So when did handbags get this tiny – and where DO you put your lippy?
THERE was a time when no selfrespecting starlet would be without a vast tote bag swinging from her elbow.
But the fickle fashion tides have turned. Today’s handbags are teeny enough to dangle from a carefully manicured finger – just don’t plan to actually carry anything in them.
Legendary fashion houses Fendi, Chanel, Gucci and Christian Dior have shrunk their classic designs to minuscule proportions most of us would find impractical. But such minor gripes have never stopped the fashionistas.
A swathe of A-list actresses, singers and even the Duchess of Cambridge have been spotted with the luxury micro bags – even though most are too small to carry a mobile phone, let alone all the other essentials for a night out.
In the 1990s, Sarah Jessica Parker famously slung the original sequined Fendi Baguette over her shoulder in Sex And The City. But by the time the reboot, Just Like That, aired in December, her character Carrie Bradshaw had upgraded, but downsized, to the nano, which is just 4in long, dangling the £500 lamb leather bag from her neck on a long gold chain.
Meanwhile, British actress Lily Collins appeared in the Netflix show Emily In Paris with a green £575 Trefolio mini bag from Italian designer Salvatore Ferragamo.
They are proving popular off-screen, too, and were a staple for stars attending Paris Fashion Week in January.
Suicide Squad actress Margot Robbie arrived at Chanel’s spring/summer show dangling the brand’s £2,970 white quilted leather AirPod case with a gold chain, which mimics its classic 2.55 handbag. Meanwhile, pop star Rihanna swept into another event with a dainty peach ostrich leather version of Christian Dior’s legendary Saddle Bag, shrunk into a micro version and priced £1,900.
Fellow pop queen Beyoncé has posed on Instagram with an electric-blue £1,200 Fendi Micro Peekaboo bag slung over a solitary knuckle.
In recent months the Duchess of Cambridge has also sported several tiny bags. She was spotted in London in October toting the £295 Nano Montreal Bag in toffee leather from British brand Demellier. And during her visit to Copenhagen last month, she appeared with the Mini Mayfair Bag from Aspinal of London, which sells for £395.
Even Princess Diana’s favourite handbag, the Lady Dior, has been downsized. The £2,600 Micro Lady Dior measures less than 4in by 5in and, as the Dior website helpfully points out, can accommodate only AirPods, lipstick and keys. A fashionable excuse for travelling light.