BAGS OF PRICE

Evening Post, Volume XCVII, Issue 127, 31 May 1919, Page 10

BAGS OF PRICE

LONDON DANCE MYSTERY

WEALTHY WOMAN'S TASTJS.

A platinum and gold handbag, \vhic!| with its contents, was valued at over £1000, was lost in mysterious circuni stances !at-a dance in London. . 1' Tlie dance was of a very exclusivf. character, oniy about 20 guests, being present. Some were titled people. '.1 was held at a bousi: of a wealthy' Amer! can, and one of the guests was Mr| Beatty, a well-known American societj woman,' who livos in Green-street, ParlS. lane, London. ! She had worn the bag all tho evonim. slung from her wrist, both while dancin ■ and at supper, and it was not till she w preparing to leave that she put down ti ba-g.'for one moment. She went to an a< : joining room for her wraps, and when si: : returned it had disappeared. t Search was made,' but no trace of til,' bag could be found. All the guests wei : known to each other, and there were'r •'. strangers in the house at the time beyon some servants sent by a firm of catei'fii ; who supplied the suppor, and a "Jazz band'hired from a woll-known danciii '• club. '

The. bag, which is possibly the only on of its kind, is made of alternate square; threequarters of an inch wide of got and platinum chain mesh, each square se with a diamond in the centre and one i each corner, the whole mounted on a goj frame. It contained a gold cigarette cas ornamented with jade and onyx, and gold matchbox.

The police tried, hut without succes .to discover the £1000 handbag whic :Mr». Keatty lost. Handbags at a, thousand-pounds eac are rare purchases, even among niillioi aires, but a Daily Chronicle represent tivo who made inquiries was infojme that there is a wide demand ". amon women for costly, luxurious dressin cases, while the more uncommon varietic of stones iwo extremely popuja "We have no difficulty in quickly sel ing dressing cases up to £250 each," tl: manager of the dressing case departmei of a Bondrstreet establishment said, "ai: there art« always purchasers for fitte cases which run close to £1000." One of these cases was priced at.£92l The case was in ' chestnut crocodi leather, with gold-mounted and tortoisi shell fittings. "ALL THE RAGE." ' ; "Tortoiseshell is the rage," the mai agcr went on; "it is almost as expemsiv as gold.'1 Another case was marked i £425, while a set of "cheap"" tortoisi chel! could be bought for £97108. 'To toiseshell umbrellas at £34, and exquisii dressing-table sets of the same materi; at £341) or £350 have a quick sale amon rich women, but small fitted'bags K. mon, at close on £200, are also largof bought. ■ I

Tho great craze among society wojn;.l to-day is for jade, and at a Bo'hd-striM shop dealing in Chinese j.ide tho Chronic' was informed that £1500 is readily pa-i for a jade necklace. A small jade .pel dant costs anything up to £300. "Agate and amethyst are popular, ssid an assistant, "but tourmaline, < I'ink.jade as it is often wrongly, calle: is going to be the most fashionab jewel." . ■ '■

Another costly fad of wealthy wonie m tie bead bag mounted in. old ivory < immense worth. Japanose designs in tl ■ tiL-ad work will be most fashionable,,an to attain to the very heights of chic c; 'clusiveness one must havo some-quail ivory, figure from Japan mounted, on' tl: ittuidlc.. -The price.,of,such.figures may 1: anything'from £5t&"5500,/according t tlie intrinsic and historic value of tl ivory. ' .