If you’re even a mildly frequent reader of this blog you will know one thing with certainty...and that is that I have “handbag issues”. Yes, that strange but relatively common infliction where bags are taking up a good 30% of my closet...and probably my income. Not just expensive bags either...$5 book-bags are cheek-by-jowl with Prada...thrift-store finds rub shoulders with Marc Jacobs...we’re just one big happy family.

To alleviate guilt, I gain some comfort in the fact that I do get use out of my bags, as opposed to the things that I buy and then never seem to wear. I consider the bag to be part of the outfit and generally use a different one each day.

For as long as I can remember, my holy grail of bag desire has revolved around two names...Hermes and Chanel. Actually I vacillate over the Chanel...in pictures, I love them...in real life, I’m strangely under-whelmed...they’re nice but not awe inspiring. This, as it turns out, is extremely lucky because rumor has it that yet another price hike will be taking effect at Chanel sometime before November. A whopping 22% rise in fact. If this is true it means that the cost of a medium classic flap will have risen 52.6% during 2007...from $1,595 to $2434.

Now, I know the exchange rate is terrible...and I acknowledge that the cost of the materials has probably risen too (have you seen the price of gold chains recently?)...but doesn’t this seem a tad greedy?