This Singaporean turned a heritage shophouse in Penang into a museum of rare vintage bags

Sitting across from me at tea, Tina Lim pulls out a bag entirely made of feathers. “I use this very, very rarely, because she is very delicate,” Lim quipped. The vintage Japanese creation was made in the 1950s and is just one out of the many in her vast collection. 

In fact, so extensive is her collection that Lim went on to open a museum in George Town, Penang, where she now houses and showcases her treasure trove of rare, intricately crafted handbags dating all the way from the 1930s to 1990s. Titled The Private Collection of Vintage Bags, the museum bills itself as the “the largest showing of vintage bags in the world”. 

The museum is more than just a static display of bags – it is designed to evoke emotion and curiosity. Every bag, whether whimsical or ornate, reflects a distinct moment in fashion and design history. Lim calls the space a “haven for our guests”. “It is a place of beauty, a time capsule of design through handbags, and a happy place on earth,” she described. 

FROM CHILDHOOD FASCINATION TO LIFELONG PASSION

Lim’s love for handbags stems from her childhood. “I blame my mother and my grandmother,” she said with a laugh. Growing up, Lim remembers both women always being dressed immaculately, putting care and effort into their appearance. She described her grandmother as “old-school Shanghainese,” recalling that she had a dressing room complete with a Louis Vuitton vanity trunk and a pouf. “There were always two bags sitting there. They were both exotics – one was Gucci and one was Hermes. Whenever I got the chance to help Popo get dressed, I would always admire the two bags,” Lim reminisced fondly.

Her mother, on the other hand, was always dressed in a cheongsam, paired with the right jewellery, and “never travelled light,” shared Lim. “When I was a little girl, I used to help my mum get dressed for dinners and parties, which were sometimes hosted at our house. She would let me clean her bags and that would be the highlight of my evening.”

When Lim turned 16, her mother gifted her one of her own handbags – a Michelle Drew pillbox bag. Although the bag didn’t last through the decades, it was a meaningful gift that Lim cherished while she had it. “I still have pictures of my mother carrying the bag,” she said. 

A trip to New York in the 1990s further solidified Lim’s love for bags. Drawn into a cluster of vintage shops, she paused outside one store where sunlight streamed through a window. “I stopped because the light was sparkling on something, and when I looked closer, I realised they were lucite handbags,” she said. “At the time, I didn’t even know what they were made of, but they were beautiful.”

Lucite handbags are vintage-style purses made from a type of acrylic plastic. They became especially popular in the 1940s to 1960s, known for their boxy, sculptural shapes and glossy finish. 

Over the course of her corporate career, Lim worked with several luxury brands, including Dior, Donna Karan, and Giorgio Armani. She now runs her own fashion label, Strangebutcool, known for its distinctive aesthetic with bold, expressive prints. 

“When I left the fashion industry, I asked myself: I’ve got just about every bag from every label out there – there has got to be something more interesting. That’s when I started carrying vintage bags. From then on, I never stopped,” she said.

FROM PRIVATE ARCHIVE TO PUBLIC MUSEUM

Housed in a 130-year-old heritage shophouse in George Town alongside Strangebutcool’s fashion atelier, The Private Collection of Vintage Bags showcases over 350 vintage bags, displayed across two floors. A total of 92 labels are on show, from big names such as Chanel, Dior and Gucci to less common ones such as Majestic, Dorset Rex, Evans, Whiting & Davis and Timmy Woods. “Many of the brands that we showcase no longer exist, meaning they are collectors’ pieces,” said Lim. 

Although the museum opened in 2024, its roots stretch back to the mid-2000s. Back then, Lim used to run a private gallery in her home in Singapore, selling vintage bags personally sourced from her own collection. The gallery operated less like a retail store and more like a discreet salon. “We opened only a few times a month and visitors had to be personally invited,” said Lim. But clients were not just purchasing handbags, they were engaging with stories of design, craftsmanship, and eras that many of the brands represented that have since passed into history.

“The ladies that came to shop would ask, how do you part with these bags? Why don’t you start a museum?” Lim recalled. 

The question lingered in her mind, but it was only later when the idea fully crystallised. One day, while getting ready to go out for dinner, her husband asked, “Have you picked out your handbag? Hurry up, we’re going to be late!”

“So I walked into my closet to get my bag, and as I opened the door to walk in, I just went, wow, there are so many bags here. It has gotten out of hand! But it’s also a business waiting to happen,” said Lim. 

The Private Collection of Vintage Bags first opened in Bali, where Strangebutcool’s production operations are based. However, the museum was closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, before reopening in Penang in 2024. Lim currently travels frequently between Bali and Penang. 

A JOURNEY THROUGH FASHION HISTORY

In its current iteration, the Penang museum is designed to be more educational, with QR codes accompanying each exhibit to provide visitors with deeper insights into the history, craftsmanship, and cultural significance of the bags on display. Tickets to enter The Private Collection of Vintage Bags are priced at RM100 each (US$25.15; S$32.10). 

Stepping into the space, visitors first enter the opening gallery – The Room of Hands. Here, predominantly black bags are displayed on hooks shaped like hands, punctuated by the occasional pop of red. 

One highlight is a structured, boxy handbag made of lucite, featuring a grid-like exterior of shiny gold-tone metal bars forming rectangular panels. The bag is by Majestic, a brand founded by Nathan Kasdan, a highly skilled metalsmith born in Russia in 1889 who later emigrated to the US in the 1990s.

“The whole concept of the private collection is akin to walking into someone’s wardrobe. It just happens to be a very big house, with a collection of beautiful bags put together,” said Lim of the entire journey. 

Many of the bags on display reflect Lim’s own style and personality – they are eclectic, playful, and at times whimsical. On the second floor, in the Bohemian Room, this sensibility becomes even more pronounced, with the bags growing bolder in both colour and form. 

Some bags also carry personal meaning for Lim. On a wall dedicated to famed handbag designer Enid Collins, known for her whimsical, hand-decorated designs, a wooden bag featuring an owl and a cat holds special significance. It brings back fond memories for Lim, as her husband proposed to her on the very day she purchased it.

Other special pieces include a Timmy Woods bag shaped like a Christmas Tree, carved from acacia wood. Timmy Woods is well-known for its one-of-kind, hand-carved wooden handbags in playful, sculptural forms. The brand was also made famous in the 2000s when Carrie Bradshaw carried her iconic Eiffel Tower bag in an episode of the popular series Sex & The City. 

The Dallas phone bag comes with an unusual story. As its name suggests, the 1970s bag is designed to resemble a telephone. “She was purchased in mint condition and she stayed that way for a long period of time, until one day I had to make a phone call, and for some reason, my phone landline didn’t work. I recalled that I had a bag that’s actually a telephone, so I broke the seal, plugged the cord into a landline, pushed the buttons…and it actually worked!’ Lim shared, chuckling at the memory. 

One of Lim’s dream bags to acquire is an Evans watch-on-a-bag piece dating back to the 1950s. The striking gold-toned clutch doubles as a functional timepiece. The watch face acts as a decorative focal point and a practical element, blending jewellery and accessory into one object. The inside of the bag functions as a vanity case, complete with a mirror. 

So taken was Lim with the bag that when it came up for auction a couple of years ago, she called her eldest son to acquire it for her as she didn’t have the time. “He asked me what my threshold was. I said, no threshold. He said okay, since there’s no limit, you got it.”

MORE THAN JUST A BAG

The visit to The Private Collection of Vintage Bags culminates in a stop at the boutique, where a curated selection of handbags is available for purchase. When asked about her advice for buying a vintage bag, Lim said, “It has to call to you. You have to feel it because the bag has already lived a life. But if you don’t buy it, it might disappear – it could be the only one like it out there. Every vintage bag deserves to go to the right woman who will truly enjoy it.”

And if Lim could describe the museum in three words, they would be, “stunning, emotive, and happy.” She hopes the space can inspire future generations of vintage fashion lovers and collectors.

“Look at the beauty of what we had before. Nowadays, we’re so used to throwing everything into one bag and taking it with us. But in the past, women had many bags, each for a different occasion – there were evening bags, day bags, summer bags, and bags for different seasons,” she reflected. 

Comparing the museum experience to a place of joy and wonder, Lim said simply, “It’s like going to Disneyland. It’s very much a happy place. I want women to come here and know this is part of fashion. It lets you immerse yourself in the visual world and overwhelming abundance of handbags, and walk away having spent a truly wonderful time.”

For Lim, the collection is more than just handbags – it’s a celebration of history, beauty, and the joy of discovering little treasures, each with their own stories to tell.