We see them on television, we see them online, and we see them almost anywhere. Black leather purses have been a common sight for women. However, wouldn’t it be fun to know where this small accessory came from, or perhaps know some trivia about it? For your enjoyment, here they are:
Brief History
Purses came from handbags, which during the 14th century was mainly used by hunters. Men carried their things with it. Soon after, they were already using them to carry around flint, which was an essential survival thing to have. Back then, there was no such thing as ladies’ handbags or purses.
Women’s Use
By the 15th century, women started using these small handbags for their own. They adorned both the inside and outside areas with ornaments, beads, jewels, and other precious things, and carried them around for social stature. The better adorned the bag was, the seemingly wealthier status one had. Black leather purses were then not a popular choice for lack of extravagance.
Primitive Fashion Sense
The first recorded matchmaking of purses to other worn elements was during the 18th century. It was at this era when women started taking note that color matching of purses to their shoes is important in looking good. This perhaps is considered the precursor of modern fashion for accessorizing.
Growth of Purse Use
After the First World War, women started gaining better social roles and started to make an impact of semi independence. With this, the emergence of bag crafters came to be and started selling them on a bigger scale. This gave way to officially calling these women’s handbags as purses.
The Term Itself
The beginnings of bags to carry around stuff started with men calling bags as ‘handbags’. By the 1900’s the term branched off to distinguish men’s bags from women’s. Handbags then became briefcases for men and purses for women,
Most Expensive Purse
To date, the black Fendi bag is priced at $27,700. This black leather purse came from the skin of a crocodile.
These six tidbits may not have any impact on your usage of a black leather purse, but it is always a good chuckle to know that men first used them.
