Byline: By Graeme whitfield
It is enough to render Lady Bracknell speechless for ever: not so much "a handbag" as more than 100 of the things.
Susan Howard has amassed her collection over the past 20 years, trawling through antique fairs and car boot sales for the most unique items around.
And the marketing manager is now celebrating the cultural importance of the fashion icon by passing on her Replica Gucci Handbags knowledge about handbags at a course this weekend.
Susan, 39, of Whitley Bay, started collecting handbags at the age of 18, and quickly became obsessed by them for what they said about the lives of women at different times of the last century.
Now she is planning to show off some of her huge collection at a course being run by the Workers' Educational Association this Saturday.
The day-long course will examine the history of handbags from the art deco flapper bags of the 1930s, and the austere war-year bags, through to space-age bags from the 1960s and the power dressing clutch bags of the 70s and 80s.
Susan said: "I'm fascinated by vintage bags because of the people who used them. I've found things like hat pins and dance cards from the 1930s, things that give you a clue about what life was like for women back then.
"In the early 1900s, handbags were very small because a large bag was a sign that you didn't have much money. Fashionable women had maids to carry things round for them.
"As women's position in society changed, as they went into employment and started to travel more, they started needing larger bags to put stuff in.
"Now you need a handbag that can take your mobile, maybe your Blackberry, not to mention your purse and your expensive make-up.
Fake Monogram Dentelle Handbags"The value of stuff in a handbag can be huge, and you only realise how much when you have it stolen ( as happened to me once."
embroidered patches
Though some collectors will pay thousands of pounds for rare bags, she prefers to find bargains at car boot sales and antique fairs.
Her favourite is an art deco bag from the 1930s, though she also has a fondness for a 1920s handbag that was stolen a few years ago.
This WEA day school ( which takes place at Newcastle Civic Centre on Saturday ( follows the origins of the handbag and how social change and developments have influenced its use, construction and design.
Enthusiasts will be taught how to date handbag styles according to the decade in which they were made, and will also get to see a number of items from Susan's collection, including old misers' purses, steel reticules, dolly bags and leather pochettes.
For further details, tel Liz Armstrong, Newcastle WEA Branch Secretary, on (0191) 281-2923 or the WEA's North-East regional office on (0191) 461-8100.
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