Anne Look and Juli Garton have been catering to the whims of women who want a handbag that really shows their personality. The two Waukesha County residents make purses from vintage album covers, which run the gamut from ’60s rock icons to Broadway musicals. "Anne has been making custom art pieces for years including jewelry and purses from cigar boxes and newspapers," says Garton. "A friend approached Anne last year and asked if she could make her a purse out of the Eagles’ ‘Hotel California’ album cover."

With some assistance from Garton’s husband, a fine furniture maker, Look came up with the prototype for the handbag. "We were in product development for about four months and Hotel California rolled out in October, 2006," Garton says.

It’s a true cottage industry. "We split the work between both of our kitchens and basements, as well as Jim’s fine furniture studio," says Look. Both women have careers in other fields, but if the purse business continues to grow, they may need to expand. "Currently, we don’t have a shop on land or in cyberspace, but photographs of many of the bags are available on a blogspot on the Internet (www.carrythelook.blogspot.com)," Garton explains.

The bags have a standard size, usually 8 x 10 inches or 12 x 12 inches and cost about $109. They take about three weeks to make. However, they can be customized to meet a variety of needs. "Each bag has a key fob, a cell phone pocket and a carrying strap," Look says. "We have had people ask us to customize a bag to hold a variety of objects. We’re working on one now for a lava lamp salesperson who wants to be able to carry a lamp in the bag."

The options are as varied as the album covers you can find. "We try to do whatever the customer wants. If we can’t find something, we search for it," Garton says. "These handbags make great, personal gifts because people usually have an emotional attachment to the artist or the album. They reflect experiences that are central to our lives." For more information or to order a bag, contact Carrythelook@gmail.com.