Matt and Nat - Tracy Marrow

[link] This company only makes vegan products.

I picked up this bag on a whim while in Te Casan to buy Natalie Portman shoes. It has replaced my Kathy Van Zeeland bags as my new staple. It is large enough to fit a large paperback and a pair of pumps - a must if you have a lifestyle that resembles mine. But it isn't so heavy that you feel silly carrying it for just your wallet, cellphone, and makeup.

I love the little snap-ring for your keys. I have never found anything comparable in terms of ease of getting them on and off, and I always know right where they are.

The four outer pockets would be great for making cellphones, Blackberries, and ipods easily accessible, unless you're me and you take the subway everyday, and you're paranoid. I would have preferred more inner pockets. The three they have are fairly low down and not the easiest (or hardest) to reach. But they do work well for my building pass, NFT and inhaler; three other things I need to keep on hand.

Rampage - Maria

[link] When I started my new job, these were the first shoes I got, in brown and black. They're basic, professional, and made of the following:

• Polyurethane lining
• Polyurethane outsole
• Upper: 100% polyurethane

At $50 a pop, they were the perfect mid-priced shoe to get me through until my first paycheck, without making me look like I didn't belong there. They're now on sale for $30 each.

The snake print is on my shopping list. I'm linking to Piperlime, where I got them, but they're available at plenty of other shoe stores.

Te Casan - Natalie Portman

The line is strictly vegan.

The photo to the left is my purple pair, it also comes in black (pictures available via link below). Suffice it to say that these are the shoes that inspired this blog, and many subsequent and expensive purchases at the Te Casan boutique in SoHo.

They're peep-toe shoes, with a fabric bow in the front that is attached in the sides and manages not to be too twee. The remainder of the shoe is patent-leather style material, in other words, fairly stain and water resistant.

They're the hot accent color for this season, and if you're a little bold, as I am, can take you from work to play. Most importantly, they're the most unbelievably balanced shoes I've ever worn. Even with that formidable nearly 4" heel, they manage to be comfortable for reasonable walks. I've been known to keep wearing them for shopping jaunts even with a pair of flats in my bag. A poster on another blog stated she finds this line as comfortable as the Manolo Blahniks from her pre-vegan days. Speaking only for this pair of shoes, I'm ashamed to admit I can say the same.

I loved the purple pair so much I went back to Te Casan and bought it in black. Their website is down right now, but Endless.com is selling the black version right now.

Vegan Pumps

This blog will hopefully fill a niche that still remains in the blogging world - an accessories-focused version of the Professional Vegan blog, and a professional version of the Great Green Shoes blog.

I'm a corporate employee in Manhattan who doesn't wear leather, so I've already road tested a lot of mid-range and high-end vegan goods. Over the next few months, I'll catch readers up on what I've already bought and am wearing, then continue to update with reviews of new purchases, newly released items, and perhaps reader contributions as well.

There's a whole new world of ecoluxury opening up, and vegans are finally getting in on the fun. Since we're no longer confined to cheap plastic flats from discount stores, this will be a way to explore our expanding choices.