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Handbags, not quite as we know them today, go back a long way. In 1500 BC, the Assyrians and Babylonians used richly embroidered bags for religious ceremonies; the ancient Persians had small pouches in which to carry their money; and the Egyptian hieroglyphs depict pouches carried around the waist. Handbags as we know them have been essential to fashion history since the 18th century when they were called reticules. Women had a different bag for every occasion. By the 1900 “handbags” were in use—by men—and soon women were using them.By the 1920s though, a revolution in fashion had taken place and where once bags were always expected to match the costume they were worn with, they became a symbol of independence. With the 1950s came the rise of important well established designer houses such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Hermes. The colorful 1960s saw a breakdown of the old notions of classical forms and tradition, and the subsequent rise of a youth culture has given our modern world a variety of design, material and decoration, bringing an extraordinary beauty and high status to this ever important fashion accessory.
I buy books on purses hoping to find pictures of early purses that have not been seen before. This book showed quite a few purses from the 18th and 19th century that I had not seen in the existing literature. Photographs of women from the 1920's, carrying purses, was another nice feature. The production values are excellent and the author has a very nice writing style that draws you in. It is also a large and substantial book for the money. The majority of the purses in the book are from the mid to later 20th century, which is a collecting niche of its own. I highly reccomend this book to anyone who loves purses.