My far-from-scientific gut feeling is that 99 percent of all girls polled will say they would love to own a classic quilted Chanel bag. It's the sort of simple chic that lands on the wish lists of prim preppy and downtown types alike, and it's never going out of style (or, sadly, on sale, with most classic styles retailing a little over $3,000). To celebrate what would've been Coco Chanel's birthday today, we're focusing on the quilted 2.55 bag and the stories and history behind its creation.
—The name 2.55 is the bag's own birthday: It was created in February 1955.
—It wasn't the first Chanel-designed bag. That honor belongs to a piece created in 1929, but the 2.55 was modified for practical reasons. "I got fed up with holding my purses in my hands and losing them, so I added a strap and carried them over my shoulder," Chanel was reported as saying in Coco Chanel by Justine Picardie.
—Those chain straps might've been influenced by a few different things: the bridles and harnesses of horses or the type of belts worn by the nuns who presided over Coco's early education.
—The quilted leather, now so synonymous with the brand, is thought to be in honor of Coco's love of riding as a girl, when quilted materials were worn only by boys working in the stables.
—The original bags were lined in a burgundy hue that referenced the color of the Catholic school uniforms Coco wore.
—A zippered compartment in the bag's front flap was rumored to have been created as a handy place for the designer to store love letters.
I grabbed some books from my own collection to dig up these facts. The first four points are from the Picardie bio and the last two from Fifty Bags That Changed the World.
Was my assumption right? Budget aside, would you love to have a Chanel 2.55?
