Tuesday 10 October 2017 is National Handbag Day – who knew there was a day in the calendar dedicated to handbags?! Well if a handbag is proving to be a better investment than some financial products out there, perhaps we should all be celebrating what most women believe is an essential part of the wardrobe.
So what should fellow handbag lovers do apart from just talk about the designers tomorrow? Here are 3 ideas for inspiration:
1 Go meet a designer
For those who can’t jet off to mainland Europe to pop into Gucci or Hermes head offices, why not think local and give a smaller bag manufacturer some support? Get up and close and personal with the craftmanship of handbag making.
Well, that’s exactly what I did at the weekend. I drove out west to visit British handbag designer and manufacturer Owen Barry. The aroma of quality leather was intoxicating (for those of you can remember the TV ad, I behaved like a kid from the Bisto TV ad!)
The shop being above the factory and warehouse allowed the assistant to really show me how wide the range was. What surprised me most apart from the range of leathers was their heritage in other products such as gloves, rugs, bean bags and aprons.
I couldn’t resist and was able to order the clip top Somer clutch bag and have a strap added to make it a crossbody. I was gutted to hear that the Urban shoulder bag was no longer available, seen below being looked after by one of the iconic Owen Barry sheep door stops.
Come on Owen Barry, bring back to the Urban shoulder bag in different colours or let me know if I can order one through your bespoke service.
2 Go designer handbag (window) shopping
In London you can head to one of the department stores such as Harrods or Selfridges to view lots of designer handbags under one roof. However, if you need a stylish edit one might naturally turn to Dover Street Market, not far from Piccadilly – rather than the lose endless hours in a department store (I can spend a half a day lost in Harrods handbag halls).
At DSM London, I perused collections from Alaia, Delvaux, Loewe and was greeted at the door by a selection of Celine. Expect to come across a handful of Gucci, J W Anderson and Balenciaga as you visit the 4 floors. Start at the top and work you way down!
It was a shame and strange not find Junya Watanabee’s handbag for Comme des Garcon in the London home of CDG! If you like the bag (see below), best head online to Farfetch. More details can be found in one of my articles, the hunt for designer bags for under £500.
If you do have a half day though, my top tip would be to visit Fenwick on Bond Street (in fact walk Bond Street) or Selfridges on Oxford Street and take in your designers of choice, making your own, more comprehensive edit.
3 Show your love!
Surely the national day has got to be the time when you can talk about handbag more than usual, sharing those found on the internet and on blogs. Why not go one step further; show your love and visit the king of visual search engines Pinterest and pin your favourite bag to one of the many boards?
Here’s a group board ready and waiting for you. Just follow the board and post your pinterest url or email address to me at Bagwispas (on pinterest) or leave your details on this page below in the comments so I can add you.
#Tuesdaythoughts on the national handbag day may just rest on contemplating the greatest bag designs and designers. What and who might they be just share in the comments. If you do get some free time and go shopping and end up purchasing a new handbag, or bags, do share on pinterest or below.
Afterall you are just celebrating a national day! Enjoy!
Bagwhispers 