What is Handbag?
[[File:Very beautiful unidentified model at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week 2.jpg|thumb|Model at [[New York Fashion Week]] showing a [[Louis Vuitton]] handbag.]] [[File:Reagan Thatcher.jpg|thumb|right|[[Ronald Reagan]], [[Mrs Thatcher]] plus handbag]] A '''handbag''' is a medium-to-large [[wikt:bag|bag]] typically used by [[women]] to hold personal items. It is often [[Fashion design|fashionably designed]]. Versions of the term are 'purse', 'pocketbook', 'pouch', or 'clutch', terms which suggest rather smaller versions. Content of handbags might include such items as [[wallet]]/[[coin]]s, [[key]]s, [[mobile phone]], [[cosmetics]] and [[jewellery]], [[books]]/[[e-book]]s, [[pen]] and [[paper]], [[food]] and [[beverage]] such as a water bottle, [[pepper spray]] and other items for [[self-defence]], [[tampon]]s and other feminine [[hygiene]] products, [[contraception|contraceptives]], [[Tissue paper|tissue]]s and [[infant]] care products, or a [[hairbrush]].<ref>Hagerty, Barbara 2002. ''Handbags: a peek inside a woman's most trusted accessory''. Running Press, pp. 14–5. {{ISBN|0-7624-1330-1}}</ref> == Men's purses == Men once carried coin purses. The oldest known purse dates back more than 5000 years, and was worn by a man, [[Ötzi the Iceman]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Gerval|first=Olivier|title=Studies in fashion: fashion accessories |url=https://archive.org/details/fashionaccessori0000gerv|year=2009 |publisher=A & C Black|isbn=978-1-4081-1058-4|page=[https://archive.org/details/fashionaccessori0000gerv/page/44 44]}}</ref> In [[early modern Europe]], men's [[trousers]] replaced men's [[breeches]] during the 18th and 19th centuries. Pockets were added in the loose, heavy material. This let men carry coins, and then paper currency, in small leather [[wallet]]s.<ref>{{cite web|title=Leather Handbags for Men|url=https://www.blaxtonbags.com/blogs/news/making-investment-into-your-appearance-leather-briefcases|publisher=Blaxtonbags|accessdate=26 May 2017|archive-date=1 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501