How to Create the Ideal Handbag for Women

The tastes of women concerning handbags and purses have changed tremendously over the years (Huey, 2009). The uses of handbags and purses have also changed with time in society. The emergence of bags dates back to ancient Egypt in which people carried pouches around their waists. These pouches were decorated with embroidery and were used to such as jewelry. They also served as a status symbol among the elite of the society (Steele, 1999). Handbags became more popular in the 16th century in which they were mainly used as travelers companions (Cox, 2007). They had little use for fashion or symbols of status. In the 17th century the use of bags as travelers companions became more popular. However, in this period the bags were more decorated with embroidery. Consequently they were also used as fashion artifacts among women.

In the 18th century, the fashion focus shifted to clothes (Cox, 2007). In this period women used bigger purses to accessorize their clothes in order to look fashionable. The purse was also used for . The purse became handbags in the 1990s when designers included a on them. This analysis shows how womens preferences for hand bags change over time. Previous research work on fashion trends with handbags shows that changes in womens taste on handbags are likely to continue in the foreseeable future (Cox, 2007). These changes are informed by the perceived role of handbags in the lifestyle of women. Toady, hand bags are considered as the friendliest aids to women.

These rapid changes in womens preferences on handbags have necessitated innovation in terms of design and manufacture of handbags and purses (Steele, 1999). This means that the designers and manufacturers of handbags must understand the needs of the women in order to produce products that are relevant in the market. This will not only help in satisfying the demands of the bag users but will also help in keeping the bag designers in business. An investigation on various fashion and design databases and the internet has revealed a lack of information in the following areas.

Information on the specific likes and dislikes of women concerning handbags and purses.
Recommendation of potential designs of handbags that can meet the expectation of women.
The strategies of incorporating the preferences of women concerning handbags in the design and manufacturing process.
Therefore it is important to conduct a research study to address the above issues. The findings of the research will help the designers to produce the ideal bag that meets the expectation of women, despite the continuous changes in their preferences. This research proposal seeks to highlight the strategies, methods, theoretical perspective and the methodology that can be used to facilitate research work on the above issues.

In order to achieve the above objective, the research will answer the following questions.

What do women consider to be an ideal bag?
In order to answer this question fully and to widen the scope of the research, the following sub-questions will be answered.

What factors determine the selection of a handbag or purse?
What is the inter-relationship between handbags and women in society?
To what extent are designers able to produce handbags that meet the expectation of women?
These questions will be addressed by adopting the theory of fast fashion in the research due to the commercial perspective of the research problem.