According to the sales blurb, the Ego is the “World’s most desired luxury notebook.” Words almost fail. Twenty thousand dollars for a laptop computer that looks like a purse. The first thing that comes to mind is “Where would you keep your lipstick?

Presenting the Ego Bentley Laptop. Ego produce luxury laptops, no question, but do I want one? Not on your life.

Every model is handcrafted with cross-over hand-stitching, a relocated car door handle, and features Microsoft Vista, a 64 bit processor, 12 direct access keys, and a 160GB hard drive. Expected to hit the market next summer, the price is expected to be a whopping £10,000 or $20,000 if the exchange rate doesn’t change.

Ego lifestyles

As we’re looking for great summer bags, we turned our search to Michael Kors. And it wasn’t too long before we came across this Michael Kors Santorini Large Tote. Just look at it. Doesn’t a straw bag scream summer?

This straw tote has white (or vanilla) leather trim and straps.. The double straps give the bag a sturdy feel. And look at the closure. The flap bridges the middle of the bag and has a magnetic snap closure. Take a close look at the hardware detail on this baby!

The inside of the tote has a zippered pocket, place for your cellphone, additional pockets, and is lined. It even has little feet to sit on so you don’t ruin the bottom of the bag when you put it down.

This tote is 15.5 inches wide, 10 inches high and 6 inches deep. It has a 7 inch drop from the shoulder. It’s a nice side for tossing in a summer book, your sunglasses, sunscreen, lip balm, and even an extra pair of flip flops! Don’t forget your phone for that little cellphone pocket!

You can get this bag at Bloomie’s for around $368 (right now it’s on sale for $256.99!).

We thought we’d peruse Chanel to see what lovely bags they have in the upcoming Fall-Winter 2008/9 pre collection. We trotted through those and found ourselves in the midst of Paris-Londres 2007/8 instead. That’s okay, there are plenty of things worthy of gazing upon.

And then we saw the bag shown above. It’s the Aged Calfskin Slim Tote Bag with Exterior Pockets. Five oddly arranged, weirdly sized, ugly exterior pockets. They look like moles. Or pustules. Take your pick

It’s not just the odd shape and size of the pockets - it’s the placement. It looks like they gave a five-year-old a bunch of blocks and said, “Here, stick these on the side of this, will you?” and voilà, they had their placement.

Seriously, we think they have ruined an otherwise perfectly functional and nice-looking tote with those hideous growths. Yes, we said it. They are hideous. Even though the detail on the little buggers isn’t half bad. It has the same quilted stitching that the rest of the bag has. And each has matching hardware to the rest of the bag.

We like the stitching detail. The chain shoulder strap is nice, too, although it would probably cut in if you filled the bag too full.

But we just can’t get over those pockets. What do you think?

I realized today, while out for a run, that I’ve completely neglected men. I mean on this blog. My husband recently bought a man-purse (he finally caved), which has been a completely practical item here in France. And, no one sniggers at him behind his back, as every other man is also carrying a man-purse. Anyway, I realized that I have never posted about these diminutive carry-alls.

When I poked around the innernet to see what the online status of the manbag is, I found some interesting things. First, I had completely forgotten that one of my favorite wordless pals from the 70s and 80s carried one. Chewbacca rolled with a leather-looking satchel attached to that crazy metal blocky sash thingy he wore. I wonder what he carried in that thing? Gum? A comb? His driver’s license? Keys to the Millennium Falcon? No idea.

I also took a look at one of my favorite shopping sites, www.etsy.com and found the fab bag above that I may have to buy my husband.

Ok, and I just noticed the price, so perhaps I won’t be buying it for him after all. Have I mentioned he tends to destroy every item of clothing/piece of furniture/kitchen implement/whatever else that he gets his hands on? He’s a big, strong guy and tends to underestimate his potential for absolute annihilation. But if you have $799, this bag is really so sophisticated yet not too ”look at me” looking.

Girls, meet the Balenciaga Lune Clutch in brown and black. Just one look and this clutch is proof-positive that you can mix brown and black with fabulous results. The Lune only comes in this single color combination. And why not? It looks lovely, doesn’t it? We certainly think so.

This bag is made from shiny goatskin with patent leather details. The metal hardware is gold plated and the front has a magnetic closure. (What purse with a flap doesn’t these days?) And it’s made in Italy. Additional details include a nice lining and zip pocket. Of course, the pocket has a tiny leather tag with the Balenciaga name embossed on it.

It measures out at just over 9 inches wide, a bit over 6.5 inches tall, and less than an inch deep. It’s just about the perfect size for carrying essentials - no cramming in all of the little things you need until it’s bursting at the seams and misshapen.

This would be a nice bag for various occasions, from semi-casual to work. Can’t you just picture that with a great suit?

The Lune clutch is available from Balenciaga for $465.

Hello, dear ones. I thought I should introduce myself before we get too far into this little game of ours. Margaret has so graciously asked me to add my thoughts about purses, which I am ever so happy to do.

I’m Becky. I live in sunny San Diego, where our weather is fabulous, beaches are plentiful and shopping is divine. We may not have a Rodeo Drive, but we have plenty of high-end retailers to provide an assortment of goodies for our viewing pleasure.

I don’t think one can ever have too many handbags at her disposal. So much depends on a girl’s mood, her clothing, and her needs for that day. Or even that hour.

We’re here to talk about all things related to designer bags, dearies. The good, the bad, and even the ugly. Because what’s more fun than dishing on the ONE bag everyone’s dying to get but we secretly think is absolutely hideous?

We’ll try to provide you with some seriously wonderful finds, with a little fun — and maybe even some guilty pleasures — thrown in for good measure.

Is there something you’re looking for? Something you’re dying to share? Feel free to let us know in the comments. We’re always on the lookout for the latest and greatest, as well as the up-and-coming. We want to hear what you enjoy, so we can bring you the dish.

(The featured photo is a Leiber Limited-Edition Strawberry Cupcake Clutch. Retail: $4295)

This little number comes from the Valentino fall collection at Neiman Marcus. Made of red leather, it has top handles and a shoulder strap so you can carry it whichever way you like. It has a zip top, with dual red leather zipper pulls.

And, of course, that gigantic rosette. How could you miss that? This purse has so many things going for it. Unfortunately, the rosette is not one of them. If it were a little rose, an accent, that would be one thing. But this is a massive growth on the side of this bag.

The leather work and the detail are actually quite nice, as is the stitching. And the bag is a nice size, too, at 8″ tall, 14 1/2″ wide, and 7″ deep. It can easily hold our cell phone, makeup bag, and a good book.

Oh, who are we kidding? We’d throw a lot more than that in our bag. But not during the summer. This is definitely a fall accessory, so we’d have to toss in a pair of gloves and possibly a scarf, too.

If you’re into big, bulbous details on your handbags, then by all means this one is for you. But we think we’ll stick to a handbag that complements our outfit, rather than taking it over, thankyouverymuch.

Now normally we will tell you about the lovely goodies to be found, but we just had to comment on this little news nugget. A poor Gucci shop in Australia was rammed with a stolen Mercedes. Then the three people in the car ran inside and pilfered handbags worth thousands of dollars.

The front of the store was heavily damaged, with the security gate severely bent and glass everywhere. Now that sounds like a bit of desperation doesn’t it? The sad part was that the perpetrators were 16, 18, and 19. They stole a 2001 Mercedes and then proceeded to vandalize and steal from the store. They ran off, leave about a dozen handbags littering the store’s floor.

Children, didn’t your mother teach you to work hard and earn the money for those Gucci bags? It’s not like they got away with it, as they were later questioned for this and several other incidents recently.

Really, regardless of whether they were the “cheap” Guccis, we just can’t stand it when people don’t earn something like that. By earn, we mean “have the money” or “get it as a gift” - anything but stealing it. “Get your own” doesn’t mean taking it by force, darlings.

Back Wednesday with some eye candy. Promise!

In honor of the arrival of Camila Alves and Matthew McConaughy’s new little bundle of joy, I thought I’d take a look at her purse line, Muxo. Handmade in the USA supposedly by Alves and/or her mother, with materials from Brazil, they whole line has a very casual, almost cowboyish look. The insignia reminds me of a cattle brand.

Alves apparently wanted to design the kind of bag she has searched for- big enough to put a laptop in, but still fashionable. She uses leather that has been finished to look like crocodile for some of the bags, and I think the effect is actually quite nice. Fringe figures prominently in most of the bags. Personally that’s a little too “Sloan” from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, so they’re not my cup of tea, but I can see how some women would want one. I think I’m too small in stature to pull one of these off, and I prefer something more structured. But that’s just me. I’m sure heaps of Californian women will fall all over these.

Ebay has just lost a lawsuit filed by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and has been ordered to pay the luxury goods brand a whopping 38.6 million euros ($60.8 million) in damages. The Paris court has ruled that Ebay has not done enough to ensure that counterfeit LVMH products aren’t put up for sale on the site. According to the New York Times, 90 percent of Louis Vuitton bags and Dior perfumes sold on Ebay are fake. 

I know someone who once sold fake bags on Ebay and she made a pretty good living from it. She claims she never said they were real, which could be true, but I doubt someone would pay very much for a bag that is obviously a fake. She eventually had her Ebay account frozen and all her money taken. That’s pretty uncool, as I do believe some of the money she made on Ebay was not from (counterfeit) bag sales.

Over here in France, many of us living near the border go to Italy for grocery and other shopping as many things are less expensive there. There is a big outdoor market in Ventimiglia and in San Remo a few times a week, and on those days, when you are coming back and going through the toll booth into French territory, there are usually Douanes there- police from the Customs department. They aren’t there just to welcome you to France and give you a complementary beret, they are checking to see if you’ve purchased any counterfeit products, which are readily available at the outdoor markets in Italy. Occasionally the Italian police crack down on the sellers, who are usually trolling the streets with trash bags filled with counterfeit Gucci, Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace; you name it.  Or they’re carrying a little photo album of what they have on offer (if you want something, you pick it from the photo album catalogue, then they run back to wherever they are storing the sunglasses or handbags or whatever and bring your selection back to you). The Italian police appear to be mostly half-hearted about the crackdowns, and the sellers are pretty slick about getting by them. So I guess that’s where the French Douanes come in- they catch the products as they come into France. Local legend says they confiscate your faux items, destroy them in front of you and then levy an enormous fine.

An unnamed friend has purchased some of these fake bags, even though I have told her she is supporting human trafficking, child labor and goodness knows what else, and it’s tacky! If you have the money, why would you buy a vinyl bag that is going to fall apart in a month? As I’ve mentioned before, I love my Louis Vuitton bag. And I know that craftsmen in France made my bag. She has gone through at least 5 bags while my LV looks brand new. Sheesh! I should be getting a sales commission from Louis Vuitton!