5 Handbags That Have Stood the Test of Time

1. Chanel 2.55

• The bag is named 2.55 after the date of creation, February 1955
• There is a zippered compartment at the inside of the front flap. That is where Coco Chanel is rumored to have stored her love letters in her original bag.
• Chanel created the bag after she recognized that modern women needed to have their hands free while attending social functions. The chains were attached by leather-threaded chain inserted through eyelets. The caretakers of the convent where she grew up held the keys at their waist dangling from the same type of chains as the 2.55 shoulder strap.
• The bag originally came with a front lock called “the Mademoiselle Lock” (in reference to Coco Chanel never marrying). Since the 1980s, versions can also be supplied with a lock in the shape of a double CC logo introduced by Karl Lagerfeld. These are called “Classic Flaps”.
• The bag has a quilted diamond or herringbone pattern on the exterior. Using a running stitch, this gives the bag shape and volume. The pattern is believed to have been inspired by several sources: by jockeys’ riding coats, by the stained-glass windows of the abbey at Aubazine, as well as by the cushions in Chanel’s Paris apartment.

2. Fendi Baguette

• Carrie Bradshaw carried the Baguette in Sex and the City in 1997.
• First to claim the title “It bag”.
• Fashioned in everything from floral sequins, sheared mink, and tribal beads to spring/summer 2012 limited-edition offerings of luxe skins, vivid colors, and glittery details.
• Genius global-business model: since the bag’s debut, it has seen more than 1,000 variations.
• Influencing the character of Carrie and serving as a game-changer for women — for the first time we saw a woman who lived by her own rules, paying more for a bag than her rent, if she so desired.

3. Hermès Birkin

• In 1981, Hermès chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas was seated next to Jane Birkin on a flight from Paris to London. She had just placed her straw bag in the overhead compartment of her seat, but the contents fell to the deck, leaving her to scramble to replace them. Birkin explained to Dumas that it had been difficult to find a leather weekend bag she liked. In 1984, he created the iconic Birkin Bag
• The bag comes in a variety of hides such as calf leather, ostrich, crocodile, and lizard. One of the most expensive is saltwater crocodile skin.
• Each bag is hand-sewn, buffed, painted, and polished, taking several days to finish. An average bag is created in 48 hours.
• The bag is notoriously difficult to obtain with “wait lists for the wait list” which were humorously chronicled in Tonello’s Bringing Home the Birkin
• Prices are legendary and range from $10,500 to $150,000

4. Louis Vuitton Speedy

• Georges Vuitton introduced the bag in 1930.
• Like Fendi’s Baguette, Louis Vuitton has created the bag in a variety of styles and colors, from graffiti to more traditional leathers and new ones come out every season.
• A special size was even created for Audrey Hepburn and is now available in 4 different sizes.

5. Dior Lady

• This bag’s legendary status began in 1995 when France’s First Lady gifted Princess Diana the purse from Dior, after which Diana ordered it in every available style.
• Each bag is handmade and each cannage quilted square pattern is hand crafted and then fitted with either gold or silver hardware and a signature CD charm.

Originally published at www.thistailoredlife.com on July 20, 2015.