The ESSE Purse Museum & Store is opening a new temporary exhibit today. Entitled “The Milliner’s Art” it runs through Sunday, June 8.  Though the ESSE Purse Museum & Store mainly focuses on purses/handbags/clutches/etc., this exhibit looks at another fashion accessory which also tells the story of the changing roles and tastes of women through the years.

The exhibit features vintage hats (circa 1910-1960) from the collections of Anita Davis and Catherine Nugent.  Admission to the exhibit is $10, $8 seniors and students.

ESSE Purse Museum & Store is located at 1510 South Main.  It is the culmination of owner Anita Davis’ dream of sharing her love of purses, art and history — while honoring women and their struggles, accomplishments, hopes and dreams.

More than just a fashion history, ESSE shows the evolution of the 20th-century American woman — decade by decade — not only through the bags she carried but through their contents. More than a trip down memory lane or history lesson, ESSE Purse Museum is a don’t-miss experience.

ESSE grew out of a traveling exhibit selected from Davis’ extensive collection. From 2006 to 2011, “The Purse & the Person: A Century of Women’s Purses” (curated by Curatrix Group and managed by Smith Kramer Fine Art Services) traveled the country.  Now Davis has brought her handbags back to Little Rock for good and given them a home worthy of the part they have played in women’s lives and history. ESSE is housed in a historic building in SoMa, an up-and-coming, hip neighborhood in downtown Little Rock.