Handbags

Melie Bianco Plisse Handbag, Purse, It Bag.... You got it! Click here to get it, too!

from Wikipedia

History
Purses, handbags, and pouches have taken on many looks over the years. The first appearance of them is on Egyptian hieroglyphics showing pouches worn around the waist. The next appearance is in 14th century Europe. In Europe they often showed social status based on the embroidery and quality of the bag. At this time the purses were for women mainly and were therefore attached to their girdle.

In the 15th century, both men and women wore purses. They were often finely embroidered or ornamented with gold. It was also customary for men to give their new brides purses embroidered with an illustration of a love story. Later in the century, women, now wearing finer dresses, preferred to wear their pouches under their skirts.

In the 16th century, handbags were made out of common materials. They were leather and fastened with drawstring on top. Large cloth bags were introduced and 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, that would make them marriageable. These skills gave rise to stitched artwork on purses. Also at this time in 1670, men's breeches were made with built-in pockets which caused them to stop carrying purses. They did however carry little netted purses in their pocket to carry money.

In the 18th century, as neo-classical clothing came into fashion, women started carrying their handbags as not to ruin their outfits. They named these bags reticules. Women also had more of them and certain ones 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 began calling their bags, handbags. This term referred to luggage that men carried. They then inspired women, who began carrying bags with complicated fasteners, internal compartments, and locks. In the 1920s, it became popular that bags no longer had to match your outfit. In the 1940s, with WWII, women's purses were made out of wood or plastic since metal was being saved for supplies. In the 1950s, popular handbag designers included Chanel, Louis Vuitton, and Hermes.

The word purse is derived from the Latin bursa, from the Greek βυρσα, meaning oxhide.[1]

Purses are usually carried by women, though men sometimes carry one as a smaller alternative to a backpack; such a purse is sometimes termed a murse or manbag (portmanteaus "man" with "purse" and "handbag" respectively). It can also be called a man-purse. Such bags are often similar or identical to messenger bags. Smaller children also use purses, but usually just for show.

Coin purses are small purses, just large enough to hold paper money, cards and coins. A medium-to-small-sized purse with a short handle, designed to be carried (clutched) in one's hand is often called a clutch. A larger purse with two handles is often called a tote. A pocketbook is similar to a purse (in the British English sense), but allows the carrying of sheets of paper as well. A security bag protects the carrier from travel theft. The purse includes an invisible stainless steel strap sewn into the fabric and a protectant on the main zipper.

Clutch: Small,yet long (rectangular), evening bag without a handle.
Satchel: large bag with small handle that is carried on the arm rather than on the shoulder.
Duffle: 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.

It Bag is a fashion handbag.

The term was coined in the 1990s with the explosive growth of the handbag market in fashion. Designers vied to produce one bag that would sell hundreds of thousands of units by becoming the bag "of the moment" -- a single handbag style that would spread like wildfire in popularity through the intertwined worlds of fashion and celebrity, aided by clever or just plain lucky marketing. Another way to define them is to say what other bags are not: "They are most definitely not it bags in the sense that they become isn't bags the next season." (Poppy Harlow)

As consumers have become more demanding, and in the face of structural changes in the handbag market, the It Bag is declining in popularity[1]. More and more fashion companies are diversifying their offers, and no longer does one style blaze through a season.

In American English, a purse is a small bag, also called a handbag or a pocketbook. In British English, a purse is a small money container similar to a wallet, but typically used by women and including a compartment for coins, with a handbag being considerably larger. A purse or handbag is often fashionably designed, and is used to hold a number of items such as a wallet, keys, tissues, makeup, a hairbrush, cellular device or personal digital assistant, feminine products, or other items.