1935 (Ph. flickr)
— a small, metal bag with a small chain (or without) that can barely hold a lipstick and a credit card. I guess it’s a good thing they didn’t have mobile phones back then, now you would just have to keep it in a pocket or even leave it at home ?!
Invented by jeweler Charles Arpels (of Van Cleef & Arpels) in the 1920s after spotting a woman using a metal Lucky Strike cigarette box as a purse.
Shortly after that he presented the first “minaudière”, an elegant, feminine and practical accessory.
The name was inspired as a joke to Estelle Arpels who according to her brothers tended to simper (minauder in french).
Infinite choices of the minaudière have been designed through the years such as The Curl Minaudiere (1935) with a black lacquer surface (first picture), mystery Set Wild rose Minaudiere (1938) (below) and others.
It kind of looks like these bags from Chanel (at least they have the same concept)
(Ph. The Coveteur)
And if you’re feeling creative try this super-easy DIY from Honestly…WTF — take an old sunglasses case, a cute drawer pull and there you have it!
xo F
