Margaret Logan Style

Bonnie Jeweled Canvas Carryall by Coach, $698

Bonnie Jeweled Canvas Large Tote by Coach, $1,000

I love these satchels. I think because they remind me of the sketches I used to draw when I was a girl (much rougher, of course), completely lost in fashion fantasy…Dramatic dresses and long coats ~ all of the fabulous clothes I imagined I would wear to the grand and glorious parties I might someday attend, living my busy, urban life. It didn’t seem so far fetched or far away, and I wiled away the hours contemplating colors and cuts and facades.

It’s funny how an image can trigger a memory and immediately pull us back into another time and space and moment. When I first saw these bags in the spring 2009 Coach brand book, I couldn’t wait to have one, for that very reason. Is it possible to have complete and utter happiness in a hand bag? A beaming smile every time you carry it down the street, just feeling the heads turn? My sister insists a hot pink Ostrich Kelly bag would do that for her. One would hope.

I concluded the Bonnie (after Bonnie Cashin, iconic Coach designer from the 1960s) Jeweled Canvas Large tote with hot pink patent leather trim was indeed the bag for me. Just what the doctor ordered, as I like to say. The perfect piece to lift me out of my long winter lull in anticipation of a simply joyous springtime…Until, that is, I finally located its price in that swanky Coach brand book. $1,000!

And just like that, I found myself back in that faraway land of fashion fantasy. Some lucky gal will splurge on this bag and I hope love it as much I would. But not me. I will be the one admiring from afar, with a contented smile.

The Sophie Slingback by Kate Spade is the ultimate breath of fresh air in a spring shopping season full of masculine, tough, edgy and just plain heavy-on-your-feet shoes.

Leave it to Kate Spade to embrace the feminine side of life, right down to your polished toes, and what’s not to love? The linen fabrication is light, the colors are bold and yet entirely fresh (turquoise and coral) and the heel offers a subtle detail that is sophisticated and eye catching ~ polished burl wood that to the touch almost appears like resin, which neutralizes the shoe a bit, making it perfect to pair with linen trousers, a great dress or even a summer suit.

And the price point, at $295, is quite justifiable in these times when $400 is the new $200 when it comes to buying shoes. You ladies know just what I mean.

So kick up your heels this spring without knocking your budget out of the ballpark!

Available at Stiletto Shoes, upper Exchange Street in Portland or Deer Street in Portsmouth. Call 207.775.3033 for more information.