Who: Diaper Dudes – Los Angeles, CA

What: Green Dude Diaper Bag

Where: All Modern Baby – $92.98

Why We Love It: Dad shouldn’t have to tote around a paisley-ed, flowered, teddy bear-ed diaper bag when he takes the little ones out (actually, no one should have to…) and now he doesn’t have to. The Diaper Dude collection of diaper bags are tough, rugged and cool.

The Green Dude messenger style diaper bag is made of recycled PET material (about 25 plastic water bottles!) which means less plastic filling up our landfills. It’s got all the bells and whistles to keep dad organized, including a handy checklist on the flap, in case dad needs a little help… There’s an insulated water bottle holder, a baby wipes slot, a changing pad, a detachable cell phone pocket, everything dad needs for a day out.

See also the Diaper Dude Laptop Bag.

Who: Native Honey – Trabuco Canyon, CA

What: Leather Tumbleweed Handbag

Where: Native Honey – $165

Why We Love It: We discovered this laid back handbag at an adorable boutique in Laguna Beach (La La filled with the most relaxed beachy textiles, bedding and apparel, it’s absolutely dreamy…). The bag immediately caught our eye amidst a sea of beautiful things and gave us a whole new appreciation for those old fabric scarp throw rugs. Love how Native Honey took a relatively humdrum material and made it incredibly cool, country, yet modern. Click to continue »

Who: REVEAL- Los Angeles, CA

What: Vegan Superstar Bag

Where: Amazon.com -$81.45

Why We Love It: Love, love this bag – it’s a hybrid between a duffle and a handbag, which is perfect when you need to tote more than a phone and a wallet. The mix of patent faux leather and everyday rope is the perfect blend of sophistication and practicality and perfect for the eco-fashionista on your list.

The bag comes complete with an ‘ingredients’ label so you’ll know exactly what it is made of. The main ingredients being cruelty-free vegan leather, hemp and recycled polyester made of recycled plastic water bottles. Even the zipper is made of recycled materials with a 100% recycled polyester tape and 30% recycled metal slider. And for every item sold, REVEAL plants a tree.

Available in black white ruby or light charcoal.

Who: UNICEF & HSN

What: FEED Trick-or-Treat Bag to Benefit UNICEF

Where: HSN -$13.20 + $2.95 for s&h.

Why We Love It: Still in need of a bag for toting home all that Halloween loot? Skip the plastic and opt for this cute jack-o’-lantern tote. It’ll hold all your kids Halloween goodies while supporting a good cause. For each bag purchased $3.50 will donated to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF enough to provide one child in the developing world with an entire year’s worth of micronutrient powders.

The bag itself was designed by Lauren Bush (George W’s niece and co-founder of FEED Projects LLC) in celebration of the 60th anniversary of Trick or Treat for UNICEF. The trick or treat tote features a reflective glow in the dark webbing to help keep your trick-or-treater’s visible at night no matter how dark the costume. We also find them to be a fun and festive way to tote home groceries. Click to continue »

Who: Littlefly – London, U.K.

What: Vanity Fair Ring

Where: Littlefly – $42

Why We Love It: This is the perfect gift for literature lovers. Lifted from the pages of the classic novel, Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, comes this handcrafted ring by British designer Jeremy May. To create each piece, he carefully carves out of block of pages from a book and laminates the sheets together and carved into the shape of a heart. Through the layers, you can catch glimpses of the words of the story captured within.A high gloss finish is applied to achieve the polished look of tumbled stones.

Each piece is then packaged in the book it was carved from. Although a book is sacrificed to create each piece, it is an inventive way to memorialize a favorite book. And the final product is packaged in the pages of the book it was carved from.

Who: FUZ – Berkeley, CA

What: UM Shoulder Bag

Where: Amazon
– $135 with your choice of blue, grey, green, orange or pink zippers (free shipping on orders over $50)

Why We Love It: We have long been fans of FUZ felt collection and had the chance to meet designer and felt-lover Josh Jakus, along with his new collection of home goods a couple of years ago at the ICFF show. Suffice to say this feature is looong overdue, perhaps because we have been coveting these sustainable, chic and totally practical felt bags all for ourselves…. apologies.

Love the blend of the soft, heather grey felt with brightly colored zippers that magically unzip in such a way that the bag can lie completely flat making it beyond perfect for travel. We often struggle with the dilemma of wanting to bring two purses on our travels to maximize outfit coordination, but being unable to fit two in our carry-on so inenvitably one boxy purse gets edited out. But this pack-flat bag is genius! Problem solved.

We are also big proponents of pale, heather grey felts, and were particularly  impressed by the sustainability of the felt by FUZ. They use an industrial grade felt made out of pressed wool felt from factory excess fiber often from the production of men’s wool suits that is soft yet rugged. The manufacturing process itself is pretty green too; machine cut to avoid waste, minimizing energy consumption and working with local craftsmen to hand sew each piece.

Who: Celapiu – Cracow, Poland

What: Braided Ears

Where: Etsy – $42

Why We Love It: So yes, we are a wee bit smitten with Oeuf’s collection of animal hats and tails, and yes, we know that are meant for wee ones, but they are so cute! So when we saw this more appropriate grown-up version by Celupui, we were delighted!  Braided ears, that aren’t quite as obvious as a fox’s hat, but they’ve exude that same sense of fun and whimsy in a modern, sophisticated  way. Click to continue »

Who: Plaid Doctrine – Seattle Washington

What: Laptop Tote

Where: Plaid Doctrine – $479 in Red Houndstooth, Blue Houndstooth or Grey Stripe. (Bonus, for those in the greater Seattle area, you’ll get free ground shipping on all orders.

Why We Love It: With a handful of trips coming up, a functional and fashionable laptop bag is certainly on our list of must-haves, and this houndstooth tote from Suzanne Park of new label Plaid Doctrine has definitely moved to the top of that list. Designed for serious travel in mind the bag comes complete with plenty of storage space, wheelie cart sleeve, thick leather straps and patterns that make it a stand out in a sea of generic black laptop bags. We love love the blue and brown houndstooth – and it seems so does everyone else, this style is constantly on backorder! Click to continue »

Who: Jenny Krauss
What: Wool Embroidered Belts

Where: Harriet & Leo – $70

Why We Love It: Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert chronicles the author’s trip around the world after her divorce, and what she discovered during her travels. Love or hate the movie version, we’ve taken some inspiration from Julia Roberts character’s, relaxed boho style and throw back to hippie chic fashion.

We particularly loved the woven belt by accessory designer, Jenny Krauss featured in a scene in Eat, Pray, Love. Click to continue »

Who: Thanda Zulu – Boston, MA

What: Sweetie Necklaces

Where: Thanda Zulu – $24 – $48 & for a limited time everything on the site is 20% off!

Why We Love It: Mmmm, we are such suckers for candy-esque baubles (pun not intended, but there you have it…. ) and these glass beaded strands from Thanda Zulu are delectable. The glass beads, imported from the Czech Republic, are beautiful and the strands come in a variety of color palettes from the bold multi-colored strand to the muted grays of the storm. They range in length from 17″ to 46″, so they are ideal for layering, looping and mixing and matching. And if you are looking for fun ways to style your Thanda Zulu strands, take a look at these ideas from the ladies of Bryn Mawr…. Click to continue »