By Lisa Hix — Vintage fashion is finally having its moment in the sun. Or, that is, the bright lights of cable reality TV. Two shows that premiered this season—Bravo’s “Dukes of Melrose” and Smithsonian Channel’s “L.A. Frock Stars”—each focus on a high-end vintage boutique located near Hollywood and patronized by big-name celebrities. When “American Pickers” debuted on the History Channel in 2010, it opened the floodgates for piles of rusty junk to come crashing through, via copycat shows on picking,...

The Most Expensive Purse in the World

By null — On Tuesday, Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas, sold a red Hermes Birkin handbag to an anonymous bidder for $203,150, including the buyer's premium. This price dwarfs the previous record for most expensive handbag—last year in England, a Birkin went for the equivalent of $77,000. At the auction Tuesday, not one, but four, Birkins busted this record, the cheapest selling for $80,663. Handmade from start to finish by a single craftsman, the Birkin is no ordinary handbag, and the priciest...

Lucite in the Sky with Diamonds

By Ben Marks —   Of all the fashion accessories of the 1950s—Ray-Ban sunglasses, Pucci scarves, Eisenberg cocktail rings—none were more dazzling than Lucite handbags. These geometric gems, which in retrospect seem to anticipate the exuberance of the 1960s, were like portable jewel boxes turned inside out, in hues that ranged from basic black to pretty pastels to clear. Some purses were made of laminated Lucite, sealing butterflies, raffia, and multi-colored confetti within their rigid plastic sides....

Elegant Accessories: 1890s Zaborowska Fan

By null — This double-leaf folding hand fan from 1897-1899 features hand-painted cabretille (vellum) on the front and silk on the back. It was handmade and signed by the painter Gabrielle Zaborowska, who was born in Paris in 1852 (we don't know when she died). Zaborowska was her married name—previously, she went by G. Eylé, which was the name she signed when working for Duvelleroy and other famous fan-making . Most of Zaborowska's fans had bucolic themes or were pastiches, according to the fashion...

Purse Perfection: Judith Leiber on Faberge, Rhinestones, and Her Favorite First Ladies

By Maribeth Keane and Bonnie Monte — When I was a girl, my mother had a lot of wonderful handbags. My dad traveled often in Western Europe. Every time he came home he brought her a beautiful bag. Some of the bags came from Vienna, where my mother was born and raised. She also had bags from France, England, and Spain. My father used to buy them from all over the place. Before the war, there were laws in Hungary that prevented Jews from going to university. If you were Jewish and wanted to attend a university, you had to go...

Abigail Rutherford on the History of Vintage Handbags

By Maribeth Keane and Brad Quinn — Even as a young girl, I was interested in the historical aspect of handbags. I probably started collecting in high school when I became more aware of my own tastes. I went to a small art school for college and did a lot of studio work, even though I was an art history major. Eventually, I went to one of Leslie Hindman’s auctions and talked to her about the historical side of things versus the mass market of today’s fashion world. She took a chance and hired me as the director of vintage...