A DASH OF ART DECO ELEGANCE~~"EVANS" VINTAGE MINAUDIERE...

 
(Elle October 2009 US Edition)

While I couldn't/wouldn't quite call this an "elegant" photograph in it's original state
(or tasteful, even, in my opinion~~as you can see our Vintage Censorship police were on it!!),
I COULD say it about that fabulous little purse she's clutching in her right hand.  Look closer...

 

 

Please allow me to introduce you to "Le Minaudiere".
 (this one happens to be by Judith Leiber)

 

~~~Min·au·dière *~~
A small ornamental case for a woman's cosmetics, jewelry, or personal items that is often carried as a handbag.

The Parisian firm Van Cleef & Arpels is credited with the introduction of the minaudière ~~ a vanity case that would come to be synonymous with the Art Deco period.
First created in 1930, it featured a compartmentalized interior & served as a multi~functional handbag, vanity case & purse.  They were commonly outfitted with mirrors, lipstick holders, powder compacts, and a place for a key, coins, or even cigarettes. 

(*You can click here to learn how to pronounce it if, like me, you only dream that you can speak French!)

As the fashionable accessory took off and became the latest "MUST HAVE" for high society ladies, many other houses began offering their interpretation of "Le Minaudière".  One such company, the D. Evans Case Co. of Massachusetts, began producing compacts in the 1920s and soon after began offering their own version of the minaudière for fashionable ladies of the day.

This lovely Art Deco Era Evans case is a perfect example of a Vintage Minaudière and it has just been put out on the floor of The Red Velvet Shoe...

While MANY fashionistas will have the "JL" version of the minaudière (for a mere $2,795.00 !!!)  just because it was on the cover of a fashion magazine...

  Only ONE will walk away with The Red Velvet Shoe's version of "Le Vintage Minaudière" ...and will still have enough cash to go out on the town and show it off!!