Iconic IT Bags: What Happened To The Trend?

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The quote un quote IT bag dates back to the mid 1940s, when still considered a “status” bag.  The actual term the IT bag was established in the 1990s when Sex and The City’s Carrie Bradshaw carried her Fendi bag that styled the name. Ladies such as Grace Kelly and her Hermes’, now considered the ‘Kelly” bag and Jackie Onassis’ Gucci hobo, later named the “Jackie”, called their status bag which helped bring about a new trend for ladies everywhere. The fashion industry has since considered handbags of the season to be the IT bags that everyone should have, including in different colors and who has been spotted, with a celebrity status, clutching onto the hottest new bag.

Every year new IT bags are show in magazines, blogs, social media and newspapers from the runway, street wear during fashion week, Coachella and what celebrities are wearing. The IT bag makes its appearance throughout the year during different seasons. The IT bag, although stylish, can be pricey. Having an IT bag says one is willing to spend a hefty amount of money for style and trend, even if that means skipping out on the rent this month.  Vogue has described owning an IT bag as “that totemic accessory that announced you were owner of all that was desirable in the world.” The Fendi Baguette, also know as the bag of Carrie Bradshaw, was the first IT bag making its appearance in the nineties.

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From then on IT bags were it! Designers began creating bags in hope that the industry would recognize it as an IT bag when being carried by celebrities or pictured in a magazine.  With the though of their bags become the moneymakers, and being sold at high prices. The more successful individual designed bags created during this time were the Paddington by Chloe, the Motorcycle by Balenciaga, and the Alexa (for Alexa Chung) by Mulberry. Although for a Chloe bag, there was a waitlist enforced to seem scarcer in their bag.  Since the IT bags made their debut, there were issues of them being stolen and sold on the streets for cheaper.  In 2007, Lanvin’s Olga Sac and Givenchy’s Bettina were targeted, followed by the Chanel 2.55 in 2008.

Photo: FabFashionFix

The greatest IT Bags of all time include bags such as, the bowling bag of Spring/Summer 2008, this Prada bag sold out world-wide and had a huge waiting list.  The infamous Fendi Baguette, worn by Carrie Bradshaw, and rocked in over 700 styles since the first launch. And we are happy to here that Fendi will be re-releasing six of the popular designs to coincide with the release of the Fendi Baguette book; and the Gucci Jackie, which takes up to 13 hours to create depending on the materials, was launched in 2009.  Still many of these iconic and now vintage bags are used today and worn as classics including the Chanel 2.55. But with these bags come the knockoffs, especially at fast fashion stores such as Zara and H&M. BY purchasing the knock off, rent can be paid that month.

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By the early 2000s, designers had found ways to knockoff high fashion IT bags for fast fashion to get them to sell cheaper and faster, this lead to the decline of the IT Bag in 2008.  BY May of 2011, the IT bag turned back to the status bag and the IT bag was no longer in fashion. Though there are multiple IT bags for 2015, there isn’t just that one bag that everyone is raving for.  Instead there are “must-haves”. This year is the year of diversity within accessories and that means bags too. Some of the must- have bags for 2015 include, Balenciaga Neo Classic Mini Chain Bag, $1,635; Saint Laurent Classic Nano Sac de Jour Bag in Dove White and Black Leather, $2,250; Tory Burch Frances Backpack, $550; Proenza Schouler Elliot Clutch, $2,050; and Mulberry Kensington Small Classic Grain in Mole Grety, $1,990.

Although the IT bag has seen its days and the term is no longer a style, magazines such as Vogue, Elle and Harper’s Bazaar, still list the must-have status bags of the year. The must-have bags include switching up your wardrobe and having multiple bags in your closet for day-to-day wear. Whether it is matching to your style that day, the color, if your going to the office, out with friends or a party, you will have plenty of choices of that signature status bag to choose from.  The IT bags, or bags, are still here, just the term has been retired from the industry. 

Signed Opionated Fashionista- I might go broke this month :)