Of course I have to jump into the whole “OMGosh!  Suri Cruise is carrying a $850 Ferragamo Sofia bag just like her mom!!!” debate.

Which is an interesting trend since we saw Angelina and Zahara’s matching Valentino Histoire handbags (Zahara’s being specially made- I’d assume, just like Suri’s) just like a year ago or so… remember that?

I mean, it’s hard for me to get beyond the cuteness factor… but I’ll try!

First off… I have real suspicions that neither of these bags cost anywhere near $850.  They probably were more in the range of, oh, I don’t know… TOTALLY FREE!  Yeah, gifted.  I mean, look at the attention that both of these little families got for each brand.  I seriously doubt that either were actually purchased.

But for the sake of argument- let’s say that The Cruise-Holmeses (for starters) did buy the Ferragamo for Suri with their hard earned cash.  Well, I don’t know that Katie’s worth but MSNBC put Tom alone at about $250,000,000.  Yeah- a lot of zero’s!  So $850 is just at .00034% of his total wealth (and Katie makes a good chunk herself!)  To put that into perspective, that’s like someone who makes $38,611 (the average per capita Income in the USA according to Wiki) spending a whole $13.13 on a handbag!!!!

So… anyway, won’t go evangelizing, but I know that both families give away millions of dollars to charity- so I’m just not worrying about it for another second.

Picture Credit: US Magazine

I’m just loving the Olympics this year! Are you watching? I can’t get enough of US figure skater, Johhny Weir. He’s so much fun to watch on the ice… You can tell he’s having fun- and that’s just a pleasure to behold!  Was he robbed last night, or what?   But he’s equally as fun to watch off the ice!  Always drama!

Anyway, I remembered this article that I read a long time ago about what a Fashionnphile he is! It talks about the Louis Vuitton bag he’s carrying- with his Gucci change purse, Louis Vuitton camera case and Balenciaga wallet inside. It’s a fun read!

Love the Louis Vuitton black monogram denim shawl he’s wearing in the picture above- and we’ve got a pre-owned authentic Louis Vuitton monogram shawl that looks very similar on our website right now for about $50 less than retail.  Take a look!

Ahhh, love this!  Sunset Magazine- for those of you 20 inches deep in snow on the East Coast, is a fantastic Lifestyle magazine for those of us on the Left Coast.  Actually, it’s pretty much covers the entire Western sector of the US.  It was established in 1898 as a mag to promote the west coast on the Southern Pacific Railroad’s Sunset Route from New Orleans to San Francisco.  Now, it’s just a great travel, cooking and gardening mag.

Anyway, there’s a fun little article in the February edition called “Beverly Hills for the Rest of Us” that includes a fun little economical Beverly Hills tour.  How fun that they included little old us!  They took a nice picture of a monogram Louis Vuitton Eole along with some beautiful Louis Vuitton trunks, etc.  Love this funny little quote:

“It turns out that the term “bargain” is relative in Beverly Hills: Even secondhand, many items (except for a $125 lipstick case) still had four-digit price tags, a steal by Rodeo Drive standards. I decided paying my mortgage was probably smarter.”

Bargain is relative.  For example, we’ve got a pre-owned authentic Louis Vuitton Suhali Lockit GM right now for $2999.00.  The same bag around the corner at Louis Vuitton will cost you $3790.00.  $791 may not get you much in 90210, but it’s a mortgage payment in some parts of the US!

Pick up Sunset to take a look- or drop by the Showroom… it’s dog eared on our coffee table, of course!

So they way this program works is that for each friend that you refer to us, that sends us an item on consignment, or that we buy outright, we will pay you $25.  You can send us as many referrals as you want.  We’ll pay you $25 for each.

All they have to do is put your name in the “referred by” spot in their consignment or bag buy out contract form.

To make things even easier- and to make it less likely that they’ll forget you as they fill out that form… we actually created these little referral cards that you can print out.  You add your name, and give them to anyone you refer.  They’re really cute cards and you can print them out at home on regular paper or on the Avery 5371 business card paper that you can pick up at Office Max or Staples.

Anyway, thanks again!

It’s hard to know what to do right now- the images we see on TV and the internet of the devastation in Haiti are just heart wrenching.

We thought we’d start out by donating a bag- the Louis Vuitton Monogram Vertical Lockit that we just listed on eBay 100% to the American Red Cross.  We’re also donating 10% of every other bag that we’ve listed on eBay (think Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel, Bottega Veneta…) this week to the American Red Cross.

We’re doing it on eBay, cause they’ve got a program where they automatically take those funds- and we don’t have to worry about the logistics of getting the money to the right people.  The American Red Cross automatically gets the money at the close of the auctions.

Keep watching our blog- cause I’m going to be adding more information on how you can help out.  We’ll be listing items free of charge (we charge no commission- keep no funds) if you have a luxury pre-owned bag you’d like to donate to the cause….

We’ll unfortunately (for you- I guess very fortunately for another MC friend) have to draw another name if we can’t reach you.

Love the window display at the Louis Vuitton boutique around the corner- on Rodeo Drive!  I love the creativity behind these displays.  They always make me think of the part of the Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton documentary where shows some of them put up and being evaluated by- I believe it was Bernard Arnault himself!

Anyway, anything cool up in the windows of the boutiques in your neighborhood?  Take a quick pic on your phone and email it over!  I’d love to post it!!!

How’d I miss this cute little video from Ratatouille!

Remy says, “No, no, no, no, no… Don’t be a knock-off Nigel. Why settle for second best, when you can have the real thing!”

Such a wise little rat! And it so relates to everything: not just pirated DVDs, but handbags as well. It’s a good reminder that you can carry the real thing.

There was a head’s up in the New York Post yesterday that there’s a real problem with Fake Hermes Birkin’s popping up all over the city. It warned:

“Attention, fashionistas: New York is on fake Birkin alert! There’s been a sudden influx of faux Hermes Birkin bags around the city, popping up especially on subways and buses.”

Ladies & Gents, I know the recession has hit hard, but there’s no need to settle. If you love Hermes or Louis Vuitton, or Chanel, or Gucci- whatever… you don’t have to spend full retail to get it- but don’t carry a fake. If you want a deal- get it second hand. Sure, we’d TOTALLY LOVE IT if you bought it from Fashionphile- but if not, search other reputable sellers, on eBay or the web.

Just be careful, and get the real deal!