MCT A duct-tape purse by Miranda Marks.

By Mark Rahner
The Seattle Times

SEATTLE - If MacGyver were to become a transvestite, Miranda Marks would have the most perfect purse imaginable for him to carry. She makes them from duct tape.

On Sundays, Marks, 26, can be found in her booth at the Fremont Market in Seattle surrounded by the impressively constructed, multicolored duct-tape purses, which she sells as a living. They're guaranteed conversation-starters, whether you socialize with bikers or NASA engineers. (Remember its role in saving Apollo 13?) The purses started our conversation with the Evergreen State College graduate, who has no Web site for her wares but can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Q: My guess: You decided that Homeland Security's advice was absurd, and you had to do something with all the duct tape you bought.

A: I've always been interested in the material, and I guess where it came about is, I was the fourth of five kids, so growing up in that environment I never had any new art materials to work with. For years after that, the dream was to take an idea and use a material that wasn't necessarily intended and make it stronger and better.

Q: That's called overcoming "functional fixedness." And each one of your purses is like a duct tape snowflake: unique. Why?

A: Besides not to get bored and to make each one an original? I wanted to create a line that had some form and some standardization but yet have every person find something special for themselves that they thought they would never find anything like it anywhere else.

Q: The fact that it doesn't just come in silver anymore must open up the fashion possibilities infinitely.

A: For sure! I make a base for each of the bags in silver and then there's an inside color and an outside color.

Q: How long does it take to make one and how much tape does it take?

A: Production time is actually quite high. The bags range from an hour to a couple of hours. Each one probably has one to three rolls of tape, 20 to 60 yards of tape.

Q: They must be indestructible.

A: Yeah, and waterproof, too.

Q: What do they cost?

A: Twenty-two to $65. I have eight different styles of purses that I carry in my ongoing collection. And then I also carry wallets and notebook covers and bow ties. Those are a lot of fun.

Q: How would you accessorize with a duct tape purse? Tin-foil pumps?

A: (Laughs) Actually, some of the bags in the browns and the blues and the grays are quite classy and are mistaken for alligator skin, leather, and some look like vinyl. So the styles range from really funky to really classy.

© 2007, The Seattle Times.