Faux Leather Evening
THE HISTORY OF HANDBAGS
Can you believe that the first recorded handbag in history was none other than a ‘man bag’? That’s what the history books say.
Hieroglyphics from Ancient Egyptian times in the 14th century show pictures of men carrying pouches or pockets tied around their waists which were made from leaves, cloth or animal hide and used to carry flint or money. Today, little pouches for carrying money are still the height of fashion... but a lot of ground has been covered since the time of the pharaohs!
Men may have started the handbag trend – but it was the ladies who recognised it for its form as well as its function! Whilst the men of the 14th and 15th century used pouches attached to their girdles to hold useful things like food for their falcons and hunting equipment, the women were already looking for more ornate, fancy designs.
The drawstring purses of the medieval women were status symbols – as they are today – displaying their status, wealth, fashion and lifestyle. They were often embellished with jewels or embroidered with love stories as a display of their relationship status, and expensive materials such as silk indicated the wearer’s means.
Over the next few centuries, handbag design took a back seat as the clothes that women wore became more voluminous. Out went the skirts and under them went the handbags. Another ‘trend’ of the day was for aristocrats to wear perfumed cotton balls or little bags with sweet-smelling spices and herbs to take the attention away from body odour, whilst the peasants wore cloth or leather satchels across their torsos.
As fashions slimmed down towards the end of the 17th century, handbags re-emerged and the fun really started!. Handbag design really changed during the Victorian era when there were major scientific and industrial developments, because a whole range of new materials and manufacturing processes were introduced. Bags were embroidered and embellished, becoming fashion accessories and status symbols – and were known as ‘reticules”.
The development of railroads in the 1800s meant more women started to travel, and this led to the name ‘handbag’ which initially referred to hand-held travel bags. Many of today’s leading fashion handbag designers have their roots in the travel bags of old.
And from there, as the saying goes... the rest is history. In the early 1900s, larger handbags, clutches without handles (called pochettes) and briefcases became popular whilst the war years produced more simple, practical shoulder bags with a military bent. Expensive materials such as leather and zips were scarce during war-time so designers turned to alternative ideas such as wood, plastic and synthetics. British women were even seen to wear handbags that matched their outfits – but that also carried their gas masks!.
The post-war boom in the1950s saw handbags reach cult status with technological advances bringing new materials and textiles such as synthetics, canvas, rayon, plastics and faux reptile skin. Some of the new and exciting designs that came through the next decades included dainty little handbags that went with the risqué mini, narrow clutch bags, romantic fashion bags inspired by the flower power movement, large fabric satchels and shoulder bags with an Eastern influence to designer bags with fancy embellishments, zips and studs. The big names of handbag design – Prada, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Chanel etc all put their own stamp on handbag history.
And handbag history is still in the making. As the ‘man-bag’ continues to find favour among the fashion forward – were those 14th century males onto something good after all?!. They’re there for form and for function, and handbags will never go out of fashion as both a practical and stylish accessory. Handbags have an interesting story to tell and will continue to evolve as social commentators, fashion indicators and individual style icons.
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