Handbags ...

Our Queen Elizabeth II famously does not go anywhere without her signature handbag. She has made it her own - always a similar style in a great classic shape & she  just carries it effortlessly. Her Majesty is loyal to the British handbag firm of Launer  who famously makes her several bespoke bags each year; supposedly favouring the one handled Diva (£920) and Traviata (£1,020).

I do not share such grace - as much as I ad♥re handbags, mine often double up as mini suitcases with all the bits I carry around.
But, love them I do - all shapes, sizes, colours, designs ....

I am getting ahead of myself here ... let me start at the very beginning. My first real handbag came from a favourite maiden great-aunt who was uber stylish & who probably despaired at her tom-boyish great niece. She gifted me a lovely handmade (probably not by my aunt as I do not recall her sewing) fabric container filled with the most beautiful ribbons you could lay your eyes on (I wore pig tails ..... all the time or so it seemed) and also a most beautiful Viennese Petit Point handbag that I always admired in her room.



The beautiful gloves & silk handkerchief were in the bag & what a treasure.  They had pride of place even if I never went anywhere where they might have gone too ....

The antique brush (and a mirror) came out of the attic of my in-laws & belonged to my husband's grandmother so they just seem to be right to lay besides the bag.

That seemed to set me on the path to enjoying handbags or purses as our American friends delightfully call them.

As fate would have it, I have a dear friend Liane & we are a bad influence on each other as we both love handbags as much as each other. It is an absolute delight to go browsing with her as she will never say anything obvious like .... "why do you need another black bag when you have 5 already?"

We did a combined handbag photoshoot over lunch at mine one day and  this is 'some' of our black & white bags ....

I know but ... as I explain to my long-suffering husband, one black bag simply cannot go everywhere & anywhere so I need to cover any eventuality.

The same logic (in the loosest sense) also applies to pink handbags ... why have 1 when you could choose between 5?


Handbags are also needed in particular colours for particular seasons; this Liz Claiborne just says Winter berries, doesn't it?



Of course, my daughters understand this completely and for my *cough* birthday, they bought me this ..... I know, just too lovely for words!!



So, please feel free to look through my flickr handbag photos & share your handbag stories with me too ... you could inspire my next purchase.

Till next time, happy handbagging friends
Dee ♥