A Minor Obsession...

Flipping through September's Vogue, Vogue Paris and this week's Grazia, I was suddenly struck with the realization of my newest obsession: accessories. Since my acquisition of a £2 steal of a bag, a trip to Paris where everyone- EVERYONE- wears heels, and not least the sudden inundation of new season accessory spreads, the desperate gaps in my shoe shelves and bag collection have been sadly highlighted.

Most particularly, in a true back- to- school spirit, I am in dire need of a new 'tote' bag for hauling the necessary folders, books, notepads and stationary to school and back again. However, I should now state that this is by no means a straightforward task- I'm inordinately picky when it comes to bags (and shoes), the size, shape, colour, embellishment and, sadly, price inevitably lead to one bag's dismissal after another.

The Mulberry Neely (above, with Olivia Palermo) would be my ideal school bag; it has a sleek, chic- yet- business like structure and a luxe (but not too luxe for the daily grind of school) appearance. Sadly, it is also perhaps £600 above my budget... so that's a no then.

An option could be one of the plethora of black tote bags currently on the high street, of which Dorothy Perkins and River Island have perfect examples. But sometimes, especially with the gloomy days of winter drawing in, black can be just a bit too... black.

River Island leather bag

Moving on to footwear, I am currently trying to track down THE perfect pair of knee high boots... or do I want ankle boots? With heels? Wedges? Embellished? Laces or buckles? It's a minefield of choice, but I do know that the high street is currently having a bit of a 'moment' with covetable new season shoes- head for New Look for shearling detail boots, Topshop for bandage wedges, Dorothy Perkins for utility ankle books and Miss Selfridge for one of the best homages to Louis Vuitton's kitten heels I've seen so far.

And, with the launch of Zara Online last week and the addition of H&M Online in five days time (!!) the high street will finally have complete representation on the internet. Who needs to spend a day trudging around town, when you could find it all from the comfort if your own laptop!