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!