In the Christmas Eve lull (similar to the eye of the storm, i.e. the calm before all hell breaks loose) I find myself doing strange things...like visiting Banana Republic's website. I know that some people get great finds there but their site always makes me think of millions of business casual outfits, yearning to be free. And currently, it's also home of the weird wallet semi-knock-off. The s.k.o. being something that's not a total copy of the original but is definitely heavily influenced...like these large and small wallets from Banana Republic...close enough to their Chloe cousins for the similarity to be noticeable, yet lacking the charm and overt shininess of the original.

From sweet oranges to slightly bitter marmalade in one easy step...