Handbags can make a fashion statement

It's all in the bag.

And this season, that bag is a big one -- and all the rage.

Not to mention pretty versatile, as well. Consider: It's a mobile office and day-care center, and, for some, a roving abyss for all those necessary doodads of life: lipstick, stray Tic Tacs, the lonely Sharpie or two.

Still, despite its propensity for being a carry-all for everything, the big bag is also an, er, big fashion statement this fall.

Ranging from affordable (20 bucks or so) to astronomical ($5,000), from denim to leather, and in this year's must-have shade of black to sporting multicolored patterns, admittedly much of the big-bag frenzy is driven by images of celebrities carrying their 2-foot-tall purses at the behest of the designers who created them.

"Women who are very fashion-conscious pay attention to the collections, particularly in magazines and on the Internet," says Irenka Jakubiak, editorial fashion director at Accessories magazine. "The celebrity thing still seems to influence their purchases."

(So much so that the "It" bag of the season -- Chanel's shiny $995 black vinyl shopper -- was pre-sold by the Chanel boutique in San Francisco before any of them ever reached the store.)

But big bags have a practical, universal appeal all their own.

For one thing: Age and dress size don't matter. Big bags look great when carried by most women; just don't let them overwhelm you.

Plus, they make a big impression.

"(Little bags) don't get noticed from a distance," says Marshal Cohen, chief analyst for the NPD Group, which tracks consumer spending.

On top of that, bigger bags suggest luxury.

"Bigger bags are often equated with how much you're willing to spend," Cohen says. "That's because handbags are one of the few things women have convinced themselves are a worthy fashion investment."

Women love their handbags; most buy about three a year. And sales of bags in the United States are estimated to reach $6 billion in 2006, according to a report from the market research firm Mintel International Group.

Of course, price tags correspond to labels. For example, you can grab a Mossimo riveted satchel at Target for $29.99 or a $3,350 crocodile satchel by Nancy Gonzalez at Neiman Marcus.

Cohen adds that the dynamics of handbag buying have changed. Women often charge through stores with a particular purse in mind.

Nothing else will suffice.

A new book, "It's in the Bag" (Harper-Collins, $19.95, 128 pages), traces how this everyday object has become such a focal point of women's lives. Author Winifred Gallagher admits she "had a ball" getting to the bottom of bags.

"In the process, I found out several important things," she says over the phone from New York, including:

A purse parallels a woman's emergence into the larger world.

"In the 1920s, purses became a big accessory. Women were out and about -- not necessarily in the workforce -- but they needed something for their money, a compact and a lipstick," Gallagher says.

Women needed a status symbol.

"Spend $1,500 and up on a handbag, and that's like a Rolex or a BMW to a man," Gallagher says. "It says, 'I'm working and successful enough to buy myself this fancy bag that people will recognize.' "

Credit the French fashion house of Hermes for generating some of the label-dropping trend.

In 1956, actress-turned-princess Grace Kelly appeared on the cover of Life magazine, using a Hermes bag to disguise her pregnancy.

The "Kelly" bag, as it came to be known, still fetches upward of $10,000 to $25,000 today; Gallagher says an auction in New York saw one go for more than $50,000.

In the 1980s, Hermes struck gold again with the Birkin bag, which was designed for actress Jane Birkin because she complained about having to rummage through her purse. That bag moved into pop culture via shows such as "Sex and the City."

In 2006, handbags are having even more of an impact from a fashion industry perspective.

"Most couture (clothing) designers hadn't been designing bags until Miuccia Prada's 1988 black backpack purse came along," Gallagher says. "She made a ton of money for her company and other designers followed."

As a result, bags started popping up on runways. Check out the recent shows from New York to Milan, where models routinely carried handbags.

No matter where you live, however, there's instant access to the hottest handbags, especially online.

"In the past, if you wanted to see what was popular in Paris, you had to wait a couple of months," Gallagher says. "Today, the electronic media explosion has accelerated that trend cycle."

Source: pe.com