In the 14th century the whole term 'handbags' and 'bag' became a lot more well known and this was when most people believe the handbags began. The reason people believed that is because, the whole terminology and social status of them begun. The one big handbag that hit in the 14th century and carried on all the way through to the 16th century was the belt bag. It was a small bag made from calf and goat skins and possibly other fabrics. It had a looped handle which in those days people attached to their belts.
Belt Bag
These bags which were attached to the waist were also very similar to the bags which were around in this century to carry money. They were like drawstring bags but smaller and were a significant piece of atire back then due to the fact that pockets had not yet been invented. These were mainly wore as what you and me would now a days see as a uniform or even like underwear for that matter simply because, that is how they managed to take items around with them. On top of this women started to wear these style bags known as 'tasquees' as it became a way of identifying someones social standard. The way the social status was viewed was by the amount of adornment presented on ones bag. The more adornment on ones bag meant the higher prestige they were.