San Antonio College Library

Upper-class Victorian women carried the tiniest and most impractical bags because they had servants to carry their things. Then came the emancipated woman, who didn't count on an escort to tote around her essentials. Today, handbags and purses come in all shapes and sizes to accommodate a woman's storage needs - as well as her sense of style. Whether it's a classic Hermès or a favorite old backpack, it's all part of a woman's personal statement....

With specially commissioned photographs, this title provides an exploration of the handbag in the history of culture, fashion and material production. It also presents an account of the creation of the first museum devoted to the handbag: the Simone Handbag Museum in Seoul.

Shoe Fleur: A Footwear Fantasy debuts an outrageous imaginary collection of botanical shoes and accessories created by photographer and artist Michel Tcherevkoff. Each virtual shoe and handbag is amazingly crafted out of numerous photographs of a single plant or flower. The result is both organic and cutting edge. Art, attitude, romance, and nature combine in this garden of flirtatious footwear presented here in fashion's latest avant-guarde offering....