The Morning Show <\/em>where Jennifer Aniston\u2019s character is riding in her car en route to an award show. Her stress levels are approaching a 10, and they\u2019re not helped by the fact that she can\u2019t fit everything she needs into her teeny-tiny silver clutch purse, which we see in shot: overstuffed and open like a baby bird\u2019s gullet, fed too many worms to eat. Eventually, she sighs and swears at the bag.<\/p>\nA few weeks after this episode aired, singer Lizzo was on the red carpet at the American Music Awards, where she\u2019d decided to accessorise her peach-coloured Valentino ruffle dress with a bag roughly the size of a bottle of Tipp-Ex. \u201cThere are only three in the world,\u201d she explained. What could she possibly fit in there, asked the host. \u201cI\u2019ve got tampons in here, a flask of tequila, condoms,\u201d she lied, hilariously.<\/p>\n
In both cases, the joke is this: these Findus Crispy Pancake-sized bags are ridiculous, oh world of fashion! They can barely hold a broken lipstick, let alone a packet of tissues and half a Strepsil. In these cases, real-world concerns (practicality, durability) are unimportant next to the more pressing issue: WILL IT LOOK GOOD ON INSTAGRAM? So why the popularity?<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are not<\/em> practical,\u201d agrees Dara Prant, market editor of Fashionista<\/em>. \u201cBut they do elicit a year\u2019s worth of commentary and are great conversation starters,\u201d which is great currency online. \u201cIf you only go out with a mint (just one) or a piece of gum, lipgloss and a credit card, then a mini-bag is fine. But if you want your handbag to hold your phone, wallet, a snack, meds, first-aid supplies and a hand sanitiser, you should invest in something larger.\u201d In other words: exist outside 1080px by 1080px? See ya, sucker!<\/p>\n\n\u2018I\u2019ve got tampons in here, a flask of tequila, condoms\u2019: Lizzo at the American Music Awards, with her Valentino bag.<\/span> Photograph: Matt Baron\/Rex\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption>More<\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/figure>\nUseless in an utterly lovely way, mini-bags are huge right now. (According to Grazia Middle East<\/em>, the surface area of the average handbag has shrunk by 40% in reaction.) They\u2019ve been carried by everyone from the Kardashians to model of the moment Kaia \u201cdaughter of Cindy Crawford\u201d Gerber. The tiny bag has always walked the line between \u201cin fashion\u201d and \u201care you joking mate?\u201d In fact, in the 18th century it was nicknamed \u201cridicule\u201d, because of its lack of functionality. As in: Mrs Elton, the tragi-comic character in Jane Austen\u2019s Emma<\/em>, has a \u201cpurple and gold ridicule\u201d.<\/p>\nThe attraction, according to Prant, is simple: it\u2019s sweet. \u201cTheir popularity has something to do with the psychology of loving tiny things,\u201d she explains. \u201cMini-bags are kind of like puppies \u2013 they\u2019re just very cute.\u201d Awwww\u2026 So we should carry our car keys in our underwear?<\/p>\n
The most high-profile designer who made the link to the online world was Simon Porte Jacquemus. He realised that values of proportion varied considerably IRL and online \u2013 and what looked good on your phone trumped anything else. Jacquemus was the auteur behind Le Grand Chapeau Bomba (a planet-sized straw hat that guarantees facial anonymity, as worn by Bella Hadid) and the supersize straw handbag. He delivered invites to his Paris AW19 show with micro-versions of his La Chiquito bag, which was about the size of a biscuit. The real Chiquito bag was not much larger: 12cm long, \u00a3400, as carried by Kim Kardashian and Rihanna. It became the No 3 hottest women\u2019s product, according to the Lyst index. It was about the size of a Christmas bauble.<\/p>\n
So, tiny bags have become objets d\u2019internet, and there\u2019s a knowingness in how they are used in public. \u201cI\u2019m not sure every<\/em> star uses bag size to intentionally become a meme, but I certainly think celebrities like Lizzo know the power of bringing a microscopic Valentino bag on to a red carpet in terms of creating even more buzz around a look or an appearance,\u201d says Tyler McCall, editor-in-chief of Fashionista<\/em>. \u201cMeme-able fashion has become increasingly popular with the rise of Instagram and other social media, because it makes an immediate visual impact.\u201d<\/p>\nStory continues<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n\n
\nBig business: Lizzo\u2019s doll-sized bag.<\/span> Photograph: Jason Merritt\/Rex\/Shutterstock<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption>More<\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/figure>\nSometimes, being extra small isn\u2019t enough. Sometimes you\u2019ve got to be extra large. In October, Diane Keaton Instagrammed a woman carrying an industrial-sized bag with the caption: \u201cNot big enough for me. I\u2019ll be buying two.\u201d She was re-gramming a photo from the Big Bag Club, one of many Instagram accounts that take photos of women carrying large bags and supersizes them . Keaton\u2019s choice of photo was one of digital influencer Loulou de Saison carrying a bag from the fashion label Khaite. \u201cIt was very big already in reality,\u201d says Virginia Rolle, who runs the Big Bag Club. \u201cTo enlarge it again was a gamble, but my followers liked it so much that it became viral.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rolle first came upon her idea when she was \u201cscrolling through my Instagram, when I found Paulinha Sampaio during London Fashion Week with a huge Gucci bag. At the beginning, I thought it was a fashion meme, a joke. Then I found that it was real and I started to imagine all the bags in a larger size.\u201d<\/p>\n
Oversize bags were a key part of the \u201cboho chic\u201d trend from the noughties, led by stylist Rachel Zoe. The look was popularised by celebrities such as the Olsens and the Hiltons; alongside large handbags were large sunglasses and tiny physical frames. Retrospectively, the vibe was very \u201cjust entering Promises treatment centre in Malibu, post Coachella\u201d, and was, alarmingly, labelled \u201cskinny-girl chic\u201d. \u201cZoe\u2019s influence was almost as big as the bags she got her clients to carry around,\u201d explains former Heat<\/em> deputy editor Julian Linley. \u201cShe pioneered the artfully bohemian look that was all relaxed and creative, but screamed \u2018I\u2019m loaded!\u2019 Her followers even had their own name: the Zoebots.\u201d<\/p>\n\nHistory piece: a 19th-century \u2018ridicule\u2019.<\/span> Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption>More<\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/figure>\nLinley says he remembers that her influence spilled over, like an extra-large frappuccino, to the high street. \u201cEvery shop window looked the same,\u201d he says. \u201cTiny mannequins holding enormous bags in the crook of their arm, heavily accessorised (most important: saucer-sized sunglasses) and Yeti-esque Ugg boots \u2013 it got so big that it quickly turned the corner into being naff.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite fashion nods from Fendi, Bottega Veneta and Marni that the massive oversize bag will return next season, it has lost some of its stature over time. \u201cI\u2019m not sure celebrities have taken to it in a genuine way,\u201d says McCall. The mini-bag seems to fit this era of social media-led celebrity and shareable content. For a meme to be successful, it needs to work with a sophisticated ease and on multiple levels. Indeed, when something goes viral, a conversation begins between the photo or gif and the meme creator.<\/p>\n
For Lizzo and her tiny AMA Valentino bag, this was clear in the memes created in the aftermath. They were inevitably on-point: \u201cLizzo carried my bank account to the AMAs,\u201d read one<\/a>. \u201cCan\u2019t believe Lizzo brought my patience with men to the AMAs,\u201d read another<\/a>.<\/p>\nPre-Lizzo, perhaps the first mini bag that gained an upswing in popularity thanks to a pop culture shout-out was the Fendi Baguette. Beloved of Sex and The City\u2019s<\/em> Carrie Bradshaw (who once claimed: \u201cI\u2019m homeless; I\u2019ll be a bag lady. A Fendi bag lady but a bag lady\u201d), the original iteration has sold around 1m copies since its 1997 launch. So perhaps it\u2019s the perfect mini-bag to launch in the famously cautious menswear market. It looks pretty inoffensive, but do men really want to give up their backpacks, man bags and holdalls for something that looks like it carries your epi pen?<\/p>\nAlongside the mini-baguette, other big name designers have got on what the New York Times<\/em> is calling the \u201cmurse\u201d (sorry) bandwagon \u2013 Balenciaga, Off-White and APC have produced tiny bags for men.<\/p>\n\nMan bag: basketball player Jordan Clarkson with his \u2018murse\u2019, worn round his neck.<\/span> Photograph: Michael Reaves\/Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption>More<\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\u201cI\u2019m not sure bags that aren\u2019t even big enough to hold a stick of gum will catch on,\u201d says Nick Carvell, former GQ<\/em> news and features editor. \u201cThey\u2019re fun, but fun often doesn\u2019t result in longevity in how we dress \u2013 how many men wear codpieces these days?\u201d<\/p>\nPrant is more optimistic. \u201cMen don\u2019t carry much anyway, so it actually makes more sense for them to wear them.\u201d<\/p>\n
George Banks, the designer behind Florist, who creates beautiful miniature embroidered bags, agrees. \u201cI think men\u2019s attitudes towards bag size are developing,\u201d he says. \u201cGuys are more open to unique-shaped bags. It doesn\u2019t always have to be of a practical nature \u2013 guys are opening themselves up to silhouettes that are cute rather than sensible.\u201d<\/p>\n
I call to mind the NBA\u2019s Jordan Clarkson, who has taken to wearing his murse around his neck, Flavor Flav-style. I worry about him getting the chain entangled as he tries to beep in his Oyster card, or having to go to A&E after his hand gets stuck mid-reach for Kleenex. There is, I think, no filter that would make that look good on the \u2019gram.<\/p>\n
Small but perfectly formed<\/h2>\n Get the look yourself with these tiny bags from the high street<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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