Clutch!: Handbag Heritage On Mott Street

Last week when we were investigating Lulu Castagnette, we came across a new shop we hadn't noticed before. The nice thing about NoLita is that there is still room for a quirky little store to try out something different. On Mott street we discovered Clutch!, a tiny shop devoted entirely to vintage handbags. Strategically situated right next door to Vintage palace Resurrection, Clutch!'s charms derive not only from their well selected stock but also from their ingenious display system,

More after the jump

The walls of the shop are outfitted from floor to ceiling with hands to hold the collection of remarkably well preserved vintage purses. The folks behind the Chelsea Girl vintage shops have created a handbag gallery with a convenient help-yourself component. A variety of brands are displayed and even the vintage Pierre Cardin styles, which were probably sort of banal when they were new, now have an ironic charm. The bags, many of them from the 70s and 80s offer a welcome alternative from the tyranny of the It Bag. Because really, what are you going to do with your B Fendi bag next year, besides use it to store your old Fendi Baguettes?

Clutch! Vintage Purses 219 Mott Street, Manhattan