In the Bag

I love a good leather purse, and the trapeze tote is all the rage right now. I'm kind of an extremist when it comes to bags: I like either tiny ones that you don't notice while you're dancing (small cross-body styles, I'm looking at you), or gigantic ones that will fit two magazines, a book, and a teacup pig. These fall into the latter category, and after years and years of buying perfectly rectangular totes (I'm a girl of habit, apparently), I am craving an interesting, off-kilter shape. Seriously. This is what happens when you write about fashion for a living: you begin to slip things like "crave" and "need" and "Come to mama" into daily conversation. The trapeze tote is perfectly slouchy (all the better to pair with rumpled tees and skinny jeans) yet unexpected. Plus, it's so versatile. Here are my favorite styles:

Clockwise from top: J.Crew leather tote, $328; jcrew.com, Alexander Wang leather tote, $975; alexanderwang.com, Céline calfskin purse, $OutOfMyPriceRange; celine.com