A current handbag trend that you might not be aware of is purse parties. You may think (especially if you are very male or very young) that handbags are simply that: bags that you carry with your hand so as to keep your important stuff organized and with you anywhere you go—things like your keys, cash, credit cards, driver’s license, makeup, medications, brush, nail file, and other handy things to take with you when you leave your home.
But it isn’t true that handbags, or purses, are just for carrying your things in. A secondary function of handbags is to accessorize. Historically, handbags have been expected to closely match your shoes, and your shoes and purse together have been expected to reasonably complement your outfit. These fashion expectations appear to have diminished in recent decades, with an almost-anything-goes attitude. Or possibly it’s just the ideas about matching that have changed.
Another current function of handbags is that of status symbol. Modern fashion magazines all seem to have pictures of purses that cost thousands of dollars—each! Celebrity magazines often show photos of real people actually owning such purses. And some online sites help avid designer-bag collectors have the opportunity to show off their prestigious collections.
Online support is also available to those at the other end of the handbag-loving spectrum—people who’ve designed and created their own handbags out of everything and anything, including clothing labels, pockets, soda-can tabs, trash bags, neckties, scarves, t-shirts, wallpaper, heirlooms, memorabilia, and anything at all vintage. Such sites offer free tutorials and patterns for people to access for knitting, embroidering, painting, stenciling, stamping, cross-stitching, beading, weaving, quilting, dyeing, collaging, appliquéing, mod podging, hand-stitching, and silk-screening their own handbags. There are directions for memorializing a worn-out favorite t-shirt into a purse. There’re also directions for making a purse-shaped table centerpiece out of a watermelon!
For people who are somewhere in between the at-home recycle-whiz purse designers and the affluent designer-bag-collecting consumers, there are purse parties. These are social get-togethers in the home of a friend, acquaintance, neighbor, or relative, where you can catch up on the latest handbag trends, such as the affordable and stylish purses (both large and small) that come with changeable exteriors. These long-overdue bags make it simple to match your purse to your outfit and your mood. You never have to take your stuff out of one bag and put it into another. Instead, you just almost instantly change the outside shell of the handbag. And all of your shells fold up into almost no space at all. The most amazing thing about this type of bag—other than the fact that it has interchangeable exteriors, of course—is that it doesn’t require a ton of money to have a bag that can be made to match any outfit and to make it appear as if you have many beautiful purses.
If you’ve felt out-of-the-loop on handbag trends, perhaps this is your chance for a purse party.
Tags: Handbags, purse parties, Purse Party
I am very interested in starting a purse party but am not sure how to go about this? how do i get one started?
Thanks for the comment! It’s fun and easy to host your very own purse party. To receive information about home shows or other opportunities through Miche Bag, go to the opportunities page at http://www.michebag.com/pages/opportunities. There you can fill out a form to receive information about distributors in your area.
I was wondering if they have reps that do the parties, I am interested in throwing a party but they do not seem to have a page to contact a rep. Thank you,
Tanya