Get the Susan B. Anthony Look With This $250 Replica Handbag

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Women's rights leader Susan B. Anthony has been called a lot of things—suffragette, civil rights advocate, activist—but she isn't really talked about as a historical fashion icon. Well, maybe that's all about to change. The New York Times reports that the Susan B. Anthony House museum has been selling a replica of one of her handbags—and it's turned into something of a hit. Eric Wilson writes:

Since December, the Susan B. Anthony House, a museum that operates in her former residence in Rochester, has been selling a $250 handbag made of fake alligator that was inspired by one of Ms. Anthony’s own club bags, similar to a doctor’s bag.

Deborah L. Hughes, the museum’s executive director, said it has sold 526 of the bags, and expects demand to increase in anticipation of Mother’s Day. The actor Alec Baldwin recently bought one at a local charity auction for $5,000. Senator Kay Hagan, Democrat of North Carolina, has also ordered one, according to Ms. Hughes, so you could even say the bag has a celebrity following.

The bag, designed by Gail Riggs of the Abigail Riggs Collection, is modeled after a handbag wherein Anthony would carry her speeches and other paperwork.
· On her arm, a symbol of freedom [NYT]