| Funny how just a year ago, it was all about the tiny | | | | Totes now have top closures and hobos are |
| minuscule designer handbags that could barely fit your | | | | not-so-slouchy anymore. |
| lipstick and your credit card. | | | | While many trend analysts expected this year to be |
| The year 2009 ended our love affair with those | | | | more restrained and subdued because of the financial |
| impractical handbags and went a complete hundred | | | | crisis, some designers went for the more stunning and |
| and eighty degrees to the opposite side of the | | | | colorful designs--even to the extent of exotic animal |
| spectrum! Yes, this year heralded the dawn of the | | | | prints. Bold metallic colors also walked the runway. |
| oversized bag. Laptop? Check. Work documents? | | | | However, as the year draws to a close, the flashy |
| Check. Make-up? Check. Cellphone and iPod? Check. | | | | designer bags slowly waned in popularity as a more |
| With all the things swimming in the hottest | | | | classic practical style took center stage. |
| multi-compartment bags of the year, you'd wonder if | | | | Are you searching for a designer handbag? Or maybe |
| they were designed for the modern-day Mary Poppins | | | | a black leather purse of your own? Top of mind |
| in mind. | | | | designer bags for the year 2009 would have to be |
| Style and performance seems to be the anthem of | | | | Hermes Birkin, Louis Vuitton Speedy 35, and the Coco |
| this year. Fashionably irresistible? Yes. Dead-on | | | | Chanel 2.55. With the first half of the year devoted to |
| practical, too. Black and white with shades of blues | | | | wild and bold colors that epitomized youthful |
| and reds thrown in between--2009 went for the | | | | exuberance and the second half of the year devoted |
| classic look that was smart and trendy. | | | | to the classic and functional look that will never go out |
| What was even interesting was how designers seem | | | | of style--2009 has been quite the roller coaster ride. |
| to have gone for the classic look with a slight upgrade. | | | | |