It's the latest slimming trick: the bigger the bag, the thinner you look!

Giant shoulder pads. Big hair. A broad-shouldered, tall husband. Boyfriend jackets.
Women will do almost anything to look thinner than they are - and the latest trompe l'oeil is carrying a giant tote the size of a small hippo.
Victoria Beckham is Queen Bee when it comes to this particular optical illusion, and she's invariably seen out and about looking tiny behind her Titanic tote.

Women will do almost anything to look thinner than they are - and the latest trend is carrying a giant tote

These monster bags can be frustrating - finding something inside one can require you to disappear inside it for large amounts of time - and  they're heavy.
Not only are we struggling to stay upright on mega heels, we're lugging bags that weigh as much as a toddler fed from birth on KFC, causing us to be lopsided and in occasional pain.

 

I have just placed my big orange leather Prada tote on the scales - it contains my laptop, wallet, make-up, flip-flops, two  phones, keys and a paperback - and it weighs a whopping three stone!
Like its fashionable predecessor, the designer rucksack, which is making a comeback, the super-shopper causes casualties in the aisles of aeroplanes.

Victoria Beckham is Queen Bee when it comes to this illusion, she's seen looking tiny behind her Titanic tote

It takes up so much room in the car that your children have to walk to school and requires its own seat in the cinema.
But who cares, as long as our bag makes us look thin?
Keen to perpetuate the trend, everyone from Victoria Beckham to Givenchy, Jil Sander to Marc Jacobs and Zara are supersizing their bags.

Victoria is embracing the tote rather than putting it over her shoulder: Is this to make her thighs look thinner?

Victoria Beckham's biggest tote is her black-and-tan shopper.
She was spotted out and about with it in London last week: the bag has a price tag of £1,995 and is plenty big enough to contain all your possessions when your home is repossessed and you officially become a bag lady.
Note that Victoria is embracing the tote rather than putting it over her shoulder.
Is this to show the bag how much she loves it? Or to make her thighs look thinner?