I have a lot of handbags. I am not particular about designers, although I do have a nice collection of vintage designer bags, but I do like a nice large bag. I am drawn to bohemian style bags, I love old fabric bags too.
I am always surfing through Ebay looking for different styles old and new. Last month I discovered a wealth of fabulous bags made by the Hmong Tribe in Thailand.
The Hmong are an ancient tribe who origninally came from the mountain region in China and Mongolia. They migrated to Laos, Thailand and Vietnam for political freedon. The meaning of the word Hmong is "Free".
Following the Vietnam War, many Hmong imigrated to Thailand. The Hmong are incredible embroiderers. They are often called "Flower Hmong" because of their brightly coloured work. They make their fabrics in celebration of births, weddings and New Year. They also make lively baby carriers and handbags.
The Hmong not only make handbags but they use their rainbow selections of fabrics in pillows, jewelry, clothing and much more. The Hmong also use vintage fabrics.
Pricing varies on the style and amount of embroidery in a bag. I found this beautiful piece on Ebay for $22.00 with free shipping.
I love this bag because of the large size and the roughness of the embroidered pieces. It is different of both sides. Now, I realize that you get what you pay for and this bag is not close the the more elaborited Hmong bags but I really like it and you cannot beat that price.
Hmong bags range from a mere $6.99 to upwards of $500.00, like the ones in this photo. I really want the one on the bottom right but at over $300.00 on Etsy it is a little out of my range.
A lot of work goes into one of these lovely bags from growing and dying the hemp to hand-sewing the embroidery. It also benefits the co-operatives run by the Hmong women.
Even if you don't purchase one you should stop by and have a look at some of the Etsy Shops such as DAZZLING LANA and KULSHI MUMKIN or on EBAY.
All photos with the exception of the ones of my Hmong Bag are from PINTEREST.
These are all wonderful bags, and I am defiantly going to take a look. The colors are are truly amazing along with the texture.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing. I am a follower.
These are SO beautiful!
ReplyDeleteWow! I have never heard of the Hmong as a people or their beautiful work. These bags are simply equisite! Thank you so much for sharing this information. I am off to visit these etsy's to feast on some more of this eye candy. Hugs, Mina
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