Definición y significado de handbag

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A handbag - or purse in American English - is a medium to large bag, often fashionably designed, typically used by women, and used to hold personal items such as wallet/coin purse, keys, tissues, cosmetics, a hairbrush, cellular device or personal digital assistant, feminine hygiene products, etc.

Variations

A medium-to-small-sized handbag with a short handle, designed to be carried (clutched) in one's hand is often called a clutch.

A larger handbag with two handles is often called a tote^{[citation needed]}.

A pocketbook is similar to a handbag.

A security bag protects the carrier from travel theft. The handbag includes an invisible stainless steel strap sewn into the fabric and a protectant on the main zipper.

Man purse

In North America, handbags are usually carried by women.

However, increasingly, younger men carry one as a smaller alternative to a backpack; such a handbag is sometimes termed a manbag or - in American English - murse (portmanteaus "handbag" and "man" with "purse" respectively), also male purse or man-purse.

Many of the styles are actually messenger bags.

In popular culture

Kiefer Sutherland, of 24 fame, brought the item into the mainstream through his character, Jack Bauer. Jack frequently prominently carried his messenger bag with him in the 5th Season.

In the Seinfeld episode The Reverse Peephole, Jerry carries a shoulder bag which he describes as a "European carryall".

In the movies of Indiana Jones, the adventurer is always seen with his "man purse" that holds valuable treasures.

In the movie The Hangover, the character Alan Garner says "it's not a purse, it's called a satchel. Indiana Jones wears one."^[1] (The bag he is actually carrying is somewhere between a purse and a messenger bag.)

Child's purse

Young girls also use small purses or clutches, but usually just for play or dress-up.^{[citation needed]}

Types of handbags

• Clutch: Small, yet long (rectangular), evening bag without a handle.

• Satchel: A soft-sided case usually of leather, used to carry papers or books. Usually has a handle and often has a strap.

• Duffle bag : A large bag usually used for travel or sports.

• Tote: A medium to large bag with two straps.

• Messenger bag: A bag with a long strap to be worn across the body.

• Sling bag: A bag with a long strap (similar to a messenger bag), yet smaller.

Trivia

• In the Oscar Wilde play The Importance of Being Earnest, the protagonist, Jack Worthing, was found in a handbag in the cloakroom at Victoria Station as a baby, prompting Lady Bracknell's famous exclamation "A handbag?"
• A survey of shoppers at Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex, England, found that the average 30-year-old woman owns 21 handbags and buys a new one every three months, adding up to 111 over the course of a lifetime.^[2]

See also

• Birkin Bag
• Coach (company)
• It Bag
• Louis Vuitton
• Prada
• RUEHL No.925
• Hansengross
• Vera Bradley
• Kooba
• Purse hook
• Purse organizer
• Purse party
• English Retreads

References

Further reading

• Pedersen, Stephanie. Handbags - What Every Woman Should Know. Cincinnati: David & Charles. pp. 128 pages. ISBN 13 978-0-7153-295-0. 

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