Sunday, September 24, 2006

Real Women Carry Big Purses


Purses…women’s purses are a very personal thing. From the size, style and color that you have…to making sure that no one touches your purse or worse yet…goes into your purse. That includes a beloved husband, children or friends. To do so…is to cross a personal boundary. Why? Well I think there a lot of reasons.

Purses are a woman’s thing…a girly girl thing. Unless of course you are Brian Kilmeade from Fox & Friends. Then you carry a “man bag”. Yeah right! Come on Brian…everyone knows it’s a purse. A glorified purse. A purse by any other name…is still a purse.

Men on the other hand carry brief cases…or now days…computer bags or cases. Not purses (except for Brian of course). Women also care brief cases and computer bags…but theirs are pretty and stylish. Most of the ones guys carry are good, solid and sturdy. They look manly…or at least neutral.

What all do women carry in their purse? Probably the easier question to answer is what’s not in there. An essential is a wallet, with cash, and change (in case you need to use a payphone), credit cards, a checkbook, pictures of family and friends. You thought Boy Scouts were prepared…well you never met a real woman. In a woman’s purse you might find something to take care of any emergency. A cell phone is a must…and a PDA to look up more numbers and address and of course the garage door opener. Reading glasses (for those over 40) and sun glasses. From Band-Aids, to paper clips, to safety pins, and pens a real woman is prepared. But don’t forget the gum, mints and cough drops. You must make room for lipstick and other make-up touch ups. A brush or comb would be the prudent thing to carry…but please make sure you have some hair spray too. Then there are the unmentionable personal items we all know women carry in their purse…but we don’t talk about it in mixed company. (But of course you’ll see some advertisement blaring at the whole family in the family hour on TV. Didn’t they use to restrict things like that to certain times of day…or better yet…can’t we restrict it to magazines only?) Have a headache…need an aspirin…just ask the woman walking by who is carrying a purse. You’ll likely have what you need…lickety split. That extensive list doesn’t even touch on what mom’s with kids carry in their purses.

With such a comprehensive list…a good size purse if a must. Unless you have a natural bent for organization…your purse must also have multiple sections…so you can keep things organized. Organized so you can find what you need at a moments notice.

That’s why…the purse that I purchased recently did not cut the mustard. It was big…big enough to carry all my “stuff”. But I tell you…it had to have been designed by a man. Someone who doesn’t know the practical realities of trying to find something in your purse. It had one large compartment…one! And everything ended up at the bottom. Big thumbs down on this purse.

So less than 24 hours after using this purse….I had to stop and purchase another purse. Much to my pleasant surprise…Mervyns had a buy one, get one free sale. So I was able to get two purses instead of one.

This time…I made sure both were not only good sized…but had compartments so I could be organized. An essential factor in purse selection for the real woman.

The black and brown one…will be good for fall and winter…and versatile too. I can use it with different outfits quite nicely.

But the one I fell in love with…the red one. I’ve never had a red purse in all my life. Imagine that…red. In some respects…totally unpractical. I hardly ever wear red. But I really like it. The color is great…fun and zippy and dare I say…even a wee bit sexy. Definitely girly girl stuff.

Young girls…now they can get away with a teeny, tiny purse. After all they have to carry around lipstick, cash and maybe a cell phone. But a real woman…needs a big purse.

One friend of mine Claudia has a thing for purses…her one vice. She has a variety of the cutest purses. Coach purses no less. Which I have come to find out are the crème de al crème of purses.

Now I’m a cheap son of a gun…and think I would faint if I spent the big bucks for designer purses. But I have been considering springing for a Dooney & Burke purse. A little pricy…but not outrageous…and very well made. So if I went for a very well made Dooney & Burke…I might not be purchasing purses quite so often. I don't have an affection for purses like Claudia does. But I’m very hard on purses. Very hard. I put them through the paces. So this cheap son of a gun…may invest in a really well made purse one of these days.

But I tell you…I’m in love with my new red purse. Why…I’m not sure. But there’s something about that red that I love.

Ah…I just love being a girl!

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