Every woman knows how important it is to have a handbag. A matching handbag to her outfit and shoes. The right handbag; Its almost a status symbol. Many top fashion houses have their own branded handbags and they can be as expensive as a designer outfit.
The term handbag is largely associated with women although it is becoming increasingly common for men to carry a version of the bag, either to carry laptops or documents and may be seen as more functional than women’s bags. Interestingly though, the oldest known bag or purse, as it was called then, was worn by a man 5000 years ago.
Originally it seems that they were used to carry coins or small items of essential use. Purses were made of soft fabric or leather. They could be worn or carried by both women and men. The sporran as worn with a kilt in Scotland is one survivor of the man’s purse. In many English-speaking countries a purse is still used to refer to a small money bag.
Drawstring bags were worn by men over their clothes or around wrists. Women wore the same drawstring bags but for modesty they wore them under their skirts where they acquired the status of underwear. As fashions changed and became shapelier and more slimline, drawstring bags began to show under the clothes making them unacceptable to fashion conscious women.
So fashionable ladies started to wear their bags over their clothes and around the waist. This provoked much opposition as it was seen as women wearing their undergarments on show.
Thus, the handbag took on a different guise and was seen as something private for women to own and carry, with clasps attached to hide what was inside them.
A handbag is often a larger accessory that holds objects beyond currency, such as personal items. American English typically uses the terms purse and handbag interchangeably. The term handbag began appearing in the early 1900s. Initially, it was most often used to refer to men’s hand-luggage. Women’s bags grew larger and more complex during this period, and the term was attached to the accessory.
As fashions have evolved it seems that clothes with pockets, as with men’s trousers and jackets have provided repositories for coins and small items more readily and acceptably than with women’s fashions. Thus, the need has arisen for fashionable and attractive holders of women’s essential items.
Bags, then, have taken on their own position in the fashion world. They can be eye wateringly expensive but can also be a sound investment. There is a lively market in second hand designer bags and have been known to actually gain value for the discerning woman who buys well and takes care of her investment.
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