| A storied history of handbags Believe it or not, the history of the handbag goes further back than the now classic Hermes Biking and Chanel 2.55 ¨C though those bags certainly have a spot in any handbag hall of fame. A purse is essentially a pouch, and pouches have been used by man (and woman, of course) for as long as human memories have been recorded. Peasants in early rural societies used bags to carry seeds; African priests carried beaded bags; a painting dated 480 B.C. that now belongs to the Ash Olean Museum in Oxford, England, depicts a boy holding a "purse" filled with knucklebones, which were considered to be a token of seduction. According to "Carried Away: All About Bags" (The Van dome Press), the first incarnation of the modern accessory, the long-stringed reticule, came in the late 18th century. In fashion, it's the little things that mean a lot, says Farad Chanute, who put together the book and an exhibit at the Muse des Arts Decorates in Paris. "If you take a little object like this one (a handbag), you'll put together a lot of stories of what life is, what power is, religiosity, what men's and women's relationships are ¨C and it's all fashion, too." But Chanute's definition of fashion goes beyond a glossy magazine. He includes wizard's bags, doctor's bags and religious bags in his broad scope. The similarity between an haute couture tote and a satchel belonging to an African witch, he explains, is that both bags hold a secret of some sort. "What you put in your bag is very important to you. That makes a bag very personal, because in it you have a secret. A secret gives you some sort of power. Traditionally, for a woman, a bag holds the things you need for the day, but it's also your little beauty factory, which is very important to the identity of the woman," Chenoune says. Men used to be the ones who'd give women their purses. Wedding purses were a traditional gift from groom to bride through the 15th century, according to "Carried Away." The bags typically were elaborately embroidered with an illustration of a love story.
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