 Once upon a time, women didn't carry a handbag at all.That's
because women never went anywhere.
If you happened to be a woman married to a wealthy man, and your
life revolved around soirees and the opera, you would carry a
reticule.
A reticule was a tiny bag, just big enough to carry your smelling
salts. Every woman needed to carry smelling salts just in case her
lady's maid tied her corset too tight. This was not usually a
problem unless she ate more than one of the petit fours and swooned
into the punch bowl.
Life has changed a bit since then. My lady's maid wouldn't dream
of tying my corset too tight...
OK, it's changed a lot. I'm not sure there is any woman out there
who carries smelling salts in her purse... but we've got everything
else in there.
Picking out a handbag is difficult to do. A woman could spend
months looking for just the right one. We have our criteria and
order of importance for those criteria.
Some women like to compartmentalize their stuff: money in one
compartment, makeup in another, spare diaper and baby wipes in
another.
I have a poor memory that doesn't seem to be getting better no
matter how many crossword puzzles I do. Just yesterday, I asked a
friend how her son's arm was doing, realizing only after it was too
late that it wasn't her son who had broken his arm. It was my other
friend's son, who was also sitting with us. It's a little too much
to ask of crossword puzzles to fix that kind of memory.
So, yeah, I would never remember which purse compartment held
what, and I'd have to unzip each one until I found the one I needed.
The handbag that would work best for me is the one that looks like a
short Hefty bag. There might be a couple of slots on the inside for
things you need to find quickly, like Band-Aids and insurance cards.
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 One characteristic of the perfect handbag for me (and they do
have character!) is a slot on the outside for my cell phone. When
you know it's only going to ring three times before it goes to voice
mail, there is nothing more infuriating than trying to find your
cell phone in a black hole.
My handbag also must have a zipper closure, not a button.
What is the point in buttoning it if, after you slam on the
brakes to avoid a kindergartener in the drop-off zone, your handbag
falls off the passenger seat and distributes its contents all over
the car mat?
Trust me, a zipper is better... if you remember to close it.
To me, color is least important, but I will choose a neutral
color if I have an option. I do not have a purse for every pair of
shoes. My closet is not that big. Neither is my ego. I don't care if
everything matches. Really. If there is no toilet paper attached to
my waistband, I consider myself put together... and blessed. I set
the bar rather low years ago -- about the time that spit-up rags on
my shoulder were considered the least of my fashion transgressions.
I'm looking for functionality over aesthetics in my handbag. If I
happen to find both in the same handbag, it's like finding the Holy
Grail.
[By LAURA SNYDER]
Laura Snyder is a nationally syndicated columnist,
author and speaker. You can reach her at
lsnyder@lauraonlife.com
or visit www.lauraonlife.com
for more info. |
