Vintage Bags and Purses

Well, I've been talking about vintage jewellery but now I'll go slightly off track and talk about vintage bags and purses :D 
I LOVE vintage bags and purses because there is a 'quality' feel to ones made before the 80's, back when they were made to last and not just look pretty. They are also often simple in design but still beautiful to look at.

I got all these bags and purses from a Swap Meet for $5 (another awesome bargain).  Glomesh is one of my favourite vintage bags to buy, but leather ones also catch my eye ;)

Glomesh was founded by Hungarian immigrants Louis & Alice Kennedy in 1958, they migrated to Australia with their 2 children in 1957 from Israel after living in Tel Aviv for 10 years.
The Glomesh factory was first setup under the company Camel in Bondi Junction Sydney Australia, then soon after moved to St Peters where the iconic metal mesh was being produced in golds, silvers and vibrant rich enamel colours. Some of the many products Glomesh created was most notably handbags, purses, clutches, cigarette holders, lighters and make-up compacts to name a few.

Another brand I love is Whiting and Davis. They began in 1876 as Wade, Davis & Company in Plainville, Massachussetts. Even though the company is recognized primarily for making quality metal mesh handbags, they began by producing jewelry such as brooches, bar pins, chatelaine chains, hat pins, and cuff links, according to the Whiting & Davis Web site.

The above bags are glomesh brand, the one below is a Whiting and Davis brand, this one I actually bought for 50c Aus. at a garage sale.  It even has a Lucite chain handle :)

 

The problem with glomesh is that the enamel is often chipped and links separated.  The links can be re-joined, with a good pair of needle-nosed jewellery pliers and a lot of patience, but the enamel is a different story, carefully applied nail polish can be used, so can enamel powder heated then varnished but this is only an option if you can find the enamel powder :/