Reticule: A little bag, originally of network; a woman’s workbag, or a little bag to be carried in the hand. –De Quincey.
My mild obsession with making bags is one part driven by the gatherer impulse and the other part driven by wanting to make many things in a limited amount of time, thus the need to have lots of bits at arms length.
We have probably been using bags for as long as we have been walking. Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs show men wearing purses around the waist. Pictured below a Byzantine girdle pouch from the ninth century.
Men and women were apt to wear girdle pouches in the fifteenth century. Pockets did make an impact on the use of bags by late seventeenth century, most bags were worn under one’s garments. Following the French Revolution in the eighteenth century fashions developed a more slender sillouette which saw bags being worn once again as an outer accessory. Pictured below a metal reticule from 1840.
The nineteenth century saw the rise of the rail revolution, people were now travelling greater distances and need to take more possessions with their person than ever.
By the twentieth century handbags became more than a luggage accessory. The variety of bags available for all occasions from an intricate little clutch for special occasions to a large shoulder bag for working women was to see the object attain cult status. The economic boon of the post war era kicked off by the launch of the Chanel 2.55 bag in 1955 the concept of the ‘It Bag’.
In the twentyfirst century the status of the ‘It Bag’ is still looming in epic proportions. Case in point Victoria Beckham’s personal collection of one hundred Birkin Bags with an estimated value of over one and a half million pounds. The Birkin Bag manufactured by Hermes is named after style icon Jane Birkin, a very pink version below.
Such a quantity of Birkin bags may be unattainable by most women on the planet, the consumer driven concept of owning such an aspirational item is now available to women of any class or status that can successfully scrape together a few thousand dollars for the latest must have handbag. I do love the very bodylike Bulga bag below, amazing design and no obvious show of labels.

The next development in the evolution of the bag?
I anticipate the Man Bag will drop the man and men will be inspired to wear a bag for all occasions. Never has there been a time when we have has so much stuff to take with us. The onslaught of personal media gadgetry, adaptors, cords, batteries and memory cards have become as important to having on our person in our daily lives as money, keys and ID. The Solar bag below designed for the sturdy carriage and powering of our things.
The psychology of why we keep the things we keep in our bags is compelling. As evidenced by the Flickr Group What’s in your bag. A place where we can both be both voyeur and exhibitionist. A Hot Water Bottle Bag perhaps? 
As a form of self expression I see hand made original bags designed for a personal aesthetic and function being the key motive for the design of things in which to keep our stuff.
Etsy have almots six thousand pages of hand made bags for sale. Who knows if these bags are being sold in equally impressive numbers. Regardless it seems we are making more bags than ever. I know I am. Perhaps I will never sell a bag on Etsy. Perhaps subconciously I do not want to. I currently have three bags in my Etsy shop and have felt sad at the thought of parting with any of them. I am still making more bags and despite wondering why, I continue. Does the perfect bag elude me? Most probably.
Inching closer, my latest cocoon pouch style bag above made for toting an SLR camera on my travels. I call it the Toffee Bag. More info posted on Burdastyle. I still lust after the bag ideas of others. Today it’s the biomorphic inspiration of SkinBag laptop bag below. Tomorrow, who knows. I do know there will be no shortage on inspiration or bags.


































