Dating & kind of snake on this Kelly bag?

MyVintageCocktail

MyVintageCocktail

VFG Member
Can anyone help date this better? I'm listing this today, and can't decide if this is late 50s or solidly 60s, or cusper.... Its bottom feet are large, more like older bags than newer ones. I'm not normally a "skin" buyer, but this bag is really cute and in such wonderful condition, I couldn't pass it up! Would I use "Mad Men" as a KW for this?

And is this what they call "whipsnake"? It's solid black. If it is, is that something anyone would search for, or is simply "snakeskin" enough? Thanks! Oh, and pardon the large photo--it's for my website and I make them larger than for eBay or Ruby Lane....

snakeskinfront.jpg
 
Lovely bag! I think Mad Men applies. As far as dating and skin, I'm no expert, but I would think snakeskin is the most researched term and go with your gut as you're safest with late 50s, early 60s
 
Very pretty indeed!

Seems that most vintage snakeskin purse listings I've seen don't specify the type of snake used, with the exception of maybe python and occasionally karung.

I've never heard of whipsnake myself (that doesn't mean lots of folks--including you!--don't recognize it easily). But I'm thinking KW like "snakeskin" and "kelly bag" are the ones that will draw your buyer to this purse, vs "whipsnake".
 
I don't see the "Kelly" bag connection. It doesn't look like a Kelly Bag to me:

http://hermes-birkin-kelly-bag.com/Kellys

I am not sure about dating, but I think it might be newer than '50's or '60's. I have seen some handbags that have larger feet that are newer. Wasn't snake very popular in the '80's? What is the interior like? It seems that older bags have more compartments, and things like change purses, etc. I may be way off base on the dating but I'm sure it's not a "Kelly Bag."

Linn
 
Thanks, all! Carrie, I'd never heard of whipsnake myself until recently, and I've seen a lot of these black snakeskins called "whipsnake." I guess the snake is a fairly common one, but I wouldn't know, as snakes & I do not get along very nicely.

Linn, if you would see and feel this in person, you'd see it is definitely not 80s--I'd say pre 1970, in any event, but more likely at least early to mid 60s. My biggest question was whether it might not be 50s. The clasp and the interior are just not 80s--there's a metal zippered pocket and an open pocket for mirror, change purse, etc. (though the vanity items are missing if this bag had them to begin with).

Also, this style is widely termed a "Kelly" bag. I believe not only for its general shape, but the placement of the strap onto the frame, which apparently Hermes did in its bags for Grace Kelly (if I recall the story correctly). It doesn't have to be a replica of the original Hermes Kelly bag to be called a Kelly bag....

Here's the link to the rest of the photos; I think you'll see the dating in them: http://s2.photobucket.com/albums/y27/amc654/02_09/Black Snakeskin Kelly Bag/
 
Sorry - I wasn't aware that the strap made this type of bag a "Kelly". I've always called it a "top hande." It's definitely lovely and I can see that it's older from the other photos.

Linn
 
I'm not 100% sure about the issue of the handle, but I've heard it repeated enough that it's either true or Lasting Urban Legend.

The term itself is, I guess, kind of like "Xerox," where any reprographic copy ended up being called a Xerox, regardless of who made the machine.... Although it's very true that the term "Kelly bag" has been used, mostly on eBay, to describe bags that are styled nowhere near even the "generic" version of a Kelly bag....
 
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