How to Buy a Vintage or Retro Evening Handbag

Women who use vintage and retro accessories are often as unique and unusual as the items they incorporate into their wardrobes.

Often the free spirited type, they appreciate details and enjoy objects from the past, especially ones like evening purses/handbags because these objects were involved in celebrations and good times. They also like the fact that one could be missing a bead or two or have a tiny smudge of blue eye shadow or a wee bit of scarlet red lipstick smeared on the satin inside of the bag - it all adds to the mystique of the piece.

Vintage, in terms of fashion, refers to any type of clothing and/or accessory that was made during 1920 to 1969.

Retro is used to describe clothing and accessories that were produced from 1970 to roughly 1991. Vintage and retro evening handbags under $40 can be easily found. This piece will explain where to look.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Internet access (if you prefer to shop online)
• Valid credit card or PayPal account (if purchasing an item online)
• Your own observational skills
• A dash of patience
• Cash (if purchasing the item from a flea market, yard sale, estate sale, antique store, or bazaar)
• Note: some antique shops and thrift stores accept both cash and credit cards.

1. First, if you have the time, check your area's newspapers to see if there are any flea markets coming up. If so, when at the flea market, comb the "Used" section. (It is also sometimes called the "Secondhand" section.) (I have had great success in this area.) Open air bazaars are also great places to find vintage and retro handbags!

2. Second, visit nearby thrift stores. Go directly to the accessory area and patiently sort through the boxes/displays.

3. Shop online. Begin your quest by typing "vintage evening handbags" and/or "retro evening handbags" into your search engine. You can also try "cheap vintage evening handbags", "cheap retro evening handbags", "vintage evening handbags under $40", and "retro evening handbags under $40". Follow the links and compare and contrast prices before making any decisions. Also, make sure that there is a photo of the item that you are considering and compare and contrast shipping and handling costs from site to site. Hint: you can usually find competitive deals on eBay.

4. Try looking in your nearby antique stores, too.

5. Yard sales and estate sales are also known to have vintage and retro evening handbags. It does not hurt to look, right? You might just get lucky and find one that is just right for you!

Tips & Warnings

• Vintage evening handbags will sometimes have names inside of them, like these, for example: Soure Bag of New York, After Five, Bounty, Whiting and Davis, Rosenfeld, Stylecraft of Miami, and Eaton's of Canada, to name a few.
• Retro evening handbags may sometimes have names marked inside of them like: Normandie, Sydney of California, Christiana, and many more!
• Some bags will include the manufacturers name, others may not. Don't let the absence of a name take away from the beauty of the bag, though -- let it add to the mystery!
• Always make sure that a photo is provided before purchasing a vintage or retro item online and do not be afraid to ask the seller questions regarding the item.