Victoria Beckham shows off her turquoise Birkin Bag

Yesterday Victoria Beckham chose a printed cotton dress with girlie ruffles, a far cry from her regular formal shift LBDs.

The stylish parts of this outfit were the accessories -  Victoria Beckham has a huge collection of Hermes Birkin Bags in many colours and finishes.  She carried a turquoise Birkin tote and matching suede Christian Louboutin four-inch heels.  Not quite the frumpy housewife look, then!

I do prefer Victoria in her Jackie O/Audrey hepburn looks, but they are not very practical for everyday life as the mother of three active boys.

Hermès Birkin

Hermes Fjord Birkin gold plated hardware

The Hermès bag illustrated here is the 35cm Fjord Birkin in black Veau Fjord leather, with 18 carat gold plated hardware. This goes some way to explaining the cost of these handbags, which are hand made in France. Another element in the price is the time taken to craft a Birkin leather bag – at least 48 hours highly skilled work. The interior is lined with fine goatskin to match the exterior colour of the bag.

The key to the Birkin lock is enclosed in a type of leather lanyard called a “clochette”. This is looped through one of the handles and the Birkin locks by closing the bag’s top flaps over all buckle loops, wrapping the buckle straps, and closing the lock on the front hardware. Not exactly something that can be done in a hurry!

On the base of the Hermès Birkin are four metal feet at each corner to protect the leather when the bag is rested on tables or other surfaces. As long as you buy from an established retailer you should get an authentic certificated Birkin, but here are some pointers to help you confirm the bag’s pedigree.

* Even stitching

Hermès Birkin goatskin lining

Apart from Victoria Beckham, here are some of the other famous fans of the iconic Birkin tote.
Actresses Sandra Bullock, Jodie Foster, Katie Holmes, Lindsay Lohan, Demi Moore, Sarah Jessica Parker, Nicole Richie and Julia Roberts. Singer Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson, models Kate Moss and Elle Macpherson.

The Hermès Birkin was named

Gold plated feet on the base of the Hermes Birkin

Mulberry Bayswater Oversized Tote carried by Victoria Beckham

Most of us would put the shades on to conceal the bags under our eyes but I suspect that Ms Beckham’s eyes were beautifully made up and bore no dark shadows beneath.  How does she do it, apart from being super rich?  To complete the outfit Victoria wore a plastic Alice Band and black stilettos to match her black Hermes designer handbag in rich Deep Black with contrasting tone on tone top stitch.

If you are looking for a designer handbag in trendy Ostrich leather, the Hermes Birkin is the height of luxury. This bag makes best use of the characteristic patterned hide with quill pattern polka dots. If your budget is lower, you can still enjoy the supple, water resistant qualities of Ostrich leather. Look for bags using smooth Ostrich hide, which is much cheaper but just as long-lasting. Ostrich hide is a sustainable leather and the animals are farmed in a free range way, so you can buy an Ostrich leather handbag with a clear conscience.

If you do not think you can afford that Designer Bag that you saw in Paris Fashion Week, there is another way to get the essential look this season. Look out for the Designer status symbol scarf, as worn by your favourite celebs. After Designer Bags were this week classified as passe, which means too expensive, the high end scarf is becoming a great way to acquire an accessory from a luxury brand. Of course this is not new – Hermès was more famous for its timeless scarves until the company joined in the designer bag boom. A vintage scarf by Hermès can command a four figure price, but a new Hermès silk square costs just £140. Compare this with £6000 the company’s desirable kelly Handbag, and the price of a scarf is relatively inexpensive. The scarf is available now – there is a 2-year wait for the bag, so demand for high end bags has not entirely dried up! vegas hotel

It seems that Our Posh is taking her commercial relationship with Marc Jacobs pretty seriously but at least we have a few more examples of a change in the look over recent weeks. This time it was an oversized pink Hermès Birkin Bag. But wait! Is this the same Designer Handbag that she teamed with a pink Handkerchief dress last October? Victoria has at least ten bags from the sought after Hermès range, I would like to see a few more of them on view – or does she prefer to go home and look at them neatly arranged in their little dust bags? The rest of us need to raid our savings accounts to see if we can afford just one of these covetable bags.

Here is another shot of La Beckham soaking up the California sun in that eponymous pink dress, teamed with an impossibly large Hermès Birkin Bag that only serves to make her look even slimmer. If only every mother of three could get that look every day! On anyone else we would say the clash of the two shades of pink was terrible but somehow she gets away with it! Maybe there was a practical reason for choosing an oversize bag as this Hermès Birkin would accommodate most laptop computers with ease.