Guest Blogger || It's In The Bag

Hellooo shimmers,
This is a guest post from the wonderful and talented Lucinda.

Without wishing to generalise the sexes with a statement of vulgar and mislead sexism one could venture that a woman’s desire to sling the season’s ‘It-Bag’ over her arm is akin to a man’s desire to sit behind the wheel of a four horse power sports car. I wouldn’t say that though as I’m not sexist and because I can imagine that there are many women who couldn’t care less about handbags, I for one would be fantastically happy to take both the bag and the car in equal measures. Not that there is a great need for a car in central London but you know what they say about beggars not being choosers and all that. What is it in particular about well-made luxurious handbagsand shoes that get women’s hearts racing? Why is it that some women are prepared to throw the equivalent of a months’ worth of rent at designers for something that can only carry a small quantity of your everyday essentials. Because let’s face it; the priority of ‘It-Bags’ is not first and foremost to be practical; you’re never going to be able to fit a laptop into a Fendi Baguette. So it’s definitely not the fact that they’re incredibly practical, is it because they’re beautiful? You certainly can’t deny their beauty but I have a sneaking suspicion that there is something more to women’s desires to own these prime slices of designer real estate; the kudos. Everyone instantly clocks when the latest hot blogger walks by with this season’s latest offering from Alexander McQueen and she knows you’ve noticed. That must be designer guarantee that comes with the extortionate price; that everyone you walk by will stare at you in envy. Owning an ‘It-Bag’ is not going to make you happier and it’s probably not going to make you any friends, well not the right sort of friends anyway. Spending hundreds if not thousands of pounds on a piece of leather might not necessarily mean that you’re richer but it could mean that you have slightly worse credit rating than the rest of us. Regardless of all of this; no self-respecting woman would turn up her nose at the chance to be the owner of a coveted designer bag, no matter who she is or how much she claimed not to care. So we’ve taken the liberty of going through some of history’s most popular and iconic ‘It-Bags’, some that are still available to the lucky few and some that we can simply admire from afar (and maybe buy the incomparably cheaper versions from the high street!) So in no particular order; everything from McQueen to Mulberry and everything in between!
(The Kelly Bag by Hermes)Named after Princess of Monaco Grace Kelly; originally designed in 1930 it wasn’t until 1956 that the handbag gained ‘It-Bag’ status after its namesake was repeatedly seen using one as a shield to distract the press from her growing baby bump. To this day the Kelly bag is still has a large cult following including celebrities such as Victoria Beckham despite the hefty three month waiting list!
(Prada Backpack)Made famous in the 1990s and immortalised by Bianca in ‘10 Things I Hate About You’ when she stated that she liked her Sketcher trainers ‘but I love my Prada backpack’. Admired for its simple design and hardy waterproof fabric Prada backpacks were instantly popular with fashionista’s for its style and practicality.
(Fendi Baguette) Designed in 1997 with style and functionality in mind the Fendi Baguette is perfect for everyday essentials, think mobile, lipstick, datebook and well, that’s about it really. Intended to be carried under the arm like a French stick (hence the name) the Baguette had a regular bit part under the famous armpit of Sarah Jessica Parker in Sex and The City. One of the most popluar ‘It-Bags’ around there are over 700 different styles of the original design.
(Anya Hindmarch) Never has a simple cotton tote been the center of such furore, Anya Hinmarch’s ‘I’m not a plastic bag’ tote sold for a princely sum of £5 in supermarkets and sold out within an hour of it going on sale only to be re-sold for a huge profit of up to £200 on eBay.  Celebrity status was quickly achieved due to the fact that it was given away as the ‘goodie bag’ at a Vanity Fair Oscar Party in 2007.(Alexander McQueen Skull clutch)Launched back in 2007 Alexander McQueen has offered up a new design of clutch each new season since. Always included was the macabre skull and more recently the addition of stylish emblazoned knuckle dusters and embroidered body. There has been everything from woven designs to bright orange python skin numbers each more intricately decorated than the next. Two questions; how could you possibly choose just one and when will McQueen’s well of creativity run dry?!
(Chanel 2.55) Influential French designer Coco Chanel is the creator of undoubtedly one of the most recognisable ‘It-Bags’ of all time the 2.55, named after its launch date which was on February 1955. Chanel was notoriously influenced by equestrian culture which resulted in the quilted and padded effect along with the chain detail strap which is still a feature of many Chanel bags to this day. In 1983 designer Karl Lagerfeld took to the helm of the fashion house as creative director and added the iconic interlocking ‘CC’ clasp.(Longchamp Le Pliage)One of those bags that you see everywhere you turn, owned by absolutely everyone from Kate Moss to your next door neighbours mum, the Longchamp Le Pliage bag was designed as a fold away traveling bag, as most ‘It-Bags’ it has its fair share of fake counterparts and there are a number of sites dedicated to help people spot a fake. (Mulberry – Alexa)After the creative director of Mulberry, Emma Hill, spotted Alexa Chung carrying round an old men’s briefcase they decided to design her an ‘It-Bag’ worthy of her ‘It-Girl’ status. Mulberry are renowned for naming their bags after young hot celebrities including super model Gisele Bundchen and most recently chanteuse Lana Del Rey which sold out in one color in a day. The Alexa bag was in fact so popular that it nearly quadrupled Mulberry’s profits during the midst of a global recession!So there you have it; some of the most popular bags of all time. If reading up on items that you probably won’t be able to afford without the help of a little black market organ sales has you feeling a little down then don’t fret. Simply remember that if you can never afford to buy an ‘It-Bag’ at least that also means that you will never own a bag that was once so incredibly popular that when it is out of fashion it’s not coming back until it becomes vintage; you’d never get that problem with a Zara tote!This blog post was written by Lucinda Bounsall who works at farfetch.com
Laura x