My grandmother likes to collect things: porcelain turtles, Family Circus comic books, cards from her 12 grandchildren, glass horses, golden nude women figurines, and Chiclets (gum), just to name a few. But my favorite and perhaps most cherished piece of all my grandmother’s collections are her vintage designer handbags.
Jenny was born in Egypt in the 1930s, where her mother was a purchasing assistant for an exclusive women’s boutique in Cairo. It was here that my grandmother’s love of fashion began. In 1955, my grandmother came to Boston, wanting to pursue her dream of becoming a fashion designer, and became a fashion collector instead. During her travels from Paris From New York to Milan, she started collecting designer handbags.
From Chanel tag holders to the brand’s signature quilted bags, Gucci flower bucket bag Fendi baguettes, Louis Vuitton monogrammed handbags to Bottega Veneta clutches, my grandmother’s collection is growing. “My bag is for certain outfits, not just for having. You buy a bag and you know what to wear it with,” she told me as we read the newspaper in her Palm Beach apartment. she. “You’ll also have a collection, one day. You build it up over the course of your life.”
Of course, my collection isn’t nearly as impressive as my grandmother’s, but it’s not supposed to be. There’s no rush because building a timeless collection, well, takes time. My grandmother has grown her collection over her life, but the individual handbags have remained the same regardless of time. And it is her unique fashion and precision management that has led her to amass the collection she has today.
Now, it is 2021, and many bags have been scattered, embracing the arms and wardrobes of her children and grandchildren. In Chicago, my mother was wearing a vintage 1950s quilted Chanel bag on a date with my dad. In Florida, my aunt wore a Judith Leiber golden alligator purse when she went out to dinner with her grandchildren. In New York, my blue-and-white monogrammed Louis Vuitton was worn on my wrist on the way to a work event.
My grandmother may not have intended it that way, but her bags mean a lot to our family. Wherever we are, these are the bags that are pieces from her collection, and these are the bags that allow us to have a piece of my grandmother anywhere.
Keep scrolling to see photos of a few of my favorite vintage bags and similar styles available.
