For the Princess, the Rafe New York Mischa handbag. For $19.95 per month, Trendsetters can carry this Baby Phat vinyl, green satchel bag. Only available to the Diva, the YSL Marrone studded shoulder bag. From the couture collection, the Chanel brown pleated shoulder bag.

If you turn your nose up at the idea of carrying a knockoff on your shoulder, but widen your eyes at the price tag attached to the real thing, we have a solution that will make the corners of your mouth curl. It's called Bag Borrow or Steal.

The Web site (www.bagborroworsteal.com) debuted in 2004 and its ingenious concept of borrowing from a large pool of highly coveted bags, with the option to buy (or "steal") select models, is the sort of thing that style setters have been eagerly awaiting and purse peddlers have been dreading.

"This is a great alternative to buying knockoffs," said Julie Kouhia, vice president of marketing for Bag Borrow or Steal. "Once you've carried an original, you're less likely to be satisfied carrying a knockoff."

In recent years, black market vendors who sold low-grade replicas of designer handbags for wildly cheap prices, saw a skyrocketing surge in business. The obsession with designer labels was enough to turn Chinatown's Canal Street into a swap meet for Louis Vuitton's and Gucci's. Soon thereafter, labels that were once thought of as belonging to the elite class, were being spotted on the arms of women everywhere.

Since then, designers and law enforcement authorities have cracked down on fakies, making them less prevalent. And now that brand-conscious consumers have an equally, if not more attractive alternative, knockoffs may soon be an endangered fashion species.

"It really feeds upon itself," Kouhia said. "The more you know (about purses), the more discriminatory you are and the more discerning you are."

According to Kouhia, Bag Borrow or Steal is a means of allowing the average Jane an opportunity to participate in the luxury goods market in a perfectly legitimate way. And although members don't actually own the purses, they can "borrow" them for as long as they wish. "People who are collectors and have the money to collect, need to own. It's the actual acquisition that's important to them," Kouhia said. "But there's a much larger group out there that loves the thrill of the chase."

For designer-obsessed fashion mavens who would like to consider Bag Borrow or Steal the answer to their financial challenges, it's important to remember that membership has its rewards and the higher the membership fee, the more handsome the reward. Dues are paid monthly according to three different categories: the trendsetter ($19.95); the princess ($49.95) and the diva ($99.95).

The trendsetter package includes clearance sale prices and designers like Liz Claiborne, JLo and Charles David. Up one level, the princess features 27 Web pages of bags to browse amongst. Designers range from Kate Spade and Juicy Couture to Dooney & Bourke. For the diva, only the best will do.

This litter of purses consists of such names as Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Chanel. Divas also have the option of borrowing from the couture collection. Depending on the bag, a fee (ranging from $100-$200) will be tagged on to her monthly membership dues. It may seem like a high price to pay when these bags are all rentals, but the way members see it -- considering designer purses can retail in the quadruple digits -- it's a bargain.

"Unlike jeans that have specific fit issues or shoes that are at the bottom of what people are looking at," Kouhia said, "a great handbag gets noticed, it pulls everything together and it just makes you feel good."