Thursday, April 19, 2007

The Perfect Murder: The Perfect Wardrobe -Part III, The Handbag

And so we conclude this three-part high-level look at the wardrobe of The Perfect Murder, by extolling the virtues of the handbag Gwyneth Paltrow's elegantly attired character totes throughout the movie, the Hermes Kelly.

The Kelly was actually born in the 1930s, then known as the Petite Sac Haut a Courroies (the original and larger Haut a Courroies was originally created to transport saddles in 1892), before it was re-christened the Kelly bag in the mid 1950s in honor of actress Grace Kelly who was a big fan of the bag and at one point, carried one to shield her pregnancy from photographers.

The bag takes approximately 13 hours to construct with over 2,500 stitches. While Kelly bags can be ordered in various sizes and colors and with different hardware, Black box calfskin is revered amongst collectors as being the quintessential and classic leather for the Kelly, particularly with gold hardware. Box calf ages beautifully; some of the oldest bags I've seen have been in box calf and they look wonderful. And it is this exact combination that Paltrow carries throughout the film and not surprisingly, it goes with everything she wears. Indeed, it is the perfect handbag.


Photo: courtesy of TPF member Dressage Queen; used with permisson.

2 comments:

A Margarita said...

And the cost I wonder? Lol, do I even want to know? It is perfectly lovely.

Mama T said...

New Kellys are from $6K to $7K in the stores; however a vintage one, such as the lovely beauty that is for sale and is pictured, is around $4,500.