Walk-In (My) Closet: Things I Love: July 2013

I have something to confess, of which I'm deeply ashamed: I'm a "closet" bag lady. It all started innocuously enough. A click here, a click there. Before I knew it, though, I was hooked--bad.

Little Black Bag is partly to blame. Not only does it offer up to 70 percent off designer makeup, sunglasses, and jewelry, but it also offers high discounts on brand name bags (e.g., Vince Camuto, Betsey Johnson, Kensie).

But there's a twist on how you get the goods. First, you sign up for free and complete a personal style questionnaire. Then you shop for an item of your choosing, and based on your preferences, the site's stylists pick one to three other items for you. Before you buy, you swap the items with other customers on the site--think Pokémon trading cards--until you're satisfied with what's in your "little black bag." The last step, of course, is purchasing your loot and getting it shipped. Voilà!

And if you're a little short on cash (like me), you can still easily get your bag "fix" by browsing Bag Snob and PurseBlog.

Bag Snob, founded by entrepreneurs Tina Craig and Kelly Cook, is a selective editorial on bags. You can read about bag designers in the Snob Files, find out about the best bags to have recently come down the runway, and get a heads up on big sales (Hérmes discounts, anyone?).

PurseBlog is similar to Bag Snob insofar as you get the lowdown on the most au courant bags. However, the site also features monthly giveaways, exclusive designer interviews, and an online community for bag-a-holics called the Purse Forum.

Let's say you're not well versed in bag-ology, that you're a new "user": you just need to click on BagBible to find out more, especially the article on Types of Bags. You don't want to confuse a baguette bag with a satchel, do you? Bag ladies know how to identify the "good stuff."

Now that I've let you all know about my bag struggles, let me indulge in one last "trip" before I kick the addiction for good . . .