Chain handles are one of the leading trends for Spring and Summer 2009 and can give your otherwise classic ensemble an edgy, modern look. Leading handbag designers including Marc Jacobs, Chanel, Prada and Moschino have added gleaming chain handles to their accessories lineups, and many other shoulder bag designers are following suit. But how do you wear this style with your summer outfit? Here are the different types of chains that work with different types of looks this season:

The oversized chain with buckle embellishments is a great addition to your oversized hobo or a large weekender bag. It's a fresh, funky and casual look for your everyday bag, and works well for day and night.

The gleaming gold and silver chain is the perfect addition to a miniature shoulder bag for your night out on the town. It's also appearing on stylish clutches and miniature pochettes to add some shine to your look. Look for thinner, necklace-style chain handles to complete your look for an elegant affair.

A leather and metal interlocking chain handle is a great way to dress up a casual outfit for summer, and this type of handle is appearing on both shoulder bags and bucket bags this season. The interlocking chain handle also provides some extra support and is highly durable for this season and beyond.

Double or triple chain handle bags are great for a dressy, rocker-chic inspired look and are a good match for wrap dresses, halter dresses and miniskirts you're sporting this summer. These multi-chain bags double as an accessory that will become the focal point of your outfit, so avoid wearing too much jewelry with your ensemble to make the most of your look.

The half-chain handle bag is the latest sophisticated office-wear accessory. These bags are designed with a leather covering at the top of the chain, and give you the added benefit of extra comfort with the soft padded leather handle. Give your office ensemble a fresh, modern twist with one of these bags by your side. The half-chain handle bag made with patent leather, quilted leather or soft buttery-leather finish is a versatile and chic look for your office collection.

If you think about haute couture (high fashion), you're likely to think of Paris, France. Paris has always been at the forefront of world fashion. Clothing designed in France makes it all around the world in a matter of weeks, with similar designs soon showing up from London to Hong Kong. French accessories aren't any different. Accessories designed in Paris are big business and often affect accessories fashion for the rest of the world. In 2009, the must-have French accessories are handbags, or purses, as the Americans call them. French handbags are known all over the world. From Louis Vuitton and Chanel to Etienne Aigner and Yves Saint Laurent, to lower priced but still beautiful bags from the likes of Jerome Gruet.

Started in 1893, Chanel is one of the most loved handbag designers in the world. This year's Chanel handbags are gorgeous, many of them with the typical Chanel chain handle, and all of them with the very familiar Chanel logo. En vogue colors are gray, red and black with some beiges and pinks thrown in for a little splash of color.

Louis Vuitton designs luxury leather luggage and purses. The Stephen Sprouse collection is popular this year, with bags having either the traditional brown and cream Louis Vuitton design base then overlaid with enormous red and pink flowers or with brightly colored graffiti on the same Louis Vuitton background.

Yves Saint Laurent , another of the high-end bag designers, has some sweet clutch purses for 2009 that are designed to look like the front of an envelope, complete with stamp and postmark. Adorable. They come in black or ivory patent leather. In tote bags, Yves Saint Laurent has a similar design that they call the Y-Mail Patent Tote Bag. Priced at around $500, it's actually not a bad price for something so unique and so exquisitely made.

Jerome Gruet has a little shop in Paris that specializes in beautiful quality canvas bags with contrasting trims. Jerome Gruet bags are great for a woman who likes a larger bag, because she carries everything with her including the kitchen sink.

Finally, check out Catherine Zarzecki who specializes in small handbags and clutches. What makes Catherine Zarzecki stand out is all of the accents on her bags are made with semi-precious stones. In 2009, she's gone with red, black, blues and greens with some very special limited edition silver clutch bags.

Whatever your bag style though, you'll find anything you're looking for in Paris.

ABC's Dirty Sexy Money is an outrageous and hilarious soap opera of a show, the perfect spoof of people with too much money and not enough scruples, made more accessible to the viewing audience through the constantly tempted, fish-out-of-water character of the family lawyer. But aside from the ridiculous plots, absurdist scandals and over-the-top characters,

Dirty Sexy Money is also a treat for its fashion. Because it follows the story of a multi-generational family, Dirty Sexy Money delivers the fashion goods whether you're twenty or sixty.

Roberta Haze, the show's costume designer, makes a point to be attentive to details when it comes to dressing the characters. She notes that often the women of the show can have five costume changes in a single episode. The show's younger characters are given a more edgy look, while the matriarch of the show's fictional Darling family gets a more classic, old-money look brightened up with some artsy flair. Big name designers are critical in both cases though with Dirty Sexy Money featuring fashion from Chanel and other top names.

In fact, fashion is such an upfront and center part of the show that we're even treated to a Ferragamo fashion show at the Darling's home in one episode. Why? Well the matriarch of the family is under house arrest and can't make it to fashion week!

Maybe you can't order up a fashion show from home, but you can order fashion from home. How can you get the
Dirty Sexy Money look for less? Focus on fabrics that look like they take a lot of upkeep -- bright colors, as well as pale colors always imply luxury because they don't hide stains well. No one on Dirty Sexy Money would ever wear a little black dress to a party. They'd make a splash in bright red or purple or go for supposedly understated elegance in a pale bronze, silver or taupe.

Jewelry is also important if you want to look like one of the Darling women. Well made costume jewelry with lots of sparkle and a bit of art is all you need to set off a simple dress or a well cut suit.

If I could pick a fashion show anywhere in the world to visit, Amsterdam International Fashion Week would be near the top of the list. The last time I visited Amsterdam was for a high school class trip, and due to the vices that are readily available in that fine city, we were not allowed to go out unchaperoned-in fact, we weren't allowed to go ANYWHERE except for a tulip garden and a diamond factory.

The truth is that Amsterdam is a hotbed of fashion these days. In fact, the red light district itself is experiencing a makeover, as a project called Redlight Fashion Amsterdam has given some of the best and brightest young Dutch designers the opportunity to live and work in former brothels rent-free, and this initiative is expected to make Amsterdam International Fashion Week one of the most innovative fashion showcases ever.

The next AIFW will be held from July 19 through July 28, 2008 inside the Westergasfabriek, a cultural center housed in the national landmark former gasworks for the city of Amsterdam. Some of the designers expected to host a fashion show at AIFW include Blue Blood Denim, Marlies Dekkers (an internationally renowned lingerie designer), Oilily children's wear, and Antoine Peters.

The fashion show I'm most looking forward to at AIFW July 2008 is the whimsically titled Super Trash, though. That name made me hold my breath, expecting a Dutch version of Heatherette, but it's actually chic, streamlined and wearable, which is quite a feat in the city that brought the world Viktor & Rolf. Super Trash's January 2008 show featured tones of cream, black and plum àla Chanel, with LWDs (little white dresses) worn over satiny-textured leggings and styled with finger-tip length black jackets with asymmetrical necklines.

The vibe was simultaneously modern and classic, and they even gave cowl-necked sweaters a sense of style. The only look that fell flat looked like a model in a cat suit with a serape blanket wrapped around it, but we'll forgive them one misstep.

Super Trash was created by Amsterdam natives, but originated in Los Angeles before relocating to take advantage of the Dutch city's creative renaissance, so if they picked up a little of the effortless American separates sensibility to temper their avant-garde Amsterdam tendencies along the way, more power to them. Super Trash's fashion show was as chic as anything I saw at New York Fashion Week, and I can't wait to see what they do for spring.