Legacy of the Handbag

Murval Quilted Baguette - Only $25

By Jenise Lockett

Here's a tidbit of trivia you may not have known about one of the most cherished accessories you'll ever own: your handbag. Do you know where the handbag comes from?

Leave it to those innovative Egyptians who created just about everything first! We first see handbags during Egyptian times when hieroglyphics showed pouches worn around the waist. In 14th century Europe, handbags showed social status based on embroidery and quality of the bag. During this time, purses were more for women and were attached to their girdle. In the 15th century, both men and women wore purses that were ornately ornamented with gold. It was also customary for men to give purses as gifts to their new bride with an illustration of a love story embroidered on it.

Much later in the century, women began to wear fancier dresses and chose to wear their pouches underneath their dress. Not until the 16th century did handbags begin to be made out of more common materials (such as leather) and were fastened atop with drawstring. Large cloth bags were introduced and carried by travelers across the body. In the 17th century, we see more complex and elaborate bags. Young women skilled in embroidery gave rise to stitched artwork on purses. Also in 1670, men's britches were made with built-in pockets, which did away with the need to carry a male purse. Nevertheless, men still carried netted purses in their new pockets to carry money.

As neo-classic clothing came into fashion in the 18th century, women started carrying handbags so not to ruin the outfit. Women also possessed more of them, having a special one for each occasion. In the beginning of the 1900s, people began calling their bags - "handbags". This term referred to luggage that men carried. This then inspired women to begin carrying bags with complex fasteners, internal compartments and locks. During the 1920s, it became popular to no longer match the handbag with the outfit. And with WWII during the 40s, women's purses were made of wood and/or plastic in order to save metal for supplies.

World renown handbag designers we've come to know and love such as: Louis Vuitton, Chanel, and Hermes emerged on the scene in the 1950s only to blaze a trail for more popular designers to follow; thereby creating a world-wide phenomenon known as - The Handbag! We just can't live without one!

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