A History of Ladies Purses

If you ever thought where ladies purses come from then you will be surprised to know that they were first originated back in the 14th century. During those days people would want to carry precious items around with them which they did not want to leave behind. It was understandable as people of that time never lived at one place and kept on moving from one place to another. There are pouches shown with the Egyptian hieroglyphs who used to tie the purses around their waists.

Just like we have designer ladies purses these days during that time the rich people used to design their purses with jewels and embroidery to show status. It depended on how rich that person was, for example if they were really rich then their bags would be more elaborate. It was in the 16th century when the bags started to be made from better materials such as leather. Travelers used to carry cloth bags to carry valuables which they hung diagonally across their bodies.

In the 17th century women and men started carrying small purses of various shapes. The young girls were taught beautiful embroidery so they could marry in nice families and we see that artwork today. By the 18th century the women had a different purse for every occasion. The fashion magazines used to argue about which purse should be worn with which dress and so on. The magazines used to tell women what the purposes of these bags were and what to carry in them.

You would find items such as a fan, perfume, smelling salts, face powder, rouge, card cases and visiting cards in the purses. By the 1920's it was not necessary that the purse should be matching the outfit. By the 1940's there was a shortage of zips, leather, metal frames and mirrors so people used to make bags with wood and plastic instead. The 50's was when designers arrived and they introduced classical and inspirational designs for every woman.

So many companies are copying the designs and selling them in more than half the price as the originals. They look like the originals and you can hardly tell if they are fake. With the passage of time people will see more styles and designs in bags due to the imagination of young and upcoming designers. There will not be a time where you can not have an outfit that does not match with one of your bags.