While fashion styles might sometimes seem somewhat frivolous, its enduring appeal is tied to its two core influences; functionality and human emotions. For clothing and footwear the functionality aspect is pretty self-explanatory; we need clothes and shoes to both protect us from the elements and to ensure we comply with social and cultural norms and laws. It’s our emotional needs and wants that dictates that fashion should be ever evolving, because we don’t feel the same every day of our lives, so why should we look it?
This also holds true for fashion’s most popular accessory; the bag. The bag’s key functionality lies in the fact that we have stuff, and we want and/ or need to take that stuff with us when we’re out and about. Historically the need for a bag was a unisex one, both men and women needed to carry their stuff around. Then the fashion gods decreed that men should have pockets and women, not so much. That’s why today a man’s need for a bag is still heavily skewed towards its functionality, i.e. for work or travelling while a woman’s need for a bag is more broad, i.e. work, travel, to carry her stuff while she’s wearing a pocketless (damn you fashion gods!) cocktail dress or simply as a piece of adornment to complete an ensemble.
Bags, and especially those marketed primarily to women, have thus evolved into a variety of shapes and sizes in order to cater to a variety of needs.
The Handbag
The handbag, as the mainstay of women’s bags, had to evolve rapidly during the course of the twentieth century, both to keep pace with ever changing fashions but also (and more importantly) to match the new needs of women as they asserted greater independence within society and joined the workforce in greater numbers. The changing practical needs of women had to be incorporated into the design of handbags, i.e. being big enough to handle the accoutrements of the workforce or having a strap for ease of carry.
The Cross-Body Bag
Handbags are usually classified primarily by the type of strap/handle they have, and then secondly by their shape and style. The term ‘cross-body’ is fairly self-explanatory and refers to any handbag that uses a longer strap so that the bag can be worn across the body. The longer strap of the cross-body bag, when compared to the traditional shoulder strap of the handbag, makes it more comfortable to carry because the weight of the bag is distributed between the shoulder and the back. This is especially useful in larger, and thus heavier, versions of the cross-body bag like the messenger.
The Tote Bag
The tote distinguishes itself from the handbag in one key detail, size. First designed to be a travel bag used to carry luggage, it’s the size and depth of a tote that makes it everyday friendly. Totes are ideal for a variety of purposes or roles; for those in the corporate world it’s big enough to lug around a laptop, for busy moms it’s got enough space for everything you or your kid(s) might need and if you just have a lot of stuff it has enough space to shove it all in there!
Fashion’s most famous and covetable tote, Hermès’ Birkin bag, also comes with one of fashion’s great origin stories. In the early ‘80s, so the story goes, Hermès’ chief executive Jean-Louis Dumas was seated next to English actress Jane Birkin on a flight and witnessed the contents of her bag fall out of the overhead locker. Birkin bemoaned the fact that she couldn’t find a roomy and still stylish leather carryall and this led the house to design and launch (in 1984) the Birkin bag. And thus was born the bag that ruined many a credit card!
The origin of the bucket bag, while not as famous as that of the Hermès Birkin tote isn’t any less stylish. Louis Vuitton originally designed the Noé, the granddaddy of all bucket bags, as simply a means to carry champagne bottles! Très chic.
The Clutch Bag
The clutch as we know it today has its origins in the 1930’s and the glamour of the period’s Hollywood starlets. The demand was for a tiny (back then all a lady needed were her gloves and lipstick when going out) and usually very embellished bag that would complement an evening gown and could be held or clutched (the fashion gods weren’t very original with the naming) in the hand. Straps and handles were a no-no because nobody wanted something off their shoulder or arm that could distract from their look’s silhouette. Straps, especially metallic chain ones, are a relatively modern addition along with an increase in the size of clutch bags (hello car keys and cellphones).
The Backpack
Diametrically opposed to the glitz and glam of the clutch, we have the backpack. The humble backpack is the most utilitarian of all the bags mentioned here. Its origins lie with hikers and mountaineers needing a way to get their stuff up a mountain while keeping their hands free (which you can imagine is vital for not falling off said mountain). The backpack gained its popularity in the ‘60s when the modern nylon backpack was developed and marketed as a way for students to haul their books and stationery.
This practical history doesn’t mean that the backpack hasn’t had its own high-fashion moments. In 1984, the same year Hermès launched the Birkin, Prada debuted its nylon backpack. Made from industrial-weight nylon used for army tents, the bag quickly became (and has remained) a fashion favourite. The Olsen twins also made a splash when their label (The Row) launched its alligator skin backpack with an astounding retail price of $34,000 (that amount graduates from astounding to horrifying when you convert it into Rands).
