The Simpler Things In Life.(International Edition; TOP SHELF)

Byline: Sameer Reddy

What to wear? If people can easily identify your outfit's price tag, then it's time to change.

The party's over, even for the superrich. High-net-worth individuals, who lived on a scale most of us can't imagine--private jets; megayachts; third, fourth and fifth homes; gleaming AmEx black cards with no limit--are seeing their credit-card bills come due. So they're cutting back, in their own way, by selling the boat, buying ready-to-wear instead of couture and giving up Iranian caviar for breakfast--baby steps. It might sound ridiculous, but they've got to start somewhere. Of course, they don't exactly qualify as Wal-Mart shoppers yet; the ultrawealthy are still ultrawealthy, just slightly less so.

In terms of buying power, they remain a force to be reckoned with--and for luxury conglomerates, a demographic to be even more aggressively courted. But the nouveau expenditures of recent memory seem a little gauche when your housekeeper just had her house repossessed and your pool boy is drowning in debt. A new era of less obvious luxury is about to be ushered in, the kind that walks softly and doesn't carry an oversize, logo-covered stick. Foreshadowed by the success of ahead-of-the-curve brands like Bottega Veneta, we can expect the luxury industry to attempt an overnight transformation to understatement.

For starters, consumers would be well served to cut out overtly branded handbags with outrageous price tags. "It" bags haven't been where it's at for a while now, and those who continue to carry them look more like fashion victims than trendsetters. The only markets where they continue to be status symbols are in those that are relatively insulated from the financial meltdown, like the Middle East, Russia and India. Although their markets and currencies are being battered, they still have vast reserves of newly minted wealth waiting to be spent, and a burning desire for obvious symbols to affirm their new status.

For the rest of the world, however, it's a good time to get back to basics, and with handbags it doesn't get much simpler than the classic tote. The Platonic ideal of carryalls, tote bags can range from humble to haute, but whatever the price point, they share an essential shape that marries classic form with practical function, such as schlepping stacks of bills from the bank to stuff under your mattress. L.L. Bean makes a no-nonsense canvas model for under $20, and Anya Hindmarch's collectible "I Am Not a Plastic Bag" styles are now running upwards of $100 on eBay--quite a mark-up from the less than $10 they originally cost. Those who can't bear to carry something common can opt for Hermes' Garden Party tote in canvas and grain leather that sells for approximately $1,600, giving the bearer subtle bragging ...