What Do Heidi Klum, Lindsay Lohan, Christina Aguilera and I Have in Common? The Botkier Handbag, Fashion's Latest "Must Have" Bag

When I brought my "baby" home two days after Christmas, I couldn't help but just sit and stare for longer than I'd like to admit. She was truly one of the most beautiful things I'd ever laid eyes on: buttery soft skin, so sweet and pliable that I could barely keep my hands away. And that smell, that wonderful, wonderful scent! My new 'baby' was the first Botkier bag that I'd ever owned, purchased largely in part because of two generous holiday gift certificates from my daughters and the 'day after Christmas sale' at my favorite boutique.

At its original retail price of $660, I had admire the bag from not so far away for several weeks; the store's owner had kindly let me put it on 'hold' on Christmas Eve with a deposit. The very next day that the store was opened, I was first in line, loaded with my gift certificates, to purchase the best handbag that I've ever owned.

Botkier may not be as well known, certainly, as Chanel, Dior, Fendi, Marc Jacobs, or 'hipper' brands such as Kate Spade, or even 'lesser' lines like Dooney & Bourke, Etienne Aigner, Nine West, to name just a few. While the above handbag designs have been around for decades, Botkier bags first came on the market in 2003. I saw my very first Botkier at a very high-end designer consignment shop in New York City. The bag was a burnt orange color, very lightly used, with the most amazing zippers and pockets and tassles. I must have looked at that bag a half dozen times in the store.

When I asked its price, the owner noted that it was 'an authentic Botkier, priced to sell at $350'. Now, at that price, most of us would immediately think of every and anything else that we could do with $350. But the burnt orange bag, with its supple leather, gorgeous lining, and hand-stitching still drew my attention. I 'tried it on' several times, too. Were it not for the fact that this particular style was a hand bag and not the shoulder/tote style that I always use, that little beauty might well be sitting on my closet shelves today, snugly wrapped in its Botkier signature gray dust bag. I came that close!

I'd never heard of a Botkier bag before, so I set out on a quest to educate myself (and more importantly, to own one!)

Designer Monica Botkier, a New York City resident, began her professional career as a fashion photographer. Her works have been shown in a variety of 'younger' fashion magazines, including Nylon, Surface, Fitness and Seventeen. As she became more in demand and significantly busier, Botkier almost literally stumbled upon a fashion niche which she felt she could fulfill herself: high quality handbags for busy young career women, for fashionistas, for the sophisticated woman on the go.

The market was for women pretty much exactly like Botkier herself: pressed for time, needing a decent to fairly large amount of space in a handbag, one that could go with them from a fashion shoot to a meeting to cocktails and then dinner. It was to be the kind of exquisitely crafted, durable yet painstakingly crafted bag that could be used 24/7, yet still 'fit in' with all the activities that a day can bring (including play dates at the park as well as that romantic dinner for two at Mr. Chow's).

In 2003, Botkier debuted the Trigger bag, which was wildly successful even in the discerning eye of the New York fashion world. (The Trigger bag draws its influence from a saddle bag. Available as either a hobo or hand bag, its most impressive feature was the suble implementation of additional zippered pockets not only inside the bag, but outside the bag as well, from which leather tassles gracefully dropped. The outside pockets were diagonally placed on the front of the bag, providing extra storage incorporated into the overall good looks of the bag itself.) Composed of leather in a variety of colors (including pink, purple, sage green and red), and custom-crafted hardware in gold tone and nickle plate.

The Trigger line of Botkier was the very first in a number of styles that addressed the way young, stylish women dressed and accessorized. Other Botkier designs include the Bianca (introduced in spring of 2006), the Holster, the mini-Holster (both aligned along the lines of the original Trigger but more understated), the Emily, the Crosby, the Bombay, Safari, Saddle (again a Trigger variation), Sloane, Essex, and the most recent style, Lola, introcued this year. The bags are designed with price in mind; their starting retail price hovers in the mid $400 range, none of them costing over $900. The focus is on presenting an all leather, utilitarian and highly attractive and distinctive bag that a woman can use daily, for many years.

Each of the designs remains true to the overall concept of practicality plus presence; all bags are fully leather, in most cases. (In 2004, Botkier came out with a trigger mix bag, which was a smaller version of the original trigger but with a fabric/canvas body trimmed in leather with a leather handle. Generally called a 'nude mix', the bag is rather on the plain, paler side of Botkier's offerings, and its resale price is one of the best bargains you'll find if you're looking to purchase a previously owned bag; prices start as low as $100.) My first Botkier bag was the cognac brown Crosby hobo handbag. With its goldtoned hardware accented by goldtoned tassles on the zipper pulls, it really is an incredible bag.

The body is a 'crackled' goatskin, the interior a beige cowhide suede. It features a single shoulder strap, and has two side zippered flap pockets, one on each side of the bag itself. The top zippered closure opens to a spacious interior, with one zippered compartment and four - yes, four! - mini compartments/pockets, perfect for your cell phone, Ipod, keys, etc. Other than the exotic look of the leather, the wonderful smell of virgin cowhide, and the gorgeous warm, rich color, I do have a special affinity for those shamelessly gorgeous goldtoned tassles! To my personal opinion, I prefer them very much over Botkier's normal/other designs which have the leather tassles.

There are really three ways to learn more about the Botkier handbag line: check out their web site, check out bags being sold new and previously owned on the Ebay site, and seeing them for yourself in a store. I'll start with the simplest - viewing them on Botkier's own site (www.botkier.com).

Frankly, I have some issues with the main site. It showcases the current season's newest offerings (spring/summer 2007), plus the new line of slim leather belts. When you click on the link for 'spring/summer 2007', it takes you to a parade - yes, literally a parade! - of the styles, scrolling merrily across the page. It has taken me several tries to actually click on a style that I wanted to see more closely. When I was able to freeze a particular style, it was shown in only one color, with the price below the photograph. Its archives go back only to the latter part of 2005; anything produced earlier than that isn't shown. Monica's line comes out for two seasons per year: the spring/summer and the fall/winter, plus the annual 'holiday' line. You have to register onto the site to actually get more detailed information, especially to purchase a particular bag. Only then will you see the actual colors and price (bags do go on sale!) available for the style in which you're interested. It's a very pretty, dazzling site, but not particularly user-friendly or informative.

One of the most interesting aspects of the site is its listing of celebrities who own Botkier bags: Heidi Klum , Kate Bosworth, Lindsey Lohan, Brittany Murphy, Keira Knightly, Marissa Tomei, Michelle Rodriguez (?), Connie Nelson (another ?), Bijou Phillips, Jennifer Jason Leigh (the Ghost Whisperer, I believe), Shannon Elizabeth of bad movies fame, Erika Christianson, Jenny McCartney, Tyra Banks, Bridget Moynahan, Joy Bryant (Kobe's wife), Hilary Duff, Natasha Richardson, Sarah Jessica Parker and her best "Sex" pal Kim Cattral, Victoria Beckham, Angela Bassett, Mariah Carey, Gwenyth Paltrow, Christina Aguilera, Christina Milan (?), Christy Turlington, and Naomi Watts.

Also listed on another page are Jessica Alba and Zooey Deschanel. (They must be more recent, more 'it' celebrities who own a bag.) Personally, I have never cared a whit about which celebrities own a certain bag; heaven knows that enough of them are actually GIVEN designer goodies to wear and promote. For me, baby, it's all about the bag!

Botkier bags are also sold in higher-end department stores and boutiques in this country and around the world. They can be found at Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman, Nordstrom, and Bloomingdale's. The company also stocks over 500 'specialty', i.e., boutiques, mostly in the United States. The web site kindly provides telephone numbers for the larger stores, or you can go to the store's own sites (www.nordstrom.com, for example) to see what they have online. Check with pricey accessory boutiques in your area as well to see if they carry Botkier. In southern New Jersey, Blush in Mount Laurel, New Jersey, carries a few of the most popular bags. Don't forget to also check out your high-end consignment shops as well. In Haddonfield, New Jersey, in Camden County, there are five excellent very high-end consignment stores which carry Botkier on a fairly regular basis.

A really good way of actually getting to see and familiarize yourself with the Botkier line is to check out the Ebay listings. Both new and used bags are sold, but they average only 40 to 60 Botkiers at any given time (as opposed to the hundreds each of Coach, Kate Spade and Dooney & Bourke). On Ebay, you can see the subtle differences within each style: shoulder bags, hobo bags, the skeleton bag (which is not one of my particular favorites), to see the bag's overall look. You can also see where and how the brand's zippered compartments are placed (on the front, on the side), what size the compartments actually are, if the bag has a full zipper closure or has a strap that folds over and snaps in place.

Ebay also gives you a pretty good idea of what you can expect to pay in a dollar range that goes from $100 up to $800. It's a good place to start, especially if you had trouble perusing the Botkier web site. If you do plan on purchasing a Botkier on Ebay, please be sure to check the seller's feedback rating and return policy. (I had read recently that 80% of the 'designer' handbags sold on Ebay are replicas.) An authentic Botkier purchased new comes with its signature gray felt dustbag with the word 'botkier' spelled out in lavendar print. The authenticity card is also lavender. Another way to verify a Botkier's authenticity? Check out the stitching, which is done by hand and beautifully woven into the bag's bodywork.

I highly recommend a Botkier handbag for the woman who loves genuine, real leather bags in a sleek, aesthetically interesting dynamic style. Besides looking really sharp, they have the extra edge of providing really useful storage compartments and nifty trims in terms of tassles. While recently at the mall with my daughters, the window of Nine West caught my eye. Their spring/summer line is replete with Botkier-inspired bags (most with white stitching, which was a real turn-off). They had the side compartments, the diagonal zippered fronts - they were so obviously copies of the Botkier look that I stood there dumbfounded.

While the Nine West 'inspired' bags were nice, I'll take the real thing, thank you! I'm just now gently dusting off my 'spring/summer' Botkier - it's a palest shade of pink hobo, with an amazingly jazzy silver chain and hardware - bring on spring, I'm ready!