Novelty Bags You Actually Want On Your Arm

Bags seem to have gone a bit bonkers. While I'm not convinced by all the examples on sale at the moment - what's this River Island number all about, for example? And I'm not feeling the owl love in this Accessorize design - I am willing to try out these following numbers as a, er, novel alternative to the usual totes and handbags. I know, I know - heroic.

Have you checked out the Holly Fulton for Radley range? If bold Deco-style patterns rock your clutch, you really should. This Riri bag from the collection is a rather marvellous reworking of the Radley scottie dog - it brings a whole chic meaning to the words "doggy bag". And how much is that doggy on the website? Alas, it's £129 putting it straight to the top of my Christmas wish list.

What could be more fun to carry about your person than a hot pink pout-shaped bag? As Prince may well say, I just want your Kiss bag. You don't have to be rich for this one either - it's £28 from Johnny Loves Rosie.

Watch out! The only thing possibly more exciting to carry about your person than a giant pout is a shark. Sharks are the hot accessory du jour, according to Pixie Geldof at least. Whatever, Pix, we've been loving the sharks for a long time now. This PVC Shark bag comes courtesy of our fantasy merchants, The Rodnik Band but is more affordable than some of their wares at £79.

The Halfpenny bag is definitely worthy of my pennies. It's taken the lovely circular bag shape and given it an extra umph with the penny-style print. Plus I like the fact the bag has got a shorter carry handle too - just the thing for when you are sporting your brand new cape. It's £99 from Hobbs.

More animals. This Critter on the Dance Floor bag wins the best novelty bag novelty title. It's from Modcloth, so it needs to ship from the States which makes it yours for about £55 including postage. For cat bags closer to home, check out the New Look cat purse, which is less than a tenner. Or La Lisette is selling this number at Heal's.

You can carry a watermelon bag! *insert your own Dirty Dancing joke here*. This fruity number is only £22.99 from Dress Wild.

What I'm really holding out for is one of Charlotte Olympia's novel bags. They're about a million pounds, minus just a couple of digits. For a 'cheaper' alternative, I'm going to treat us all to a picture of one of Kate Spade's book clutches. At $328, it's still well beyond my reach but one day perhaps I will be able to afford it. Wouldn't that be novel?