Handbags and Gladrags

Here’s something I don’t understand about the nouveau riche “ladies who lunch” in the upper echelon of society.  You know, the women who are buffed to a high sheen from weekly manicures and facials and plan their schedules around committee meetings about fundraisers and the like?  Why are they so often described as a “socialite and handbag designer” by reporters?  Does the world need thousands of people to draw blueprints for purses?  …