Chanel Handbags

Coco Chanel

A remarkable woman with unlimited energy, Coco Chanel has become a popular personality figure, even years after her death. Although an extremely flourishing fashion designer, her background was not as glamorous.

Born in poverty, Coco adored luxury and wealth. These humble beginnings were reflected in her designs and collections. Her need to break-free from standard cultural restraints on women and her glorified image of affluence, led to creations that were both glamorous and comfortable.

As a seamstress, she worked on creating fashionable hats with a local tailor. Her talents quickly shined and she began to liberate women through her designs. Essentially, Coco provided a flirty feminine appearance with a powerful masculine influence. Her fashions, from clothes to Chanel handbags, gave women power through her simplified, non-restrictive clothes and accessories. It wasn’t only her talents that grew the Chanel brand, but her personality as well.

As a popular celebrity, any product attached to her name has been an amazing bestseller.

Classic Chanel Handbags

The First Chanel Bags

Chanel leather bag

Although Coco began with hats and clothing, designer handbags were a natural progression. A purse is an extension of a woman’s wardrobe, along with her shoes and perfume. Chanel handbags are an expansion of the Chanel fashions, with the same traditions being incorporated into the bags’ designs.

With matching fabrics, trims and fine details, the first Chanel handbags were a classic fit to the rest of the brand. When a woman in the early 1900s would dress, she could easily create a matched outfit complete with her Chanel clothes and accessories.

The Little Black Bag

It is no surprise that when Chanel invented the “Little Black Dress” along with it came the “Little Black Bag.” Then, when she expanded her costume jewelry line, her handbags began to be accessorized with:

• gold chains
• clasps
• and jeweled buttons.

Her signature bag become the black handbag with the gold chain shoulder strap, Coco herself never left the house without it.

The Shoulderbag

Along with her liberation of women through clothing, Coco also incorporated this mission within her handbag collection. In the 1930s, she created the first handbag that could hang on a woman’s shoulder. With the idea that freeing a woman’s hand movements would free her personality, the first shoulder bag was born. The Chanel shoulder bag had a slow beginning, but really took off in the 1950s.

At this time, Chanel re-released a slimmed down, squared and quilted shoulder bag version, which became an instant status symbol for the next fifty years.

Chanel Bags Today

In many ways, today’s Chanel handbags have changed very little. The timeless fashion of a Chanel bag highlights the collection of many purse enthusiasts. Aspects of the original bags that have been maintained are:

• The original quilted leather.
• The textured fabrics.
• The chains.
• The signature symbol of two CC's.

With a classic and ageless appearance, the Chanel collection for fall 2006 still offers similar trends to history, from tweeds to chains, -- and always a “little black bag.” The product line is limited and only varies slightly with each new season.

Fashion and Function

Although traditional, the Chanel handbag collection is certainly not boring. The current designer head, Karl Lagerfeld, has been striving to maintain an assortment of exclusive bags that serve the original mission of Coco Chanel.

Incorporating the belief that all bags should provide utility along with fashion, each Chanel bag provides useful pockets both inside and outside. While the line is small, there is a nice selection of smaller handbags to the larger totes with many seen on the arms of some of the most popular celebrities today.

Buying Tips

An authentic Chanel bag is certainly not for the budget conscience, with prices ranging from $1000 to $2000 a bag. Due to the prestige of the brand and the high cost of a new bag, the resale and replica market is huge. Owing to the high initial cost of a Chanel handbag, retailers only carry a small assortment of new bags. For a larger variety, try searching auction sites like EBay.

• The best online resource for a Chanel handbag is Amazon.com.
• If you live in a larger community or city, Chanel handbags are carried in the finest of specialty stores.
• EBay.com provides the best selection of both new and used Chanel products.
• Many honest replicas are available at approximately 10% of the price for a real version. Check out SpicyBags.com for true designer knock-offs, not fakes.
• An authentic Chanel bag will always arrive with an identity card. The number on the card should match a unique number imprinted inside the bag.
• Although expensive, if you properly maintain your Chanel bag, both the fashion and the quality should last a lifetime or longer.

External Link

• Chanel.com