It's In the Bag: What Purses Reveal---and Conceal [Hardcover]

Winifred Gallagher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 31, 2006

The time is perfect for a short, smart purse book. The "good bag" has nudged out shoes, jeans, and jewelry as the must–have fashion possession. Despite price hikes –– $1,445 for a Prada bowler bag that once cost $940 –– the craze for high–end purses helps fuel the booming luxury–goods market and, via knock–offs, hugely influences the $6 billion–a–year mainstream handbag industry. But purse mania isn't just an outgrowth of a strong luxury–goods market –– human thoughts, feelings, and dreams are involved, too. As Nadia, a high–powered interior designer says, "My cell and my big Tod's purse –– that is my life."

In IT'S IN THE BAG, noted journalist Winifred Gallagher explains it what means for a purse to be a life. This cultural history of the handbag borrows from psychology (Freud noted that sometimes a purse is a vagina –– which is perhaps why the first "handbags" were carried by men!), sociology (a purse as a "status symbol") and even economics (Why have prices gotten so steep?). Researched and erudite yet always fun, Winifred Gallagher offers in IT'S IN THE BAG a charming theory of modern identity as seen through one of our keenest obsessions.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Like a trendy Chloe clutch, this slim volume on the quintessential women's accessory has detail aplenty but little depth. While author Gallagher (House Thinking: A Room-by-Room Look at How We Live) touches on a range of topics-including history, design and designers, the business of bags and personal style-she misses a number of opportunities to "consider one seemingly simple everyday object's complex meanings." For example, her chapter on handbag business looks at Ellen Goldstein-Lynch, founder of the accessories design department at the Fashion Institute of Technology; one-woman handbag company Helen Mariën; and perennial favorite Kate Spade. Nowhere, however, does she examine the manufacturing process of large name brands like Louis Vuitton and Fendi, and she barely acknowledges the flourishing counterfeit market, no doubt a concern for the $6 billion industry-not to mention readers, for whom a knockoff Bottega is as least as intriguing (if not more so) than the out-of-reach $2,600 original. Her final chapter, which examines the purse habits of a handful of celebrities and bag connoisseurs, is entertaining but, tellingly, fails to consider the average woman. Though decidedly "not a shopper's guide," Gallagher's lack of rigor makes this light volume a perfect supplement to your latest issue of Lucky.
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Review

“...[a] jaunty meditation on the apotheosis of the designer handbag.” (New York Times )

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Harper (October 31, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061137480
• ISBN-13: 978-0061137488
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #651,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Decent "coffee table" "chic lit" read., March 13, 2007

By 

JournalReviewer - See all my reviews

This review is from: It's In the Bag: What Purses Reveal---and Conceal (Hardcover)

I was expecting more of an academic, historical and psychological analysis of the actual meaning that handbags (and personal items) have to people. The book touched on this BRIEFLY a few times. But, the rest of the book discussed brand/label history of designers and name dropped.

I was a bit dissapointed. If you're looking for a book on handbag design history, or light coffee table reading, you might enjoy this book. If you want to dig deeper into the psychological meaning that objects have for you, this book (suprisingly) will not do much for you.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Charming and Insightful Study of an Everyday Object, February 2, 2007

By 

Stacey M Jones (Conway, Ark.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: It's In the Bag: What Purses Reveal---and Conceal (Hardcover)

There are entire specialties of scholarly inquiry into the meaning of the things in our lives. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who researches humans' everyday lives and things shows that people " -- especially women -- particularly value 'contemplative objects' that have positive associations and represent dimensions of who we are" (p. 66). The lovely and engaging, charmingly reported IT'S IN THE BAG: WHAT PURSES REVEAL AND CONCEAL by Winifred Gallagher sheds light on what purses mean, their history, how certain ones become "IT" and how women relate to these objects in their lives. As a woman who never seems to have enough purses, I was very curious about what I would learn in this book and very gratified by what I found here.

Gallagher, who has written for the Atlantic Monthly, Rolling Stone and the New York Times, and has written books on spirituality, among other topics, takes her reportage on this issue just seriously enough. (In the conclusion she states that a purse isn't going to change anyone's life significantly.) But she does examine just thoroughly enough the historical context of the purse, how they are produced, who makes decisions about the accessories we carry (even when we purport not to care, we are carrying out the vision of someone, somewhere who does!), why women are attached to their handbags and the individual stories of specific women (such as Gov. Ann Richards, who designed her own for the utmost utility and attractiveness). She quotes designers, fashion directors, store buyers and purse connoisseurs and obsessives. She talks to everyone from French marketing research guru Clotaire Rapaille to Isaak Mizrahi ("You cannot ignore your hair or your shoes or your bra--those things you must, must, must come to terms with. But...your bag can be your totally functional friend or your amusing court jester" [p. 62].)

I found the chapter on why we care absolutely fascinating and illuminating. I remember a while ago saying to my husband, "What is it about purses that is so irresistible to me?" He said, "Maybe you just like them." But now I know there are ways to parse and understand that interest, which relates back to how individuals endow certain objects with meaning, which according to Csikszentmihalyi is part of an individual's necessary development of self. Purses appeal because they answer behavioral needs (or utility needs such as carrying the things busy women need on their long, demanding days), visceral needs (appealing to the woman both visually and tactically) and reflective needs (calling to mind something from our past that had emotional meaning for us, such as a mother's fine-leather handbag). We certainly know that we make more decisions on the emotional-subconscious level than we often admit. A purse that speaks to a woman on all these levels may cause her to plunk down $1,200 to $2,000 for a handbag!

I thought this book was completely enjoyable, and adds to the constantly evolving portrait we have of the contemporary woman. I recommend it!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and Fun!, December 16, 2010

By 

Ashley11 - See all my reviews

This review is from: It's In the Bag: What Purses Reveal---and Conceal (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed this book. My hubby bought it for me because I'm insane about handbags. I liked how she discussed the role bags have in our lives. It doesn't go into any large depth about things, just a fun overview.