by Sarah Conley of Rascal Honey

Although it’s easy to think that the fashion capitals of the world are the center of the style universe, it’s important to remember that style exists everywhere. One such unexpected place is the ESSE Purse Museum in the SOMA neighborhood in Little Rock, Arkansas. ESSE is only one of three handbag museums in the world, the only one in North America, and the only independently owned museum.

The collection, focusing on the 20th century, is divided into vignettes by decade. Each decade not only includes popular handbag silhouettes and designers of the time, but also the contents that might have been included in handbags during that period.

READ MORE to find out more about the ESSE Purse Museum.