Handbag

From the 1840s, chatelaine bags described as 'somewhat Scotch and somewhat oriental' by the Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine of 1861 were increasingly popular, and hung from the waist belt by a cord or hook and chain. By 1856 the fashion for vast skirts stretched over a crinoline rendered any pocket but the most diminutive unsightly. Chatelaine bags were useful for coins and small items. These were made of fabric or leather and usually fastened with a flap; many were made to match the dress. They remained popular for the rest of the nineteenth century.