Jean Charles de Castelbajac - bag coat (2000) comments
"The body is the room and the pockets are the closets"
this is a little more ott than I want to create, but... who knows...
Elizabeth Arden (early 1930s), with the expansion of the cosmetic
industry and the glamour of Hollywood bags for carrying make up
became more sophisticated. I like the pocket for everything, woe betide
the glamour girl who blushes whilst hunting for the kohl.
Evening gasmask bag (1938-45), an attempt
to beautify the utility cardboard box that was
commonly used to navigate the blitz.
In 1939 38 million gasmasks were issued to
protect against gas attacks, one for every civilian
man, woman and child in the UK.
Sovereign purse (1907). Something for the gentleman.
Lots of divisions, compartments, flaps and openings to
keep his money safe.
French opera bag (1910), a bag for every occasion, with every
(respectable) circumstance catered for within the contents of the bag.
French chatelaine bag (1870s), when searching for
a pocket was too awkward and spoilt the line of the dress.
Accordion style bags were popular in the late 1940s
& early 1950s, functional with lots of separate compartments.
Bag by Wilardy (1954), reminds me rather of
a students stack of books, skipping to the library...
I like the exoskeleton feel of these bags.
The reticule was the first type of external bag
as opposed to pocket hung from the waist,
introduced to complement the fashion for sheer
empire line dresses of the 1790s.
The French reticule (1815-1830) above reminds me
rather of the rolodex idea I had. This could well be
where the inventors of card indexing got their inspiration!
I have been looking at various styles of bags to give me
inspiration for making interesting pockets on the "garment".
Interestingly there are similarities between some of the bags
and some of the ideas I have been thinking of.
The black and white images and information are from:
Bags & Purses by Vanda Foster (1982) Batsford.
The colour images and information are from:
Handbags: The Power of the Purse by Anna Johnson (2002) Workman.
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