Womens Designer Bags - All your ever wanted to know...

Womens handbags are one of the most popular accessories that women everywhere buy.  Women use their bags as a practical place to store personal items such as purses, coins, cosmetics, sunglasses and hairbrushes.  Americans call the womens handbag a womens purse.

The handbag has become a fashionable accessory and many handbags are now made my named designers.  Women can pay huge sums of money for the designer bag made by designers such as Chanel and Louise Vuitton.

There are a great many good womens designer handbags available from more affordable designers such as Fiorelli, Modalu, Nica, Red or Dead and Zandra Rhodes.  These designer bags are available in different styles such as small shoulder bags, large shoulder bags, clutch bags and grab bags.  The well known designer Zandra Rhodes released a range of handbags for the first time in August 2010.

The first recorded use of bags shows men carrying crude pouches around their waists and this is shown in Egyptian hieroglyphics, these pouches or bags were called 'pockets' and were used to carry bits of flint or money.

During the 14th century, women started using handbags which started to become a status symbol.  Wealthy women would ensure that their handbags were showing their wealth by having either jewellery or embroidery decorating them and were made of expensive materials such as silk.  These handbags were very fragile and not at all practical - although many of the more wealthy women employed their servants to carry their handbag. 

The first designer bag, fastened to its owners dress with elaborate tassels, is shown in various portraits of the rich and famous of the time.  The next stage in the development of the handbag was to hide it as women wore the bag attached to their underwear under their outer dress.  Men abandoned using their bags because trousers became fashionable and they had built in pockets for men to carry their belongings in.

In the 18th century, women started to carry bags again as the bulky skirts disappeared and dresses became more fitted and streamline.  Bulky bags no longer fitted under skirts, so they appeared again as real handbags which ladies carried.  These were called reticules but were used as the current day handbag to carry cards, perfume, fans and the owners personal items.  The handbag became popular in the 1920's and our modern day handbag is based on this design.  There was more variety of colour, designer and material - some of the most popular bags were based on the discovery of the treasures found in the Egyptian tomb of Tutankhamun.

During the second world war materials such as metal and leather became very short in supply so manufacturers of handbags started to use plastic and wood.  Shape became important in design and non-conventional shapes became popular.

With the war and rationing over, in the 1950's names such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton and Hermes became well known in the design of both clothes and handbags.  These designers started to raise the importance of the designer name and the popularity of the elegant and beautiful designs that they had available.

The last part of the century saw the introduction of new materials such as faux leather, waterproof materials for beach bags and of course the introduction of leather to the mass market.

Manufacturing techniques improved and handbags were available to the mass market at more affordable prices.  In the early 2000's many companies have moved their manufacturing to the Far East and China making handbags more affordable.  The average woman adds to her handbag collection at least three times per year and owns at least six handbags.