What's in a purse?

Well, the big choice is with purses with sections or big fat bags without sections.

I have this purse history. Started out with wallet, dark glasses, pieces of paper, a magazine, lipstick.

Some long time later, I was damned sick of purses, and tried to get along with thin wallet, indeed very thin, but then needed to change it to whatever I was wearing, all the time.

On a trip once, I had a grand leather purse (on sale, of course) that could carry clothes and books in. Trickily, I had my id, etc. in my hidden pocket. No one grabbed at it.

My fanny pack was attacked on another trip once, but that only had tampax and film in it, and the attack'r was disgusted.

I don't like my present purse, but it's ok. Two pockets on the outside, one on inside, about 10 x 12 inches.

Now I always need to carry my regular trifocles, my dark trifocals, and my cover all cheapo but good dark glasses. The tripping between these takes time and makes me look like a victim - still they all work.

I take my cell if I have the brain to take it off of the charger.
I take a by now old checkbook (for the new bank number) and a lot of health cards (don't get me griping).
I take my wallet, with i.d. and stretched credit cards. There is usually no money in the wallet. Oh, I still spring for triple A, so there is that, and my insurance card.
Asthma inhaler - haven't used it in at least a year, but it can be scary when I get asthma.
Grocery list - it's an ongoing Works page for me. Sometimes I scribble on past lists.
A small hairbrush. It can be wildly windy here, and mostly I don't mind, but sometimes I do.
Sometimes I stuff a book in the purse. I not always but sometimes hate endless waits.
That's it. Lipstick melts here in summer.

I'm going to a 'clothing optional' beach tomorrow. My sister is calling in sick to go with me.
Her husband is surveying Sandy Hook for a new park and he's been checking out this 'clothing optional' beach for a week now and he told us that we HAVE GOT to go - the human interest angle is just too interesting for use to pass up.

I don't think I can go nude (as I now know my brother-in-law will be looking through his surveyor's scope at the beach and that would be a little too weird) but I might because I really, really, really want to go into the warm ocean naked - I don't want to be on the beach naked though.

Anyway - my purse if a green and black sparkly cloth bag. I have in it currently: 1) my wallet 2)glasses carrying case 3)my note pad in case I want to write anything on the spur of the moment
4)my calendar that I took from my dad's desk after he died - it has his name on it - they sent it to him for donating to the veteran's association 4) my contact lense case 5) chap stick 6) lip gloss 7) mascara 8) passport 9) cell phone 10) a mexican day of the dead soccer player that I bought for my friend for a souvenir from San Antonio 11) a beautiful beaded necklace that I bought for my mother to remind her of our trip together to San Antonio. 12) my camera 13) a book 14) numerous pens (black, blue, red- a teacher can never have too many pens) 15) a hair brush

If I go nude to the beach - I'll lock the handbag in the car - but what will I do about my camera? I'll have to figure that out - I will NEED to have my camera - but I know I won't be able to resist going into the ocean....I'll figure it out...

URL: http://able2know.org/reply/post-4186165

She wore an itsy bitsy teeny weeny nothing polka dot nothing, so in the water she wanted to stay!

I think I'll just wear a towel to the edge of the ocean and get in and out before the tide comes in...but what'll I do with my camera?

Still thinking.....

I have a wallet in which I have two tiny zipper coin purses, set up so that when I need a tiny bag, I can take the smaller one out.

I have a cosmetic bag which contains my lipstick and lip pencil, comb, emergency first aid salve, bandages, hand lotion, small tube of arnica, under eye cream.

I generally have a book and sometimes thedailysudoku.com monster puzzle. Pens, pencils, erasers and a small notebook or two. Sometimes a pack of colored "flags," paperclips and those enhanced paper clips I use to mark textbooks.

Considering where I live, I always have one or two folding shopping bags. A folding umbrella on most days. Sometimes a sweater and/or a scarf.

I also carry a "spork" made of recyclable plastic, a couple of Trader Joe's green tea bags, a cloth napkin, a sheathed knife, a citrus fruit peeler.

I have long days.

My pocketbook is an off-white canvas peasant bag with brown leather over the shoulder straps. Inner lining is sm pink flowers, very bohemian.
inside......
knife
notepad
wallet
zipper bag for cash and change
pens
allergy eyedrops
cortaid
small orange bible
hairbrush
cellphone
dig camera
ricola cough drops
hard eyeglass case
ponytail wrap
diving watch
bandana
tipless gloves
carmex (2)
bic lighter
sm mirror
sm breath freshner (rarely to never use)

I can add more if I need to.
I like my pocketbook.

I spent too many years carrying around hefty hefty stuff, like those huge old cameras with enormous zoom and flash on one shoulder and my purse on the other shoulder, as a reporter. Those big shoulder pads (remember?) were a godsend. As a real estate saleswoman I carried a suitcase around (hated, absolutely hated that).

For the past few years now I carry my smallish (10x8) red leather purse on one shoulder and, believe me, when that one gets old the purse will get smaller. But, so, in the purse I carry a hairbrush and lipstick, wallet, pen, glasses. That's it except for the stuff that becomes trash (receipts, etc.). Well, keys in outside zipper thing.

I thought about Judy in Disguise.

I have some old cool purses from thrift shops. I desperately need to catch on to selling on ebay.

Sigh.

so, what do you ladies (and man purse people), think this says about who you are?

we've run the gamut of minimalism to "I could live in the outback for a week with what I've got in this bag"

As I said in my post, really looking at it, and seeing how it fits me, I can really say my purse is in line with my personality.
Simple, and slightly quirky

It's black leather, a little thing, maybe 5" x 4" or so, something like that. Shoulder strap, lots of pockets. Kind of a link on either end which I'll get to in a moment.

Inside one small zip pocket - wallet (with extra house key on the end), tiny thing of dental floss and breath strip holder. Business cards and case (I have more cards than will fit in the case; the remainder are in a thick rubber band). Eyeglass cleaning cloth. Zippered exterior (yes, this pocket has a pocket) contains bus schedules for most of the buses I take: #501, #57, #504, #64 and there might be one for the #65 and the #86). Next to this pocket is the cel phone pocket which holds the cel and its little holster.

Inside (bigger) pocket: makeup kit with small brush/mirror combo, eyeshadow trio, lipstick, tiny concealer stick. Very small umbrella. Photo brag book with pics of the old dog, my folks, the older nephew when he was really small -- I need new pics; the kid'll be 15 this year. Tiny eyeglass repair kit. Little zippered purse within a purse contains gum, the lipstick I really use, a few small binder clips, a teabag and blue sweetener packets). Post it notes. Probably a few stray paper clips are in there.

Other side exterior pocket. Small pad of paper. Two pens. #64 bus schedule (that's a second one, but this one is more readily accessible. I should toss the other copy I have). Might be another eyeglass cleaner in here.

Now, the exterior links are useful. I put caribiners on them. One has a hanging watch/stopwatch attached. The other I remove more often and contains a zebra-striped purselet which contains my trolley pass and the item my company sells. I don't even have to open it in order to use the trolley pass -- you just tap the side. I carry the doohickey because (and this is why I have the paper, the pens, the paper clips, the makeup, the business cards and the bus schedules) I do the outreach marketing. I have to be ready to take out our product and show it off at any time, and it's memorable if it comes out of a zebra-striped container.

I think that's everything. As you can imagine, it is a rather overstuffed little bag.

In the summer I hate carrying purses. Not sure why.

I have a small (~5" X 4" X 2") cotton ikat and embroidered purse (blues, turquoise, greens, some black) with a long cord that my daughter got me for mother's day. The vast majority of the time, that's all I carry. In it is my Blackberry, some cash, credit card, driver's license, pool passes, some folded Kleenex, keys, and depending on what I'm doing maybe some lipstick.

I like it because it rests against my hip so I can tell if my BB goes off (vibrate mode, and I dislike the belts/ clips that most of my deaf friends wear).

My "real" purse that I use most of the winter is smallish, squarish, black leather ( 9" X 6" X 3") with a lot of compartments. It currently has stuff like coupons and store cards (gift cards or loyalty credit cards, like an Old Navy credit card) and pens and spare keys and an emergency inhaler for sozlet (who was having some asthma issues this winter).

Meanwhile, I packed my #2 standby purse for a recent trip and haven't redistributed that stuff yet. (Proof of insurance, spare keys, band-aids, tylenol, motion sickness pills, gum, etc.) That one is a sort of backpack/ messenger bag, super comfortable and easy to forget you're wearing (unless it's hot, it has a wide strap) and great for traveling. I especially like that the strap has a zippered compartment for credit cards, ID, cash et all so it's right there (approximately over your heart) when you're wearing it, both accessible and safe.

It's not the best-looking bag though, black and dark-gray canvas, so I usually switch to my leather purse when I'm trying to look more professional or if I've dressed up at all.

I'm not usually spread between so many purses, I usually have one. But the small embroidered one has been doing great and it's so liberating to have something so small and light.

This is my current black leather bag, which I adore.


It's very large--about 17" x 11.5"--but, because it doesn't have a lot of hardware, it's not overly heavy (when empty )

I like large bags, preferably a soft hobo style, with a single shoulder strap and a top zipper closure. I also like an outside pocket of some kind, to hold my keys. This bag has two small slit pockets on the back that fills the bill on that score.
So, this bag has everything I love. I've been carrying it every day for the past year and a half.

In the outside slit pockets I have my house keys, car keys, and a ring with the little tags I use to get no-clip coupon discounts in the supermarkets and CVS.

The inside of the bag has no center dividers--it's one big sack--that makes it possible to throw things of any size into it. I don't like a bag that's too organized with a lot of compartments or too many pockets--I forget where I put things.

At present, in my bag I have:

A large rectangular wallet with a zippered change pocket. Besides my money, it holds my driver's license, 2 ATM cards, 2 credit cards, and 2 checkbooks.

A card case that holds some credit cards and a bunch of doctor's cards and other business cards.

A bottle of hand sanitizer

3 pairs of glasses, each in a separate case--reading glasses, distance glasses, and Rx sunglasses for distance. I'd rather use separate glasses than bifocals since I don't wear glasses all of the time.

A memo pad

In the pockets on the inside side wall of the handbag I have

3 pens and a pencil

my cell phone

An extra set of house keys and car keys (in case I lock my keys in the car, as I have done)

A small leather manicure/nail care case that contains a nail file, tweezer, nail clippers and scissors. All except the clippers I have found very handy, particularly the scissors.

A small, travel size, tube of hand lotion.

A wristwatch I need to take to the jeweler's for a new battery. I've been carrying it around for months.

Assorted cash register receipts I really don't need to hold onto that I have to throw out.

Some coupons.

A lipstick.

I think my bag, and the contents, do reflect something about me. Lots of depth, but not particularly well organized.

For the summer, I'm going to try a crossbody bag because there are times it's annoying to have the shoulder strap keep sliping off, particularly when shopping, or if I have to carry things in my hands. And, for the summer, I'm only in casual clothes and shorts, so I wanted something a little sporty looking and a bag that would distribute the weight across the body rather than have it on just one shoulder. I bought a smallish one in taupe I haven't used yet. And, for everyday wear, I ordered one in white, and I should receive it today or tomorrow. As crossbody bags go, it's largish (about 12"x12"), but it fits fairly flat against the body and has two large flat zippered pockets on the outside. All of my "essentials" should fit into it nicely. If it doesn't look or feel right as a crossbody style, the strap can be doubled and I'll just wear it on my shoulder. I hope it does work because I like the idea of having my hands completely free, particularly for the summer, it seems more carefree.

Mine is about the same size as Firefly's, but it has a shoulder strap. I hate handle purses. And mine doesn't ever have much in it. Three compartments: the centre one for my wallet and a pen; another for cigs, lighter, maybe a lip gloss, maybe a pack of Excel; the other is in front and is narrower and I usually put receipts or my shopping list there. There is a cell phone pocket which I use. I also have a zipper on the back and the front of the flap where I throw my keys.

I don't like rooting around in a bag and I don't like a heavy bag. And it's usually black leather.

Appreciatively reading along, resisting the temptation to respond to particular revelations yet. (I don't want to spoil the flow of information by giving feedback.) But thank y'all so much for sharing!

believe me firefly, your body will thank you for using a crossover bag.

it really makes a difference in how your entire body operates.

I can't wait to hear your revelations!

I'm glad to hear you like the crossbody bags, chai2. I really am looking forward to trying one.

small, multiple pockets - each with it's own zipper.

Wallet, multiple pockets - each with it's own access (zipper or snap)
keys
cell phone
pen
laundry ticket

Outside pocket -- cell phone, pens, keys
Inside pocket -- 2 lipsticks, mirror
Inside -- wallet*, antacids, cough drops, hearing aid batteries

*holds cash, change, checkbook, credit cards, photos & receipts (never can get it closed)