Some of the common elements of woman’s western handbags are silver and turquoise accents, ornate tooled leather and dangling fringe. Leather is the material that most people associate with the old west; many of the unique western handbags made from leather in many cases feature a carved or tooled theme with a bias to western scenes. As well as tanned leather, western purses also are made from real hides and pelts complete with hair. To bring a dash of color to the purse many introduce fabrics which feature the colors associated with the desert southwest; blues, oranges and deep reds are favorites.
To help maintain the western theme many western purses employ silver accessories which can be as diverse as grommets to miniature spurs. Although natural leather comes in many shades of brown, it can easily be died to accent certain decorative elements. As many leather handbags are tooled, dying the hand tool writing or other accents is easily accomplished. More as a gimmick than anything, western handbags are available in the shape of animals associated with the west; armadillos and horses are favorites. These types of handbags can be made in just about any shape; saddles, boots, cacti etc are quite common.
Animal hides that retain the hair is also used. Cow hide, horse hide and deer are by far the favorites; they are used very effectively to create a western handbag which is uniquely different from any other type. Handbags that are made from hair on hide material are not necessarily made using the hide of one animal only; there are many handbags that use a combination of different hides to create a unique piece. The same is true when using tanned leather and hair on hide, manufacturers can produce a handbag that uses cowhide for the bag and tanned leather for the strap and other features.
Just as in the manufacture of cowboy boots, western handbags can be made from the skins of other species including snake and armadillo. The skins from these species have very unusual and unique patterns and features; they can be dyed as other more common leathers or left in their natural state.
Desert colors are beautiful, the manufacturers of western handbags and other western attire use these colors to their advantage. Bright turquoise, brilliant reds and golden browns are used very effectively. The linings of these beautiful purses are often western style fabrics.
