

Check out more of Zara Terez's badass girly designs below: