After viewing the Liberty of London Foulard Handbag Collection I had to pull out a couple of my own vintage handbags and tie them up with my vintage Liberty of London Scarves. The black frame bag is a vintage snakeskin purse from London made in the 1950’s. I can’t tell you the maker’s name as it has worn off, but it is a darling little lady-like purse. The green clutch is a vintage Brahmin leather bag embossed with a faux alligator skin print. The Liberty scarves are silk and quite old. The black edged one on the black frame purse shows the Liberty of London logo.
I used a scarf clip to help me attach the scarf to the green clutch. I got the idea for doing a scarf on the front flap of a clutch from the Liberty of London Stevie Clutch which has a built on ring on which you attach your scarf. It is a cute idea! Almost every handbag you own should be able to be decorated with a scarf. I can’t tell you exactly how to attach each one, because each bag is different, but I can give you hints. I attach the scarf initially where the strap is attached to the purse on the inside of the flap where it won’t show when the purse is closed. I then pull the scarf out to the front and access how I might be able to wrap or tie the particular purse I am working with. In this case I decided to utilize a scarf clip to add a touch of golden hardware to the front of the purse and to bunch the scarf up and hold it tightly together on the front surface. I moved that around, experimenting, until I found a position I liked. I then brought the ends back to the underside of the clutch flap and figured out a way to tuck tie them up and tuck them in to conceal the extra fabric. I can open and close the purse to get things in and out easily without disturbing the way it is wrapped. You do want to be sure you can use your purse normally once it is scarfed. It could be very inconvenient if you managed to tie your bag shut and you had trouble getting into it in a hurry!
The black frame bag is a simple design that is easy to scarf. I simply looped the scarf over and through the loop on one side, then adjusted the tails of the scarf to make them look pretty.
I love to utilize my scarves. The colors and textures make me happy! And I get a lot of compliments on how pretty my bags look when I have added scarves to them.
People, even Liberty of London, have asked me where I find my vintage scarves! I can’t really send you to any particular place. I have found them at charity shops, thrift shops, estate sales, consignment shops and rummage sales. I have seen them for sale in online vintage shops on Etsy and eBay so you could try there. It is really just a matter of keeping your eyes open so you see one if you are in the right place at the right time. The same advice applies to finding interesting vintage handbags…
