Most women these days carry around some sort of handbag or purse.
Whether it's a designer leather handbag, shopper totes, retro satchels or an oversized purse, almost every woman walking down the street on any given day has some sort of bag of varying style and fabric in which they can store their essential items.
In our modern western world, bags are as much a fashion statement as they are a useful piece of attire with all sorts of benefits for the ladies who carry them, but their history stems back thousands of years, and the evolution of the design and style of the handbag is a fascinating story.
In the beginning, bags were more commonly used by men to carry around their essential items - seeds, tools and money - and they were very ordinary.
They were basic pouches or purses made of animal skin and served a very defined purpose.
Peasants would carry seeds in pouches, and African priests carried beaded bags.
Egyptian hieroglyphs show very early versions of the handbag, so it really isn't a new fashion.
In fact, the likes of Gucci, Fendi, Prada and all the other fashion houses are simply expanding on an age-old look and bringing things up to date with new fabrics and styles.
By the time the 15th century came around, both men and women were using handbags and they were starting to become a style item as well as practical.
More decorative and ornamental styles emerged, and by the 16th century handbags were made from everything from cloth to leather and decorated with embroidery, beads and buttons.
The cost of a handbag was relatively expensive, so they weren't in widespread demand, but their influence soon spread.
When breeches became the style for men they abandoned the handbag and put everything in their pockets, and for a time, women switched to pouches under the skirts, tied on to a girdle.
But with the French Revolution came a fashion for more delicate, fitted clothing, so out came the handbags, which were suitable to carry with all outfits.
Restrictive skirts made handbags a necessity, and as it became common for women to wear trousers, bags were a must-have accessory and soon became seen as stylish and were chosen to match outfits.
War efforts for a time meant that common handbag materials such as metal frames, zips and leather were in short supply, so there were experimentations with plastic and wood in handbag making.
And through recent decades, the rise of fashion and a wealth of materials and skills, not to mention global trade channels, means that designer leather handbags are within the reach of millions of women and possibly the most sought-after and helpful accessory of all.
Today, our bags have compartments and pockets, zips, buttons, beads and dangly bits, long straps, short straps or no straps at all.
Some can fit a weekend's worth of clothes, others are just the right size for lipstick, money, keys and phone.
There are all sorts of types and females love their handbags - we're big fans and desire new bags regularly.
They are quality, luxury fashion accessories in must-have styles from the top designers and houses, but they are also vital pieces of the ladies wardrobe and help us carry our items wherever the day takes us.
Handbags can be custom pieces, accessories for a certain event, made of all sorts of fabric from cowhide and lambskin to leather and cotton, and they are anything from smart and stylish to comfortable and highly practical, cute or bright.
Handbags are the trendiest of accessories, worn if you need to carry things around, and the variety is so wide that whenever you go shopping to buy a new bag, you often come back with selections in all sorts of fabrics to vary the wardrobe.