I found these 2 gorgeous handbags at the Avenue Vintage & Antiques Market in West Ealing near the Drayton Court pub & hotel. The top bag from Ferragamo is soft leather with a fabulous braided handle. In 1923 the young, talented Italian Salvatore Ferragamo bought out the Hollywood Boot Shop in Santa Barbara California. And the rest is history. The bottom bag is from Whiting & Davis CLICK HERE, an American company founded just outside Boston in 1876. By 1880 an errand boy, Charles A. Whiting had joined the company, quickly rising through the ranks.
In 1892 the boy Whiting would weave the company's first metal mesh bag, a fashion sensation that would make the firm's name. Among W&D's many stylish partnerships is their creation of mesh bags for Elsa Schiaparelli starting in 1937, their release of accessories inspired by Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in 1963 and the leather bomber Michael Jackson wore in 1983 in the video for Beat It that featured ring mesh in the shoulders. Today the company primarily makes jewellery - ensuring collectible status for its mesh bags. And indeed both bags came from a personal collection. The wonderful, chatty stallholder was selling off some of her obsession. I assured her these pretty purses were going to a good home. The two together cost only £55. I'm looking forward to visiting her stall again, the last Saturday in January. See you there?
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