Purses, such as this one by Burberry, are fashion accessories with a function.

Crocodile skin handbags in a conservation exhibit at Bristol Zoo, England

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Handbags

In American English, a purse is a small bag, also called a handbag. more...

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In British English, a purse is a small money container similar to a wallet, but typically used by women and including a compartment for coins, with a handbag being considerably larger.

A purse or handbag is often fashionably-designed, and is used to hold a number of items such as a wallet, keys, tissues, makeup, a hairbrush, feminine products, or other items.

Variations

Purses are usually carried by women, though men sometimes carry one as a smaller alternative to a backpack; such a purse is sometimes self-consciously termed a "murse" or "manbag" ( portmanteaus "man" with "purse" and "handbag" respectively). It can also be bluntly called a "man-purse".

Coin purses are small purses, just large enough to hold money and cards.

A medium-to-small-sized purse with a short handle, designed to be carried (clutched) in one's hand is often called a clutch.

A Larger purse with two handles, such as the Burberry purse seen in the first picture, is often called a tote.

A pocketbook is similar to a purse (in the British English sense), but allows the carrying of sheets of paper as well.

Purses are also made-up of zari, sterling silver, leather etc.

Popularity

Margaret Thatcher was a famous handbag carrier: her style of debate and discussion led to her being described in the UK as 'handbagging' her opponents, meaning that they had received some forthright words from her that left the recipient as metaphorically bruised as if she had physically swung her handbag and hit them.

Trivia

A handbag was a key prop in the Oscar Wilde play, The Importance of Being Ernest, from which comes the famous line: "In a handbag!"