Start with a "sleeper bag"  (please:  NOT a "dust bag!")  Let's face it:  the $40.00 purse you picked up last weekend at J.C. Pennys didn't come with one, did it?  With any luck, you got a box.  Unusual handbags DO come with a sleeper bag, you see . . . and there are even some very affluent peple who pay top dollar to collect these bags, let alone the actual Unusual Handbag!  Some people will even pay hard cash for the paper shopping bag the clerk places your classy and classic new bag in as he or she hands it across the counter (or, if they are doing their job right, carries it around the counter to hand it, ever so reverently, to you.

Quality, style, craftsmanship, material and a certain cache: authentic designer handbags. These bags can range in price from a few hundred dollars to many thousands of dollars. Although there are new designers all the time, the established names are legendary: Gucci, Prada, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Chanel, Balenciaga, Tods, Burberry, Dior, YSL, and the less well known and almost cultish Chloe, Ghurka, Bottega Veneta, and Miu Miu. Leathers either amazingly soft and supple or carefully textured to withstand the weather; meticulously crafted signature fabrics; rare and costly skins like ostrich, crocodile, python and other snakes; gold, silver, and titanium mesh; careful attention to details like stitching, hardware; sleeper bags that can be almost as coveted as the bags themselves; and, of course, the all-important logo, either subtly hidden somewhere or boldly emblazoned for the world to see. Carefully planned for and purchased, and passed from mother to daughter, or collected and hoarded by the wealthy and the celebrated. THESE are Unusual Handbags.

With all this going on, there are always those who would cheat and copy: the fakes (mostly from China but not exclusively.) Whether called "replicas" or "imitations" or "inspired-by," the fact is they aren't the real thing: they aren't made the same, they don't feel the same, they don't wear the same. They are fakes, and making them and selling them is illegal. Some people don't care and buy them knowingly. To each his own. But, sadly, there are many who pay good money only to find out later that they bought a fake. Sad. Don't be mislead.

It IS possible to find, admire, and buy AUTHENTIC designer handbags, even on the internet, and sometimes at a discount. Just be realistic: If a website is offering a new $2,000 Gucci handbag for less than $300 . . . it can't be real.