To go with all these very tailored fall looks – skinny pantsuits, full skirts with tight tops, pencil skirts with blouses and jackets – one needs a more structured handbag. Those soft leathery shoulder bags you’ve been wearing that slouch, bright colors, and very very long straps – gone, kids. Put them in the back of the closet. This fall, it’s about a structured bag – but since designers know women can’t handle small bags – it’s about the structured bag with a bit of softness. Call it The Structured Hobo: the straps are way shorter, only a few of these bags can be worn on your shoulder. The colors are new, as well as the shapes. They are all on NeimanMarcus.com:

– Merle Ginsberg

The net’s been buzzing for days about what Julia Roberts said to George Stephanopoulos on GMA on Friday, during her many press appearances for the would-be blockbuster “Eat Pray Love” – opening this weekend, if you’ve been under a rock or on the beach. She told him she’s now practicing Hinduism after spending time in India, shooting the film. Interestingly enough, she’s never been one to really dress up in cocktail dresses and high heels – but for this round of press, she’s purposefully really dressing DOWN. On David Letterman, she wore jeans and a baggy black top – and darker hair. For “Regis and Kelly,” she wore stretch black leggings, a big top, a pin striped boy blazer, and the Jimmy Choo “Clue” platform.” She looks about as un-rich-movie star as anyone could: not showing off her body, not wearing much makeup, not posing, not showing off a new Celine bag. Hmmmm – - maybe she actually means it about the Hindu thing. At least, for this movie. – Merle Ginsberg

The big celeb and fashion news of the weekend is that when she walked down the isle, Chelsea Clinton wore not one, but TWO Vera Wang gowns at her press-event Rhinebeck NY wedding. Like Carrie Underwood and other celeb brides these days, she changed out of her down-the-aisle Wang: a frothy strapless ivory gown with a swirling ballgown skirt of laser cut organza – to a less extravagantly styled tulle Grecian-inspired second Wang gown with a black ribbon belt and a criss-cross back for the reception. The bridesmaids also wore Vera Wang – strapless lavender chiffon gowns with plum bows for the aisle wallk, then changed into their own dresses for the reception. A celeb wearing Vera Wang to get married is not news – but, as the New York Times reports today – Chelsea was rumoured to be getting married in a gown by Oscar de la Renta, who makes much of her mother Hilary Clinton’s clothes, and who hosts Bill and Hilary at his Dominican Republic home. De la Renta also made Jenna Bush’s wedding dress in 2008. The Times does a bit of a history of first daughters’ gowns: Caroline Kennedy got married in Carolina Herrera. Amy Carter got married in vintage. Margaret Truman wore Roman designer Micol Fontana. Tricia Nixon wore Priscilla of Boston. Of course, when Carolyn Bessette married John Kennedy Jr, she wore the famed Narciso Rodriguez chic simple dress, making his entire future career in fashion. Chelsea’s much looked at gowns will probably influences young brides everywhere: which means, it’s all about strapless, it’s all about full ruched skirts with texture, and it’s all about Vera Wang – and wearing two gowns at your wedding! – Merle Ginsberg

Yes, we’re all jones-ing this summer for a major red carpet and some big A-list stars in fabulous clothes outside of Angelina Jolie and Marion Cotillard. But there’s two only a month away – the Emmys on August 29 and the Venice International Film Festival (the one in Italy) which plays from September first to the eleventh. Sofia Coppola’s new film “Somewhere” is the story of a jaded Hollywood star and his daughter – and the star is played by Benecio del Toro, but Michelle Monaghan and model Angela Lindvall are in too. Big names like Natalie Portman will be on the red carpet, because she stars as a ballerina in Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan” – with Mila Kunis, who is on fire right now. These actresses worked super hard to come across as seasoned pro ballerinas. And Julian Schnabel’s film “Miral” – based on a book about a Palestinian orphanage after Israel was formed in 1948 – stars Freida Pinto, Willem Dafoe and Vanessa Redgrave. The new Ben Affleck-directed film “The Town” should bring out its stars Jon Hamm, Rebecca Hall and Ben Affleck himself. And both Aronofksy and Affleck could bring their famous wives: Rachel Weisz, and Jennifer Garner. And these actresses will all be doing press conferences, red carpets and parties – so no doubt, right now, their stylists are pulling summery warm-weather clothes – probably from resort 2011 – which is not easy when so many designers in Europe and the U.S. are on holiday right now. In any case, mark your calendars. – Merle Ginsberg

Santa Monica Place, off the Third Street Promenade in SM (315 Colorado, to be precise), has a lot of new additions opening next Friday. In addition to a few new restaurants, Bloomingdale’s in Santa Monica will officially open that day, as will a new Nordstrom, a Ted Baker clothing store and a Nike store. This will make Santa Monica Place one of the best shopping destinations near the beach – as they already have Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Barneys Co Op, Juicy Couture, 7 for All Mankind, Kitson, BCBG, Michael Kors and All Saints. That’s a nice mix of the commercial and the trendy, so there’s something for everyone. Several new restaurants will open that day, too, so if you like a ribbon cutting, there are all kinds of activities on August 6th there, including KCRW’s Jason Bentley spinning between 5pm and 7pm. Check out the activties at www.santamonicaplace.com/events. There’s nothing like a new mall in L.A. to make us happy . . . . Merle Ginsberg

We like to crawl the internet to see which looks stars have worn that journalists and bloggers tend to gab about. There was a lot of talk from last week about Marion Cotillard (“Inception”) and her silver strapless Dior lace dress. And now that “Inception” is a big box office hit (opening weekend made $60 million dollars – amazing!), the chic Mademoiselle Cotillard is now the female star of what could be the year’s highest grossing movie. We expect to see her in a lot more chic little dresses at awards time again. But it was Jada Pinkett Smith who rocked the bloggerazi last week, when she turned up with husband Will Smith and their kids to the London premier of “The Karate Kid,” starring their son Jaden. In a gold one shoulder Stella McCartney dress that was amazingly flattering to her skintone. She’s tiny, so in Jada’s case, the smaller the dress, the better she tends to look. But also, the real stunner here is her new BANGS! She usually wears her hair in a very severe way – tied back, pulled off her face – but these bangs with a long ponytail is just gorgeous on her, and she is almost unrecognizable. That’s how much bangs can change someone’s face. – Merle Ginsberg

If you love Pucci prints – and there have been so many of them over the years – you want to check out Taschen’s new book “Emilio Pucci” Now, we’re warning you up front: it’s 200 bucks. BUT – there are hundreds of photographs of drawings, and candid shots from the archives of the Emilio Pucci Foundation, . Vanessa Friedman’s text places Emilio Pucci’s achievements in the context of fashion history, and provides insight into the remarkable Pucci dynasty. There is only a limited edition of 10.000 copies; bound with one of a selection of fabrics from the current Pucci collection, each copy is unique. This is an art/fashion book you’d be proud to put on your coffee table for sure. There is also an “art” edition for $850 bucks, if you’re a serious collector of art and fashion books, and want very limited editions with extra photos, and a more beautiful cover quality. Taschen.com or the Taschen store on Beverly Boulevard in Beverly HIlls – which is always worth a visit, anyway. – Merle Ginsberg

I was told that Tel Aviv Israel is one of the most happening cities in the world before I went there – and W Magazine ran a story to that effect in the March issue this year. Word is getting out – there’s amazing design there, great shopping, great prices, and it’s a city that does not sleep. It makes New York look sleepy – there are bands playing on the streets at 2 am, and no one goes out till eleven pm. But one of my most interesting experiences in Tel Aviv was getting to be part of the graduation fashion show of the Shenkar College of Engineering and Fashion Design. It’s right up there with Central St. Martins in London (which produced John Galliano and Alexander McQueen and many others). Alber Elbaz of Lanvin, who is Israeli, attended Shenkar, and students from Shenkar have gone off to work for Elbaz, John Galliano and Roberto Cavalli. I made a presentation about the history of Hollywood red carpet fashion, and then was invited to help critique the final collections of the graduating 4th year class – the looks their career start will depend on. Also on hand for this prestigious event were Scottish designer Jonathan Saunders from London, London Times fashion editor Lisa , and Kobi Halperin, who is the NY based creative director of Elie Tahari. The final show was last week, under the guidance of the amazing head of the fashion department, Leah Perez – and it was attended by the creme de la creme of Tel Aviv, produced by Motty Reiff – the biggest fashion and television producer in Israel. The models all looked like they were walking in Paris – and many Israeli models, such as Bar Rafaeli, go on to super stardom in Europe and New York. The 43 collections that were shown for 90 minutes on a huge runway were all amazingly original. And while we did see some influences of Lanvin and Balenciaga in the mix, I was seriously impressed with the talent. Many graduates of Shenkar go on to design clothing lines and open stores all over Israel, and also ship to stores in the U.S. (which is the case for Kedem Sasson). Here are five looks I loved and thought so well done and so striking. Any one of these people could be the next Alber Elbaz.

Like we’ve been telling you, the pantsuit for women will be returning this fall. Perhaps not the Hilary Clinton style pantsuit, but chic fitted 1940′s style trousers with tailored jackets are making a comeback – in contrast to all the babydoll and punk looks we’ve been for years. Does this mean leggings will finally go bye bye? All we can say is – good riddance already! So, to drive the point home, Lady Gaga wore a white embellished pantsuit to perform on “The Today Show.” Okay, so she did wear it open with a bra showing – Dolce & Gabbana style. Interesting that she’s wearing her hair here like Madonna in 1985 for the whole “Papa Don’t Preach” moment. Of course, dancing in NY in over 90 degrees, she was bound to end up with the wet look! More like the soaking wet look. And cut this way, it will looks good. The other two Gaga’s here in the white are actually imposters – a Lady Gaga look a like contest was held in Union Square in NY. Not exactly original. – Merle Ginsberg