Exploring the changing styles and uses of bags from the Middle Ages onwards, this colourful and authoritative book - featuring specially commissioned photography - draws on the V&A's world famous collections.....Typical early examples are delicate drawstring purses and richly worked ecclesiastical purses. 'Swete bagges' perfumed the air, and purses were often given as gifts, containing money or trinkets. The book looks at large 18th-century work-bags, and by contrast the reticules (small drawstring bags) designed to complement the high-waisted Empire line. Increased travel in the 19th-century brought about the leather handbag as we know it today. The final chapter shows the impact of 20th-century design and manufacture.