Message:

<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Orfew, post: 2773560, member: 74968&quot;]How so? What is it specifically about purses that makes men weak? Do they have a superpower that weakens men like Kryptonite weakens Superman?</p><p><br /></p><p>There is a very long history of men using purses.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://tassenmuseum.nl/en/knowledge-centre/history-of-bags-and-purses/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://tassenmuseum.nl/en/knowledge-centre/history-of-bags-and-purses/" rel="nofollow">http://tassenmuseum.nl/en/knowledge-centre/history-of-bags-and-purses/</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><font size="5"><b>&quot;1500 – 1800 A.D.: Hanging Bags and Purses</b></font></p><p>From the earliest stages of civilization, bags and purses were practical everyday articles used by men as well as women. They were necessary for carrying money and other personal items, since clothes hadn’t yet been fitted out with pockets. We know what they looked like from paintings, prints and tapestries and the few historical handbags preserved in museums. Such antique bags are rare because they were mostly made out of perishable materials.</p><p><br /></p><p>Bags and purses came in a variety of designs for a number of purposes, such as bags with clasps, leather pouches and purses with long drawstrings. With the exception of some rare shoulder bags, these were all worn attached to the belt or girdle. The introduction of pockets towards the end of the 16th century meant that the men’s bags slowly disappeared in the course of the 17th century. From then on, bags belonged almost exclusively to the women’s domain.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.loveyourleather.ca/leather-blog/history-of-purses/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.loveyourleather.ca/leather-blog/history-of-purses/" rel="nofollow">http://www.loveyourleather.ca/leather-blog/history-of-purses/</a></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;Purses weren’t always convenient fashionable bags worn by women. In fact, the first purses in history were more utilitarian and actually worn by men. The usage of a purse continued this way for a long time before women started using them.</p><p><br /></p><p>The concept of a purse has been around for thousands of years and they have evolved over time in conjunction with fashion and the necessity to carry more personal items. This article will examine the evolution of purses over history and explains how purses changed in size shape and design over the years.</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="5"><b>Purses in Ancient Times</b></font></p><p>The history of purses dates back more than 5000 years. A man known as <i>Otzi the Iceman</i>, who is Europe’s oldest natural mummy, was found in the Alps in 1991 with a handbag next to him. The bag was made out of chamois hide and had a strap attached to it.</p><p><br /></p><p>More evidence of ancient purses can be found in Egyptian hieroglyphs that depict men carrying pouches around their waist, and once again in biblical times where Judas Iscariot was identified as someone that carried purses.</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="5"><b>Purses in the Middle Ages</b></font></p><p><br /></p><p>During the early middle ages purses were very common for both men and women. They were made with round pieces of leather and a drawstring at the top to seal the purse tight. Instead of carrying the purse over the shoulder, people used to tie the drawstring around their girdle, which was a belt like feature that they wore on their clothing. These purses were very small and probably only useful for carrying small items like coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>Nearing the end of the middle ages, a new style of purse became popular amongst the elite class. These new purses were made with a triangular metal frame and leather fitted over the metal frame. They had small openings at the top with a wide bottom and were secured by using a drawstring, or in later versions, a metal clasp. Similar to the earlier purses of the middle ages, these purses would hang from the owners girdle, either with the drawstring or by a metal loop at the top of the purse.</p><p><br /></p><p><font size="5"><b>Purses during the Renaissance</b></font></p><p>During the 16th and 17th centuries, fashion changed significantly with women wearing very wide dresses that had a lot of fabric. As a result, women could not wear their purses on the outside of their clothing anymore because it would get tangled in their dress. Instead they wore purses hanging on the inside of their dress.</p><p><br /></p><p>Mens fashion also changed and so did the pouches that they carried. With the invention of pockets around 1670, men no longer had to carry a purse strapped to a girdle. They did still carry smaller pouches to hold their money, which later evolved to become wallets.&quot;[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

Your name or email address:

Do you already have an account?

• No, create an account now.
• Yes, my password is:
• Forgot your password?

Stay logged in