Detour: The Good, the Bag and the Ugly

You may think the humble bag is simply a device for holding necessities and unmentionables about your person, but a bag says a lot about who you are: clutch versus strap; designer or almost-undetectable knockoff, or whether it matches your shoes...etc!

If you don't know your chatelaine from your reticule or your inrō from your pōhā, we think it's time you joined us on this tour-with-a-difference as we pick apart the history, hysteria and hidden stories behind the bags in the exhibition.

The bags themselves are a visual feast, but we've dug deeper and fallen down rabbit-holes to bring you the bigger picture of the life and times of these popular accessories. We guarantee that the De-tour stories start with bags, but who knows where we may end up?

De-tours are thirsty work and so they will conclude with a Devonshire tea at our 1929 cafe.