Once discreet little bag now boldly goes where evening accessories feared to tread before

When Coco Chanel designed the iconic quilted purse with the gold chain strap, the 2.55, so named after the date it came out – February, 1955 – it was a quiet revolution for women's bags.

It freed women's hands. With their bags safely dangling from their shoulders, presumably they could hold a cocktail, a canapé, a cigarette and look chic. With the party season in full swing now, it appears that women have once again shackled themselves to clutching a purse. And boy what a purse. It's big and bold.

Generally handbags are booming, in business and size. These past few seasons designers have shown bags that were not only positively gargantuan and festooned with hardware but suspended on shoulder straps, they could very well send the carrier to physical therapy.

The return of the clutch is in this spirit: go-big-or-stay-home. At Prada, they were as big as a folded broadsheet newspaper. At Louis Vuitton, they can stash a small laptop. Fendi's went so big and pouchy they could hold the proverbial kitchen sink. When these clutches first came down the catwalk, they raised the question, would real women hold such a big clutch in their hands? Haven't they come a long way, when all that is required for a night on the town is a credit card, compact and keys?

Well, women might have come a long way baby, but it appears they need to carry a heck of a lot more than three essentials. Stylist Loretta Chin, at a Holt Renfrew party in November to fete designer Olivier Theyskins of Nina Ricci, was gripping an elongated sleek black patent leather purse from Acne. "I'm a woman on the go and I carry stuff," she admits. "Sometimes I can't pare down. There is also a comfort zone – I can have my stuff with me at all times." At more than 12 inches long, the bag contained all the things she needed for that night – keys, wallet, powder press, lipstick, reading glasses and her long gloves. "I love the drama of it," she says of the purse she bought at Corbo Studio this season. Dressed in a black puffy blazer cinched with a wide belt, Chin says the outfit required a large purse for balance. And she was right. It was hard to imagine the dramatic looking jacket with its large shawl collar paired with a tiny bag.

Earlier this week at the opening night party for the luxury boutique Hazel in the Hazelton Hotel, several fashionistas were seen carrying big evening bags, including Chin, who appeared again with her extended patent purse. "For me, it's either hands free or something that I feel I can hold on to," declares Susie Sheffman, fashion director of Fashion magazine, as she strokes the soft leather of her parrot green slouchy fold-over clutch from Roots. "There is not one frivolous thing in here," she says, unzipping the bag to show the contents for the evening – wallet, keys, lipstick and phone. But for some women, these big purses, like bold jewellery, are just another way to make a fashion statement.

Like Canadian actress Charlotte Sullivan, who at a charity gala earlier this season, carried a large fold-over purse from Gwen Stefani's line, L.A.M.B. "It's disgustingly gorgeous!," she says of her bold striped clutch purse. "I couldn't go with a small black purse. Hell, no. I wanted something daring. I don't ever want to be practical."

But naysayers – okay, men – might ask how carrying your world with you be comfortable? Only a woman would have that answer.

"Women can do anything. We can wear heels and run," says Sullivan, who appears in the drama series Across the River to Motor City. "I'm not going to let a purse get into my way. If carrying a big purse is my biggest problem of the night – then I'd say I'm having it pretty good!"

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Thought this was going to be about cars.

   

And I thought it might concern one of my favorite bands.

   

i like to carry a smaller handbag than a big one, and the photo of the clutch are good for me, thanks for sharing

   

I was about to move it to the Car Forum myself, until I saw who opened the thread. Nice necro....

   

man, the broads wont leave anything sacred any more.



Keep your hands off our clutches

   

Ugh, what ugly stupid expensive things.

Made with $3.62 in material.

   

i was gonna say the same thing

   

BETTER than cars!

   

Hard to steer though.