With The Iron Lady in cinemas, its muse Margaret Thatcher is inspiring a new generation of fashionistas. The immovable hair and honeyed voice are difficult to replicate, but her rigid top-handled handbags are an attainable way to attract attention and command respect.
Margaret Thatcher’s famous accessories became such an integral part of her look that a new term, handbagging, entered the lexicon to describe her aggressive approach to her adversaries.
Thatcher’s handbags were practical, a kind of “portable filing cabinet,” as political novelist Michael Dobbs described them. However they also reminded the public and politicians of her power. Suddenly the feminine accessory wasn’t so feminine any more; it meant business.
You might remember one of Thatcher’s Asprey purses fetching £25, 000 in a Christie’s auction last year, but the former prime minister more often carrying Launer. With the Thatcher biopic in stores, the Midlands factory is enjoying a 59% sales increase in the black, boxy styles that Thatcher often carried. Launer’s creative director Gerald Bodmer says the “Thatcher bags” are popular with young fashion fans as they provide “a contemporary twist on investment pieces.”
With Thatcher bags on the rise, other labels are following suit. While Thatcher herself never carried them, we can imagine she’d love Mulberry’s Harriet or Symthson’s Agatha.
What’s your favorite top handled handbag?
[Source: The Daily Mail]
[Image Source: Wikipedia Commons]
