Monica Unloads Baggage

Monica Lewinsky was at Henri Bendel in New York City to promote her new line of handbags, Made Especially For You By Monica.

Friends and family were there to show their support, while the press was rotated in small groups and allotted ten frantic minutes to capture her image on film.

Customers interested in her bags, however, were asked not to take pictures and were not given autographs; unless, of course, they brought a copy of her book or purchased one of her bags. She generally signed the small gift cards attached to the bags, "Thanks! Monica."

Curious consumers stood in line for an opportunity to spend from $135 to $218 on the upholstery bags and to small talk with the icon of American interns. Keeping with her politically conscious biography, the bags are made in the USA and a portion of the profits will be donated to Monica's favorite charities.

She began making the bags as a diversion from her knitting in her sequestration during the over-publicized presidential scandal. The bags are sold exclusively at Henri Bendel, but can also be bought through her Web site, therealmonica.com .