Hasn't it been one of the big mysteries of humankind (especially for men) what ladies' handbags contain? Well, some of us are willing to lift the veil of myth surrounding our most beloved and important accessory (for some of us, handbags and shoes are on the same level there, while others couldn't care less), and I am one of them :-)
The handbag I currently use most days (but not every day) is the one I first showed you in my Fashion Calendar: September post. Its colours go so well with much of my autumn wardrobe, but the fabric is thin and "summery", so I guess I won't use this handbag for much longer this year.
As you can see, I carry all the obvious things around such as a few business cards (you never know), tissues, my keys, a pen (usually one of the freebies I get from hotels, banks etc. or at various events I attend), my wallet, phone, kindle (only when I know I'll be travelling or have to spend time waiting at a doctor's), and the tiny extra bag that came with the handbag is very useful to hold hand cream and lip balm.
Depending on where I go, what the weather is like and for how long I'll be out, I also carry my camera and a small bottle of water. This handbag is obviously too small to fit that in, but of course it is not my only one :-)
Occasionally, when transferring the contents from one handbag into another (to either match my outfit or the day's requirements better), I have forgotten to take out the small hand cream and lip balm. Therefore, in two or three of my handbags, there already are cream and balm in a smaller compartment of the bag. I find the creams you sometimes get for free testers very useful, and they last surprisingly long.
So, with some of my secrets revealed, what are yours?
Most of the time, I use a large leather shopper. Otherwise I go without a bag as I lose them. I have emits out the shopping bag, and here's what I found:
ReplyDeletePurse.
Lots of tissues.
My passport. We have searched the house for this, and more or less given up, so you've done me a huge favour!
Some of those cotton wool things to weave between your toes while the polish dries.
Glasses.
Two one pound book tokens in a rather bad state.
A pair of socks ( don't ask).
A bag of Fruit Wrigges (with grandchild connections. Must return to child.
A small paper bag containing bright green gift tags (??)
Two pens.
Sundry receipts.
There. I have been totally honest. Do I get a prize?
Ps for "emits" please read "emptied". The iPad has its own ideas about spelling!
DeleteYou do, Frances, for honesty as well as for First Comment on the post :-)
DeleteWould you rather have bright orange gift tags (to complement the green ones) or a bottle of nail varnish (to complement the pair of socks and the cotton wedge thingy to be put between your toes)?
Glad you found your passport! Actually, my handbag would have been one of the first places for me to look for it... but I am sure you have thought that yourself since :-)
Die Tasche ist ja toll!
ReplyDeleteMit eBooks hab' ich's auch mal versucht, ist auch viel platzsparender aber irgendwie komm' ich nur mit normalen Büchern zurecht (:
Danke :-) Und die gibt's nur ein einziges Mal auf der Welt, handgenähtes Einzelstück! Kürzlich hat meine Hautärztin die auch bewundert :-)
DeleteNot too different from yours... I often shift between at least two different handbags and I too have one smaller toilet bag which I can easily move between bags - in my case containing certain pills and inhalors needed because of allergies and other chronic problems. In each handbag "currently" in use I usually keep paper tissues, a comb, lip balm, pen, a few loose coins (for shopping carts, public toilets etc). So that all I have to move between them is wallet, toilet case, and mobile phone (the phone sometimes in a pocket instead of in the bag). The camera I usually carry separately (it has its own small bag with shoulder strap).
ReplyDeleteWhen I do not also carry a water bottle, usually my camera is the heaviest object I lug around with me - and sometimes I leave it at home exactly for that reason. It has its own small bag, but no shoulder strap, and I guess even if it had one, I wouldn't wear it anyway; I try to have just one piece of "luggage" (= my handbag) with me, because I hate carrying a lot around; I also hate having to carry a brollie but for obvious reasons I often need one. For shopping carts, I always have two chips in my wallet, one made of plastic and the other one of metal (one would of course be enough, but what if I break or lose that one?). A smaller bag for toiletries that you can transfer between handbags is very useful indeed!
DeleteI may unique among my sisterhood as I really don't like handbags at all and would rather stuff my pockets, but as I can't always do that I do carry the bare minimum of clutter with me. I have a small woven leather purse I've carried for years and when it goes I hope so will I. I only take my wallet and a couple of tissues and my keys when I venture out (as seldom as possible; I am a recluse at heart). I have the ubiguitous tote for those rare occasions when I expect to be away more than a day. And mysteriously I have a shelf of old, some over 50 years, purses I can't bring myself to part with.
ReplyDeleteJill!!! I missed you, and am truly happy to see your comment here tonight! Oh, those purses of yours sound wonderful - I am convinced you have some true style treasures on that shelf. You sound very sensible; someone who carries the bare minimum of clutter with them is a woman after my own heart!
DeleteI've been quite busy this last month selling our home of eighteen years, packing up a life-time of possessions, some dear to my heart and some that should go as once to the donation bins, and moving two states away from California to New Mexico. I feel like Alice as she stepped through the looking glass into another world; a new life in new surroundings. All very exhausting and extremely exhilarating at the same time.
DeleteOf course, something as big as that certainly keeps one busy - all the best for you and the new chapter in your life!
DeleteI really have the same things in my handbag too, except I always have to have my inhaler for my asthma. My phone is always in its little crochet case that I made and there are always little notes that I write during the day to myself for my blogging ideas! Oh, and I don't have a Kindle!
ReplyDeleteAlso, for many years, I called my handbag a "pocketbook", but I notice that this expression is not used any more, so I have stopped saying it. Hey, I am TRYING to move with the times! :-)
Well, if you were talking to me about a pocketbook, I'd have a mental image of a book, not of a bag, that's for sure :-)
DeleteWhen I make notes during the day to myself for blogging ideas (mostly, I note the page and a clue word to remind me of something to use in a book review), that is almost always done on the "notepad" feature of my mobile phone, something I find really useful.
Let's see, what's in my handbag? My wallet (which is actually a purse within a purse) containing coins and a small amt. of currency, a metal card case with my driver's license and credit cards, a sheaf of plastic discount cards for various point systems and rewards at various stores (some are really useful and get me an on-the-spot discount on purchases, others only occasionally), my check book & a pen, car keys, extra reading glasses, a tube of lipstick, and a couple of clean tissues. Also various receipts from purchases, a bunch of coupons of varying ages (some probably expired), and sometimes, my small digital camera. Oh yes -- and my cell (mobile) phone. A good friend also gave me a little umbrella to carry in my purse, but I hardly ever do -- it may be small, but it weighs a ton, and it's easier to just dodge the raindrops!
ReplyDeleteAre checks still in use where you live? It's been years since I last saw a check, nobody I know uses them anymore; people just pay with their cards nowadays, and of course still in cash when they buy something at, say, the bakery.
DeleteI don't even like to carry my little umbrella around even though it doesn't weigh much - a bit of rain is OK, my hairdo can't be ruined, and my glasses can be wiped off :-)
You're right, very few places take checks any more, and the only ones I write are when I am out shopping at Costco. There, you need cash, check, or American Express. And since I can never figure out how much I'm going to have to spend, I can't carry cash, and I don't have an American Express card, only Visa. So checks it is. But that's just about the only place. I use a credit card nearly everywhere else.
DeleteI know the answer to this because just the other day I checked to see if I had enough pens, I always keep a sketch book on the side door of the car, but the pens have to be a certain kind. Black, and waterproof. I found about six at least in my purse. Two different kinds of antacids! Three lipsticks. Lots of dollar bills and fives in case I find a good farmer's market. A hankie from mom.
ReplyDeletexx
julie
Do the pens you found all still work? Love the idea of you carrying around a hankie from your Mom, and I am not surprised to hear you always keep a sketch book in your car. Do you use it often?
DeleteThat is a really pretty bag. I am quite bad at clearing out my bags when I stop using them (I'm quite fickle) and then when I suddenly decide to use them again I find all kinds of interesting stuff... also sometimes money :) and leaflets of things that interested me a few months ago. Sometimes they even re-kindle an interest.
DeleteHello Jenny, thank you! Your method of surprising yourself (by finding money or rekindling an interest) sounds like fun :-)
DeleteOddly I commented on Monica's (Dawn Treader) blog this morning that generally speaking handbags for men are not fashionable in the UK or New Zealand. It's a shame because I would probably carry a handbag everywhere: a discrete one you understand like the one I use when travelling by plane so that I have things to hand and don't have to get things out of the overhead locker. Life was more simple when I wore suits and jackets with lots of pockets but now I don't wear clothes with decent pockets apart from my trousers. As I will explain in a blogpost soon, they are not always a good idea.
ReplyDeleteMost of what I wear is either without pockets anyway or they are too small to put anything more than a tissue inside them, so a handbag is the only practical way to have things such as wallet, keys and mobile phone at hand when I'm not at home.
DeleteHere in Germany, younger men often carry what is known as a messenger bag; the backpack / rucksack has not lost its appeal over the decades, either. Of course, many also have a laptop/notebook bag with them which usually double-functions as some kind of handbag.
Jo's handbags are ten times bigger and somehow manage to contain half a room's worth of things. Unfortunately they never contain the one thing I need at any one moment - i.e. 'Have you got a nailfile?' 'No!' She also has great difficulty finsing anything - keys, for example, can disappear for days in them.
ReplyDeleteI'd be too annoyed with myself for not finding things quickly enough, plus I don't like to be weighed down too much when I am walking, therefore, smaller handbags with just those things in them I consider essential for myself will do :-)
DeleteIn my experience it's mobile phones that get lost in them. As soon as they ring they disappear never to be discovered until the caller has long since given up.
DeleteI should add that that seems to happen to people I'm with and not to me!
DeleteFor me, it is more a question of not hearing my mobile ring when I am out and about, what with all the traffic and other background noise around in town. But since there is a calls list, it is not really a problem - none of those calls is so urgent that it can not be returned later when I am somewhere quieter.
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