2009.2.23
If diamonds are a girl`s best friend, handbags are their life-long partners.
Only women know what it means to carry the hottest "it-bag" down the street. For half of the world`s population, a handbag expresses one`s wealth, fashion sense and personality.
Handbag fans now have a chance to see all the representative bags from the 19th century to present. More than 80 handbags from all over the world are displayed at the exhibition "Handbag, My Love," on the second floor of World Jewellery Museum in Hwa-dong.
Lee Kang-won, museum director, collected the exhibits herself as traveled the globe for more than 30 years with her diplomat husband. It is the first museum in Asia devoted entirely to jewelry.
According to the museum, handbags started out in early 16th century when people hung their belongings on their belts or on their girdles.
Men began to stop using such bags when pockets appeared in pants in the late 16th century. Meanwhile, they became more popular among women as their clothes turned slimmer in the 19th century, and became too small to hold their belongings.
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"The handbag as we know today is an item that only became popular since then," said Elaine Kim, Lee's daughter and deputy director of the museum.
The handbags on show vary in style and are made from materials including wood, leather, silk, plastic, silver and gold.
Some pieces were very rare, so it was hard to track them down.
"This is a very precious item," said Kim, pointing to a brass chatelaine.
"My mother found this at a small village in Belgium, where they still preserve the old style of living. It belonged to an old lady, and mother practically had to beg her for it," she added with a giggle.
A chatelaine is mainly comprised of a gold chain that looks like a fancy belt. European ladies used to wear them on their waists with their purse, bible, keys, sewing kit, spectacle holders, notebooks and even umbrellas dangling on them. It is considered an early type of handbag, used in the 1890s.
While at the museum, take a look around the first and third floors. About 1,000 pieces of dazzling jewelry from all over the world are on permanent exhibition.
The exhibition runs through May 30th at World Jewellery Museum in Hwadong, central Seoul. Tickets are 5,000 won for adults, 3,000 won for students and 2,000 won for children under seven-years old. The museum is closed on Mondays. For more information, call (02) 730-1610 or visit www.wjmuseum.com
By Park Min-young
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