Plastic Covered Handbag with Boy and Girl Tapestry. 1960s. Maker: Unknown. Tan fabric purse with green, white and pink tapestry square in the center, accented by a gold and white trim border. The tapestry is a 16th-century boy and girl a-courting. The boy stands behind a pedestal fence and the girl is coyly waving a fan. Acrylic handle and gold-tone hardware.

It was a little difficult to photograph because it’s slightly crunched up due to its age, so the plastic reflects the light in odd ways. Still very sweet. Also, a note about the tapestry: the Elizabethan-era boy/girl courting theme seems to be a trend for purses made during the 1960s. I have no idea why. Perhaps it's because the Zeffirelli film "Romeo and Juliet" came out in 1968.

Plastic Covered Purse with Leaf Detail. 1960s. Maker: JR, Florida, USA. Ivory satin fabric purse with intricate leaf pattern. The branch is made of white and gold trim, which lends a three-dimensional look and leads to the design that goes down the bottom and up the sides of the purse. The leaves are differently-colored appliqués (possibly leatherette, as they are slightly puffy) that have been embroidered onto the base fabric. Someone artfully pleated the front so that the leaves stand out even more. The purse is covered in plastic and finished with gold braid around the front and back and there’s gold hardware, including little feet on the bottom.

As I’ve said before, I love these plastic-covered bags. I have this weird obsession with tactile things, especially when they have a 3-D effect. (I also have a collection of vintage framed ribbon ladies, paper dolls with fabric embellishments.) These purses have a sophistication to them, whatever their design. And you can still get them relatively cheaply, a plus for those of us who are forever looking for a bargain!

Plastic Covered Handbag with Flower Detail. 1960s. Maker: Claire Fashions. Textured ecru-colored fabric purse with intricate needlepoint floral detailing—rose and pansies, I believe—accented with gold glitter glue and iridescent sequins. If you look closely, you can also see a faux amber gem in the bow that “ties” the flower, as well as a smattering of tiny fabric flowers inside the bow and at the upper right and bottom left corners. It has little gold feet, a vinyl strap and greenish-gold lining.

The pièce de résistance is the plastic covering, presumably put there to keep it from getting dirty. I’m not sure whose idea it was to hermetically seal this style of handbag, but I can’t get enough of them.

Literally. I can’t get enough. More to follow.

Vintage-Style Modern Wicker Fish Handbag. 2000s. Maker: Cappelli Straworld. This is a newer natural wicker purse, created by designer Cappelli, in the shape of a fish. It has button eyes and turquoise faux leather handles and is very cute. I’ve seen it listed on various sites as a whale, but it’s definitely a fish. I also have a Cappelli dog purse. I’ve included the fish because it fits in nicely with my vintage wicker menagerie. Below is a picture of most of them sitting attentively on the vintage vinyl couch given to me by my friend Tina, a brilliant photographer. Perched above the two monkeys, two dogs, donkey, frog and elephant (not pictured: vintage Midas of Miami wicker fish) are a number of plastic-coated (just like grandma’s sofa!) vintage bags in a variety of designs. I’m expecting a few more of these within the next week or two, so look for pictures of them soon!






New! Get 30% off by using coupon code WZ97Y at checkout when you purchase my ebook, THRIFT ME DEADLY, on Smashwords. THRIFT ME DEADLY, a 2009 Fabri Literary Prize finalist, is the story of a thrift store-loving serial killer. (Warning: For mature audiences only. Offer good through December 2010.)

TECHNICAL ANNOUNCEMENT
Sorry to say the navbar at the top of the page doesn't work properly. According to the Blogger forums, this has been a long-term problem and Google is working to correct it. I also installed a search engine (powered by Google) on this blog, but it didn't work either, so I removed it.

If you are looking for a specific purse on Vintage Purse a Day, the best thing to do right now is go to Google and input the name or style of purse along with "vintage purse a day" in quotations. You can also e-mail me at wdager(at)sbcglobal(dot)net.

I'll let you know when Google fixes the problem.

Meanwhile, just for fun, here's an old picture of me wearing a '50s dress that looks as if it were made of vintage curtains (note: DIFFERENT curtains than the one Faith the Mannequin is wearing in my post of June 5, 2010), and holding the Betsy B bag from my post of September 26, 2010. I'm also wearing navy blue '50s wedges I found in PERFECT, unused condition at a Goodwill several years ago. The car in the background is a 2001 PT Cruiser and now belongs to my 18-year-old daughter. Yep, time flies, but vintage is always in fashion.

I missed this traveling exhibit in my home state: The Purse and the Person: A Century of Women's Purses at The California Museum, 1020 O Street, Sacramento, CA 95814, (916) 653-7524. It ran July 3-September 26, 2010.

It will be at The Women's Museum, 3800 Parry Avenue, Dallas, TX 75226, (214) 915-0860, through January 24, 2010.

If you know of any other vintage purse exhibits, please let me know and I will post the information here. In between everything else I'm doing. And I'm doing a lot. Honest.

--cartoon by Chillpaw

Gray Lucite Purse with Bead Detail. 1950s. Maker: Llewellyn. Unusual oblong marbelized gunmetal gray Llewellyn Lucite bag, with shiny front detail that looks almost as if it were cut or carved out of the original shape. Likely it was molded to have that flower pot-shaped design, with its raised beads and intricate outer line that looks like marcasite or—if you’ve got an imagination like mine—an open zipper. Sturdy matching clasp, interestingly twisted Lucite handles and exquisite moiré interior.

I just acquired this purse today. I simply had to. Fell in love with it instantly, even though Lucite purses aren’t my “thing.” Meaning, I only have a dozen or so Lucite bags as opposed to perhaps 40 or so of the ‘60s kit purses I generally carry. There was a big sale this weekend at all of the fabulous antique stores in my town, so I have to give them a plug here. If you are ever in or near Simi Valley, California, please patronize Penny Pinchers, Aubergine Emporium, Shop Around the Corner and Fishy Finds. Tell ‘em Wendy sent you!