As long as various forms of currency have been utilized by people around the world, there has been a need and desire to display and use a suitable handbag or purse to fit any occasion. Before the need for handbags, men and woman carried "coin purses".
Our current era's fashion industry production output rate could be nicknamed fast and plenty but this is a different philosophy compared to the days before banking and such in the 1700's.
Long ago, many personal vintage handmade handbags and purses displayed curious elegant and intricate needlework. Today, in any typical mainstream society, there is no time to create a handmade handbag. We live in a technological age, where the fine detail of handmade handbags are sadly overlooked. This generation might term the rare beauty of a vintage handmade handbag as being old-fashioned or homely or grandma-like. In my opinion, a more suitable description of a vintage handmade handbag might be classy, elegant, sophisticated, or unique.
Taking a peek into the intricate designs of the past could help us appreciate the vintage days where puff sleeves, heavy petticoats, corsets, bonnets and gloves were more a matter of proper etiquette then today's expression of unique individualism through vintage fashion and style.
The history of the handbag or purse has evolved through time. In the 18th and 19th century, those carrying a vintage handmade handbag would need space to hold the necessary items of the era whether it be coins, pen, fans, handkerchiefs, makeup, keys, or even handwritten letters to be passed from person to person.
21st century needs for a purse or handbags have not changed much. Aside from the credit/atm cards and mini-electronic devices,-cosmetic items, coins, pen, fans, and handkerchiefs, are still the preferred content choice.
Occasionally the see-through vintage handbag or purse would display the contents of a woman's bag. In the 1950s clear bags were carried, then in the 1990's a famous Prada trend. Also Chanel brought back the clear box supported by a chain, but the most common style purse even today, keeps a woman's personal possessions private.
A woman's handbag has stubbornly stood the test of time. A purse or handbag's use has even broadened. We can now spot women carrying baby-bags, brief-cases, stylish shoulder-back packs, shopping bags, recycling grocery bags, etc. While men are confined to pockets, women are allowed to express individualism, style, status, and femininity all through the clutch of a hand or weight on a shoulder.
Bravo women! Let's keep the vintage handmade handbag, or any other type of purse funneling through our circle of life until the end of time.
