Decorate Accordingly: It's (Not Just) In The Bag

Rebecca Minkoff Spring 2011

Rebecca Minkoff, the woman who names her bags things like "The Morning After" (satchel), "Fling" (bedecked clutch), and "Paper or Plastic" (folding wallet) now makes appropriately hip and cheeky clothes.

Isabel Marant and Rachel Comey are the reigning queens of French girl chic, ... but I love the creative 9-5 style that Minkoff is going for. She's definitely in their territory, and at a far fairer price point.

the eponymous designer

Her first ready-to-wear collection came out in 2009; limited, but edgy and cool, with enough mini-dresses to ensnare a few Hollywood starlets.

'Claudia' dress $310

Paris Hilton in the 'Claudia'

Her bags have been long favoured for their marriage of rock-chic toughness and practical detail. They're bedecked with rivets and zippers, belying the hyperorganized interior - for girls who date tattooed musicians without checking accounts, yet still want to keep their iPads and lipsticks compartmentalized.

Her clothing is becoming just as synergistic:
Skinny pants for late-night concerts, ruffled silk blouses, demure dresses, and a new shoe line that's predominantly Parisian-girl ankle booties. Her collection is like a capsule version of that study in contrasts mix. It's part buttoned-up and wearable, part raw and rebellious. And it all looks even cooler with rumpled bedhead, which I consider to be a huge plus.