How the average British woman will spend over £4,000 on handbags in her lifetime Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1254015/How-average-British-woman-spend-4-000-handbags-lifetime.html#ixzz0ggkf0S1t - That's $6,094.00 USD

By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
For many women, handbags are an investment in image and selfesteem, as much as a hold-all for wallet, keys and cash.

So no wonder they spend £4,000 over a lifetime on them.

A study has totted up the amount women shell out for handbags between the ages of 13 and 81.

Bags of style: Lucky celebrities like Sienna Miller could easily spend most womens' yearly handbag total in a lunchtime

It works out to £4,090, or £96billion across the current British female population  -  more than the £94.5billion annual budget of the NHS. 

More...

• Fashion: Make your wardrobe work overtime with a few key pieces

THE AVERAGE WOMAN'S BAG BREAKDOWN

• Five day bags at £29 each: £145
• Three evening bags at £22 each: £66
• Two work bags at £24 each: £48
• Two shopping bags at £9 each: £18
• Two sport bags at £17 each: £34
• One beach bag at £13
• Two travel bags at £23 each: £46

TOTAL FOR 17 BAGS: £370

While the figures may seem monstrous to some, others will be surprised they are so modest.

And in the survey of 3,000 women, around two-thirds said they would like to buy even more handbags, if they could get away with it.

According to the figures, at any one time the average woman owns a total of 17 bags.

This includes five for daytime, three for evening, two for work and two for shopping, two sports bags, two travel bags and a beach bag  -  totalling £370.

And she will buy, on average, three new ones a year, at £20 a pop.

Perhaps it is no surprise that one in five women consider bags their most important wardrobe items ahead of shoes, skirts and blouses. A third even said they are 'obsessed' with them.

More than half (55 per cent) confessed to getting 'bag envy' when they spotted other women with desirable specimens in their clutches.

Bagging a deal: Around two-thirds of women surveyed said they would like to buy even more handbags, if they could get away with it

Half also agreed that wearing a nice handbag made them feel more confident and happy, and 35 per cent said they had bought a handbag in the past to cheer themselves up.

Yesterday a spokesman for www.OnePoll.com, which conducted the survey, said: 'It's always been said that women have a love of handbags and this research proves that.

Along with their shoe collection, handbags take up a lot of the room in a woman's wardrobe.

'But it seems it's important for girls to have a bag for every occasion, and even for every outfit, to make sure they are always coordinated.'

The total cost is based on high-street shopping prices  -  but many women (15 per cent) have paid more than £150 for the perfect handbag.

Of course the Victoria Beckhams and Sienna Millers of this world are able to spend £4,000 in a lunchtime, rather than lifetime, on the likes of Fendi, Louis Vuitton and Mulberry.

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Happy Valentine’s Day from Handbags4Hunger

The Life and Legacy of Alexander McQueen

The Eccentricities of a Couturier

The son of a London cabbie became a designer phenom before taking his own life. A look back at his life and legacy.

Akira Suemori / AP

Fans of the late designer honored him by laying flowers outside his central London atelier.

By Dana Thomas | Newsweek Web Exclusive

Feb 11, 2010

The first time I met Alexander McQueen, who committed suicide Thursday in London at the age of 40, he was sitting at his desk at Givenchy, days before his debut show for the legendary French couture house. He was 27 years old, having made a name for himself in a few short years after his graduation from Central Saint Martins in London by staging outlandish shows filled with really smart clothes. I was about to interview him for a cover story for NEWSWEEK, and minutes before the shoot, he decided to jazz things up a bit and shaved himself a mohawk. There were bits of hair all over the white Formica desk where the ever-elegant Hubert de Givenchy himself used to work.

Read more

Beirut designer brings prisoners' handbags to Paris catwalks

By Olivia Sterns for CNN

February 4, 2010 2:17 p.m. EST

London, England (CNN) -- In the prisons of Lebanon, women are turning their attention to fashion and stitching their way to a brighter future.

They're part of a program run by Sarah's Bags, a Beirut-based label that employs convicts and the recently-released to sew and embroider handbags, by hand. Read more

Lebanese fashion label Sarah's Bags has had huge success employing female prisoners to sew and embroider accessories.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Former prisoners stitch their way to a brighter future in Lebanon
• Sarah's Bags gives inmates income and a second chance
• Sarah Beydoun is building her brand abroad, branching out in European markets`

So Who Exactly Benefits from eBay Fee Changes?

By Ina Steiner AuctionBytes.com February 10, 2010

This week AuctionBytes published the results of a survey of 1,100 eBay sellers to see how eBay's changes to the fee structure would impact them. After reading that 75.8% of respondents said that under the new eBay.com fee structure, their monthly eBay fees would go up, an AuctionBytes Blog reader wanted to know who exactly wasbenefiting from eBay's fee changes. We did some filtering of the data to answer that question - and although there were very slight variations across categories, three factors played a major role in impacting how the fee changes would affect sellers. Read more

MORE PEOPLE ARE GOING HUNGRY!

Nick Jonas Visits the North Texas Food Bank

It's the same story, repeated all over the US - hunger is on the rise:

In Boston, Massachusetts: Almost one in ten people in Massachusetts used a food pantry, soup kitchen or shelter over the past four years, a 23 percent increase, according to studies released Tuesday.

"The picture is simply heartbreaking,” Catherine D'Amato, president and CEO of The Greater Boston Food Bank, said in a statement. "These studies show how families are suffering and struggling to make ends meet during a time of economic distress.

While we are providing more food than ever, it is still not enough. We must all work together to find effective solutions to hunger.”

In Kansas City, Missouri: "As a result of the most severe economic recession since the Great Depression and the highest unemployment rates since World War II, more people than ever are seeking emergency food assistance," said Karen Haren, Harvesters' president and CEO. "In 2009, we distributed 36.6 million pounds of food, which is 30 percent more than at any time in our 30-year history."

In Dallas, Texas: The number of people in North Texas who go to food pantries or soup kitchens each week has risen 80 percent — to 64,600 a week — since 2006, according to the study, “Hunger in America 2010." The study was conducted by Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger-relief organization.


We must all work together to find effective solutions to hunger, as it appears this situation is going to get worse before it gets better!