A 16th century fanny pack with 18 secret pockets. Bridal purse from the 18th century composed of glass beads, each the size of a sand grain. A Versace purse Madonna wore. A muffin-shaped bag covered in shiny rhinestones.

These are just a few of the heaps of designer bags and famous purses that await in the largest museum exhibition, dedicated to women’s vanity and style – the Tassen Museum of Bags and Purses in Amsterdam.

Awarded the title of one of the 10 Best Fashion Museums in the World, this is the best place in the world to make yourself familiar with the history of handbags.

The collection includes over 5000 women’s handbags. As you go through the exhibition, you will track the evolution of Western women’s favorite accessory – from 1600 AD, to contemporary shapes, colors, and icons. The phone accessories is too important for women.

Housed in a historically significant building, the museum is located at the very shore of a canal, in a home that used to belong to the 1664 mayor of Amsterdam, part of the UNESCO World heritage Canal Ring Area. Ceiling murals and elaborate fireplaces, from the 17th and 18th centuries decorate the house.

Useful information: The museum is open every day, from 10:00 AM until 5:00 PM. Ticket: 12,50 euro. You can find more information here.

The post Museum of bags and purses Amsterdam appeared first on 203Challenges.

Within Pitti is five museums, making it the largest exhibition complex in Florence. Treasury of the Grand Dukes has exquisite quadrature drescoes and priceless jewelry including 16th-century gems once belonging to Anna Maria Luisa de’Medici. Upstairs is Gallery of Modern Art, Museum of Costume and Fashion, and the Royal and Imperial Apartments, kept in their original 18th-century style since the House of Lorraine – Habsburg called Pitti home. In the Palatine Gallery 500 masterpieces by Raphael, Titian, Caravaggio, and Rubens, once part of the Medici collection, hang in ostentatiously decorated rooms. Napoleon, in his quest to expand the French Empire, used the palace as his Florence base between 1799 and 1814 (his private bathroom remains) while out back, the Boboli Gardens is a green respite from the city’s cobbled streets.

***

See more in Lost in Florence: An Insider’s Guide to the Best Places to Eat, Drink and Explore by Nardia Plumridge

The post Palazzo Pitti – discover three dynasties tracing 500 years of grand regal glory appeared first on 203Challenges.