The handbag’s past may not be long, only a recent few hundred years out of many millennia, but the history of the handbag is the history of women: women’s changing tastes, priorities, and roles in society. Handbags have thrived in times of excess and survived in times of scarcity, and even defied repeated calls by feminists to replace them with pockets. We cannot divine the future of the woman’s handbag. But, if its past is any indicator, we can be sure the handbag of the future will reflect the values of the woman of the future.