It's official: Carrie Bradshaw has been reunited with her Fendi Baguette. And not just any Baguette, the very same purple sequinned number that got stolen, along with her jewellery and Jimmy Choos, creating a moment of pure fashion joy when she told her mugger, 'It's a Bag-uette!'
Sarah Jessica Parker has been spotted in a slew of different outfits on the set of And Just Like That, but none so far have provided as much style nostalgia as the one with the Baguette. Perhaps it's because the events of the past year have utterly changed our relationships to our handbags, with backpacks and homely canvas totes (both very well suited to schlepping to the park and carrying the weekly shop) had a leg up on less practical styles.
Last year, the V&A had an exhibition dedicated to, what it called, the ‘ultimate accessory’. Speaking to Grazia, Lucia Salvi, the exhibition's curator, confirmed that the pandemic had an unprecedented influence on handbags. ‘From sanitiser, gloves and other items of personal protection, we now need a more spacious and practical accessory to fit everything in,’ she said at the time. This doesn’t, however, mean that the 'It' bag had been shelved. In fact, it could be seen as an unexpected success story. ‘A Hermès store in Guangdong, China, recording unprecedented sales [post-lockdown] highlighted how some people were either gifting themselves bags or considering these luxury goods as a safe investment in an uncertain financial market.’
And Bradshaw's Baguette might just keep the the needle swinging back towards designer bags. Kristin Davis has also been spotted carrying a tweed purse from Chanel, as well as an elaborate top-handle bag from vintage-inspired label Rianna + Nina. While we wait to see whether any more oldies-but-goodies will be unearthed from the costume department of SATC, here are all the other It bags you might have bought (or more likely wanted to buy) from the past few decades.
SEE: The Most Memorable Handbags Of All Time
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1 of 11The Hermès Birkin
Its first iteration was a sketch on an airplane after a chance encounter between Hermès' Jean-Louis Dumas and Jane Birkin, who, bemoaning the fact that it wasn't easy to find a suitable bag, ended up giving her name to the most famous one ever created.
2 of 11The Mulberry Alexa
For most millennials, Mulberry's Alexa - a bag that was inspired by its namesake, Alexa Chung, and her penchant for men's briefcases - was their first introduction to the idea of the It bag. Fast-forward 12 years and Chung, who now helms her own eponymous label, has just designed a collection for Mulberry.
3 of 11The Chanel 2.55
Kate Moss's faux-fur gilet and floppy hat can stay in the mid-noughties, but the quilted receptacle, Chanel's 2.55, belongs in the timeless handbag hall of fame.
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4 of 11The Dior Saddle
Designed by John Galliano, Dior's Saddle made its debut in 1999. Its particular brand of logoed excellence found fans in Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. Maria Grazia Chiuri resurrected the bag a few years ago, and you'll now see Adwoa Aboah, Jennifer Lawrence and Kylie Jenner carrying it.
5 of 11The Céline Phantom
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley now worships at the altar of Bottega Veneta, but back in 2012, her heart belonged to the Céline Phantom.
6 of 11The Loewe Puzzle
Jonathan Anderson has churned out handbag hit after hit at Loewe, the heritage leather house based in Spain, but his most-beloved is the Puzzle.
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7 of 11The Gucci Dionysus
When Alessandro Michele waved his maximalist wand over the handbag stable at Gucci, the fashion pack went wild. The Dionysus, a logoed bag complete with chunky chain and clasp, is one of his biggest hits.
8 of 11The Mansur Gavriel Bucket
Mansur Gavriel's paved the way for an it bag that, whisper it, was actually affordable. Sienna Miller became its most famous repeat-wearer, toting its ruby red bucket for the entirety of 2017.
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9 of 11The Bottega Veneta Cassette
Bottega Veneta's creative director, Daniel Lee, has won every fashion award going for his accessories. The Cassette, a padded bag that has modernised the brand's famous way with woven leather, is one of his most popular.
10 of 11The Fendi Baguette
Carrie Bradshaw had several adventures involving Fendi's Baguette. Who could forget her correcting a mugger with the line, 'It's a Bag-uette'? Or when she went rooting through a man's trunk for fake versions in the Valley? The very same one she lost in SATC, and resurrected in And Just Like That, was in the V&A's exhibition.
11 of 11The Dior Lady Dior
The Lady Dior, which was rebranded in homage to Princess Diana, is the chic top handle to end all chic top handles, right Rihanna?