Article: High fashion is in the bag: A designer handbag is a status symbol, and bigger is better this season--including some equally elevated price tags.

Byline: Sandra Jones

Sep. 24--Handbags are big this fall. Really big. The cult of the handbag has reached new heights, literally. The hottest handbags are close to 2 feet tall and wider than a doorway--power bags large enough to hold a small bureau and topple a passerby with one swing of the shoulder. And the price tags are just as hefty, at $1,500 and up.

Chalk it up to the celebrity culture, women's rising economic clout and one undeniable, intoxicating fact: You don't have to be model thin to wear one. Observers of fashion and culture say It Bags are to women what sports cars are to men, a competitive status symbol that knows no rational limits. In a ...

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