Clutch Much?

Fashion East, Carolina Herrera, Anna Sui, Spring 2010 - photos courtesy style.com

There is absolutely nothing practical about a clutch.  It's so tiny that it can barely contain your Blackberry, keys and lipgloss.  It requires, as the name implies, a hand to hold it as no strap can save it from disastrous falls.  There is, nonetheless, something impossibly ladylike about carrying something so useless and pretty.  I equate it to a man's tie:  totally impractical, a bit of a pain, but somehow essential to finishing off a look.  The spring runways were rife with gorgeous clutches in every possible pattern, fabric and closure.  Luckily, you will find no shortage of similarly stunning options in nearly every store this season.  The clutches shown above complemented the models' outfits but you can also go for a pared-down minimalist look (which is incredibly chic right now...see Celine's Spring 2010 show for a crash course) and use a clutch as your showpiece.

These jewels are some of the prettiest, and would perfectly accomodate the little money required to bring them home:

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