Observations: An accessory to die for

The mind boggles at the discussions which must have accompanied the naming of Dior's new bag, the Karenina.

John Galliano's admittedly very gorgeous handbag is, apparently, inspired by "high society Russia in Tolstoy's time". But is naming a luxury item (at a mere recommended £1,250) after a suicidal tragic heroine a good idea? In fact, Anna Karenina's handbag ranks alongside Lady Bracknell's as one of the most notorious in world literature. A small red velvet affair, it hampers Anna's first suicide attempt as she fumbles dropping it before throwing herself under the train. Then, resolved, she flings it decisively onto the railway tracks in a horror-filled precursor to the final tragedy. "And exactly at the moment when the space between the wheels came opposite her, she dropped the red bag, and drawing her head back into her shoulders, fell on her hands under the carriage, and lightly, as though she would rise again at once, dropped on to her knees..." Perhaps she would have thought twice if it had been a Dior.