Hello and aren’t we happy-happy-happy it is a bright and beautiful Tuesday?! Tis a privilege to be on the third coast where it is bright and sunny, low humidity and high excitement at the Merchandise Mart! We owe a ‘Thank You’ for the lovely weather to Erin (Third Coast Preppy) who promised the Princess Consort it would be this way!
After designing our exclusive placemats, napkins and other goodies, there is nothing quite so fun as buying trips to find the latest and greatest in preppy goodies for the Preppy Princess. That’s where we are, on the road looking for the ‘newest and coolest’ in personal and home accessories.
Speaking of new… has anyone seen these yet? We just stumbled upon them while looking up another item at Tiffany’s. (Yes, to be accurate it is singular, Tiffany, but we’re feeling slightly sloppy this morning.) These are new, at least to The Princess, canvas with leather trim, and only available online.
The Tiffany Tote (our name – Tiffany is simply calling them ‘Pink Tote,’ ‘Brown Tote,’ etc.) seems more like a handbag to TP; regardless of name, we must admit they actually seem kind of cool. The website describes them this way:
Carry yourself with style. Tote in canvas with pink leather. 15.5 x 7.25 x 15.5″. Available exclusively on Tiffany.com.
The totes don’t look like they are really 16″ square from the photos; they seem wider than they are tall, but they do look good-sized. At $395 they are not inexpensive but their lines are clean and timeless. (There is also a white patent leather version of the tote we do not show in the photos.) We’re pretty sure this is one that will be in style next year and the year after that and the year after that. In other words, a good investment if you love the look. Of course, we would remove these pesky things lest the LogoPhobia kick in:
Discounting the easily removable leather logo tag (at least it looks easily removable) this is one handbag or purse or tote or whatever we might be able to establish a relationship with, one we could learn to like, even grow to love. TP would even consider overlooking her bitter and hostile feelings minor concerns (minor?!) about the Tiffany Eyeglasses and think about acquiring one of these. For new readers this means overlooking Tiffany logos the size of Lake Michigan on said eyeglasses. (We have discussed the tedious topic in previous posts and don’t want to bore anyone else with the background.)
Does anyone else think this is reminiscent of other retailers who have branched out into new markets? Cartier does handbags in addition to other personal accessories, and Bulgari comes to mind as a jeweler that extended its brand into new markets, especially leather goods. As an example, we see the Baby Panther Mobile Phone Strap from Cartier below.
On the other hand Fendi started as a small Italian fur and leather company that expanded into more apparel. These are a few looks from their Resort 2009 RTW (Ready to Wear) Collection, so they aren’t commercially available.
Now because it held such a big role as Carrie Bradshaw’s bag in Sex and the City, we simply must show the Fendi Baguette in shocking pink on sale at Bluefly. 
You didn’t really think we would pass up the opportunity to do the pink and green thing did you? Here is the green one, also on sale at Bluefly Batcave.
Now, having shown with great fanfare the Polo Ralph Lauren Kids Paint Your Own Polos we were amazed to learn about this: the Fendi Paint Your Own Baguette!
This one was released months ago, back in February or March. It was greeted with almost universal disdain and resentment, people were simply aghast at the thought of $1300 for a white canvas bag with 10 magic markers as they saw it. It is still available at numerous sites if you are so inclined, like eluxury.com and Needless Markup Neiman Marcus.
Everywhere we see stories about the renaissance of needlepoint, although it really never went away for some of us… did it for you? Anything promoting the art/craft is good and you won’t hear us denigrate the coverage. Besides, it is always fun to learn about new designs, including these from Jonathan Adler. The pillow in the top photograph is designed to look like very preppy grosgrain ribbon belts, and the smaller photo below shows Adler’s Ties Pillow, both really TDF (to die for) and great additions to almost any room at any of your homes.
Then we have these two, each of which is on sale, originally $165 and now $98, quite the bargain. We show the set, but the Queen of Hearts and Ace of Spades pillows *are* sold individually so the set of two would run $196.
The Preppy Princess 