Handbag Information & Handbag Links at HealthHaven.com

Model at New York Fashion Week showing a Louis Vuitton handbag.

A handbag - or purse in American English - is a medium to large bag, often fashionably designed, typically used by women, and used to hold personal items such as wallet/coin purse, keys, tissues, cosmetics, a hairbrush, cellular device or personal digital assistant, feminine hygiene products, etc.

[edit] History

Handbags, such as this one by Burberry, can be a Fashion accessory with a function.

In the 16th century, small bags were made out of common materials. They were leather and fastened with drawstring on top. Large cloth bags were introduced and worn by travelers diagonally across the body.

In the 17th century, bags became more complex and elaborate. Girls were taught skills such as embroidery and needlework, that could assist them in finding a husband. These skills gave rise to stitched artwork on bags.

In the 18th century, as neo-classical clothing came into fashion, women started carrying their bags as not to ruin their outfits^{[citation needed]}. They named these bags "reticules". Most women had more than one^{[citation needed]}, so that they could use a certain one for each occasion. Contents of these bags might include rouge, face powder, a fan, a scent bottle, visiting cards, a card case, and smelling salts.

In the early 1900s people specifically began calling their bags "handbags"^{[citation needed]}. This term also referred to luggage that men carried^{[citation needed]}. They then inspired women, who began carrying bags with complicated fasteners, internal compartments, and locks^{[citation needed]}. In the 1920s, it became popular that bags no longer had to match your outfit^{[citation needed]}. In the 1940s, with WWII, handbags were made out of wood or plastic^{[citation needed]}, since most metals were strategic materials. In the 1950s, popular handbag designers included Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Hermes. Today these three brands are still popular, along with Gucci, Christian Dior, Fendi, Prada, Kate Spade, and Lockheart among many others.

Luxurious small handbags or clutches were considered a necessary accessory of formal female attire^{[citation needed]}, but this is frequently ignored^{[citation needed]}, especially by younger women who often consider it old-fashioned and stuffy^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Variations

A medium-to-small-sized handbag with a short handle, designed to be carried (clutched) in one's hand is often called a clutch.

A larger handbag with two handles is often called a tote^{[citation needed]}.

A pocketbook is similar to a handbag.

Vintage pocketbook.

A security bag protects the carrier from travel theft. The handbag includes an invisible stainless steel strap sewn into the fabric and a protectant on the main zipper.

[edit] Man purse

In North America, handbags are usually carried by women.

However, increasingly, younger men carry one as a smaller alternative to a backpack; such a handbag is sometimes termed a manbag or - in American English - murse or man-purse (portmanteaus "handbag" and "man" with "purse" respectively).

Many of the styles are actually messenger bags.

In Europe men sometimes carry much smaller bags with straps, some just barely larger than a wallet.

[edit] In popular culture

Kiefer Sutherland, of 24 fame, brought the item into the mainstream through his character, Jack Bauer. Jack frequently prominently carried his messenger bag with him in the 5th Season.

In the Seinfeld episode The Reverse Peephole, Jerry carries a shoulder bag which he describes as a "European carryall".

In the movie The Hangover, the character Alan Garner says "it's not a purse, it's called a satchel. Indiana Jones wears one."^[1] (The bag he is actually carrying is somewhere between a purse and a messenger bag.)

[edit] Child's purse

Young girls also use small purses or clutches, but usually just for play or dress-up.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Types of handbags

Crocodile skin handbags in a conservation exhibit at Bristol Zoo, England

Clutch: Small, yet long (rectangular), evening bag without a handle.

Satchel: A soft-sided case usually of leather, used to carry papers or books. Usually has a handle and often has a strap.

Duffel: A large bag usually used for travel or sports.

Tote: A medium to large bag with two straps.

Messenger bag: A bag with a long strap to be worn across the body.

Sling bag: A bag with a long strap (similar to a messenger bag), yet smaller.

[edit] Trivia

In the Oscar Wilde play The Importance of Being Earnest, the protagonist, Jack Worthing, was found in a handbag in the cloakroom at Victoria Station as a baby, prompting Lady Bracknell's famous exclamation "A handbag?"
A survey of shoppers at Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex, England, found that the average 30-year-old woman owns 21 handbags and buys a new one every three months, adding up to 111 over the course of a lifetime.^[2]