The handbag - Carmel Allen

Nowadays the key objet de mode by which to assess where a modern girl lives and lunches is the handbag. Whether you favour a raffia shopping bag, a barely-there evening pouch (only large enough to carry a lipstick) or a logoembossed designer trophy or an hip backpack - you are what you dangle from your wrist. The Handbag, compiled by Tatler writer, Carmel Allen, celebrates this defining '90s accessory. After 'Twentieth Century Handbags' which explores how the bag has evolved during the course of the past hundred years, the 'Who's Who' highlights the style shapers who have made bags famous. Grace Kelly turned the Hermes Kelly into a classic while Diana, Princess of Wales who favoured the Dior bag, later dubbed 'the Diana bag'. More revealingly, the handbag is the key to the female psyche, announcing the lifestyle and personality of the wearer. Discover what your choice of bag - and its contents - says about your personality in 'Bags of Style'. The main core of The Handbag illustrates the varied and multifarious talents of international designers and brands.;The A-Z entries include Prada, renowned for its minimalist range of black nylon, the Chanel quilted bags, Judith Leiber's flirtatious minaudieres, Hermes' Kelly and Gucci's distinctive leather collection. Highly illustrated with over 150 colour photographs, The Handbag is the definitive style guide for handbag lovers and all those interested in fashion.