Gold Rush

Oooooo! I was very excited to find a vintage Oroton gold mesh purse in the charity store a couple weekends ago. Although I love my current almost-Tiffany-blue leather wallet, it is starting to show wear. This mesh purse will be a good replacement when the former becomes too scruffy.

The Oroton purse is in mint condition, apart from a little tarnishing on the press-studs inside. It has two buttoned compartments inside, one for change, and another for keys or keepsakes perhaps.

There are no pockets for cards however, which, I am guessing, indicates it is from the early 70s, when plastic cards must have been extremely uncommon. I will have to use one of the two sections for bills for cards instead. Fortunately my current wallet is so tiny I downsized long ago, and am quite used to carrying only the essential few. (My loyalty cards live in a separate card wallet I keep in my tote bag.)

A Little History

Metal mesh purses and bags have been around for a long time, and I own a few bags already: a gold 70s clutch, and two classic 60s pouch style bags with kiss closures, plus a couple of belts in gold and silver. The bags are all by Glomesh, an Australian company founded in the 60s by a Hungarian immigrant couple, Louis and Alice Kennedy. Although the company has been closed for decades, it is being relaunched this year, which will be an exciting event on the fashion calendar. Oroton, another old Australian brand founded in 1938, has also manufactured metal mesh and other luxury accessories and still does to this day.

20s Whiting & Davis bag, available from Dorothea’s Closet for $295. Click through.Another American label I have discovered online, Whiting & Davis, has been making amazing metal mesh bags since 1892 (the company was founded in 1876). The first mesh bags were handmade from different coloured metals, but by the 1920s many of them were emblazoned with Art Deco style, intricately painted and silkscreened with patterns, featuring geometric edges or decadent fringing. Browse the shop and drool. 

It’s a fun way to add a little 1970s glam into one’s life* – or if you’re lucky enough to own a Whiting & Davis collector bag, some Fin de Siècle or Roaring Twenties style. 

A modern vintage style Whiting & Davis bag. Just wow!

* Ed’s Note: I do in fact also own a metal mesh backless top and wonder why on earth I haven’t long-since photographed it and featured it on these pages. How remiss of me.