08/31/2026
🐈 Vintage Judith Leiber sleeping cat minaudière 🐈⬛
Judith Leiber’s trademark crystal minaudières were born out of practical improvisation in 1967 when an order of cast-brass evening bag shells arrived disastrously flawed.
Leiber could not afford to discard the expensive inventory, so she devised a camouflage technique: she took Swarovski crystals and began hand-gluing them directly over the tarnished patches. Seeing how dramatically the crystals elevated the bag’s appearance, she decided to pave the entire brass shell in pavé rhinestones.
She introduced this creation as the ‘Chatelaine Clutch’, which sold out almost immediately and became an overnight sensation.
Mamie Eisenhower started a tradition in 1953, when Judith was commissioned to design a minaudière clutch for the presidential inauguration.
In 1981, Nancy Regan commissioned her own; and after that, every First Lady carried a Judith Leiber clutch to their inaugurations until 2005!
You can see the First Lady collection at the Smithsonian.
✨nfs
