Tough Stuff and Heavy Lifting: Spotting a Classic Handbag

Most of the time the newest accessories do little to grab me....to be completely honest, the more vintage you look the more likely I am to covet.  I've never really been able to take the leap of faith on the Givenchy Nightengale or the YSL Muse where other girls might because I'm mostly hung up on on the fact that I can't predict how classic they'll turn out to be.  The handbag is a funny thing that way don't you think? Different from the shoe, or a watch which I can easily spot as a classic among a display of trend-driven contemporaries, the ability to spot a classic handbag in the making has always eluded me.

So of course, I spend instead on shoes and white t-shirts, leaving the tough stuff and heavy lifting (no pun intended, of course) to those in the know.  That doesn't however preclude me from appreciating even from up close, the splendor and beauty of a good one, (or from making tipsy ebay bids on the discontinued Melancholia...but that's another entry all-together.)

Point of the entry is that lately, I've really been singing a different tune.  The wonder boys from Proenza Schouler have done it this year in a MAJOR way, and while I've done my best to ignore it- I think we are, dear friends in the presence of a living classic with the PS1. (Incidentally this lives on my list of must-haves...so consider this two birds with one very expensive tobacco suede stone.)

Second on the list is the latest from Gucci.  The 1973 collection manages to reference the past without being campy, hint at the future without being trendy, and appeal to us all without being cheesy.  If I saw it on the street I'd be unable to pinpoint right away if it were a reference to the best or a real relic- this to me the sign of a perfect classic.  (thx to style.com for the image!)

Moral of the story...it's a good thing my bday has long past or we might have found ourselves with another drunk bidding war on our hands.  For now, I'll be content to keep my wide-eyes on the PS1 and hope it turns from a current obsession into a real classic love.

I know of at least one of you out there mulling over the PS1, thoughts from anyone else?