Well loved and well worn
Defines our style and our needs
Purse-anality ~Carla Smith

It all started on Saturday April 14th on Facebook. My status message read: “I just bought a marvelous new earring holder. I LOVE IT.”

These are the kind of status messages that non Facebook users wonder about and snooty Facebook users sometimes brush off with a “who the heck cares about your new earring ring holder.” But I had a hunch our group would find my announcement riveting and fascinating and they did not disappoint.  Slowly but surely friends began to arrive with their, cuppa’s, and little bottles of coke to chat….Cue Cheers theme song….

Teresa:  Earring holder? I wear the same three or four earrings all the time..

Katybeth: I have dozens of pairs of earrings.

Teresa: Well I do too, but I only wear the same three or four over and over.

Katybeth: Not me. One day I might dangerously dangle and the next day go demure with gold balls.

Teresa: I am really very simple. It doesn’t take much to please me. I do love earrings, though.

Katybeth: You’re simple? ROFL

Teresa: You LAUGH?? What The WHAT! I am SIMPLE. I wear the same silver hoops every day. The same rings. The same necklace. I switch it up maybe every six weeks…except if I’m going out. Then, I might wear a bigger hoop. A scarf. Jazz it up.

Katybeth: The same purse?

Teresa: Yes. OMG! You should see my worn out purse that I love. The compartments are perfect.

Katybeth: I have never owned the perfect purse.

Teresa: Never? How sad. Twice I’ve bought a new purse but went back to the old one. I can’t give the MF’er up. :/

Katybeth: I put “perfect purse” on my bucket list. I search and search, but they all let me down.

Teresa: It’s Saturday. I am a potty mouth.

Stevie: Let’s design the perfect purse and make millions.

Katybeth: Hi Stevie! Great idea. It needs pockets.

Teresa: Hi Stevie! Keep in mind that perfect will mean different things to different people, so we must design several different purses.

Stevie: True. When I find a purse I like, I use it daily until it wears out.

Katybeth: I use it until I hate it a week later, and then the search is back on.

Teresa: It has to be the right size, hit me at the right place, and have the compartments I want. An outside for my phone is important.

Stevie: I like pockets on the outside for my phone and keys, and compartments on the inside.

Teresa: Me too! I have an exact place for my keys, my ChapStick, my notepad, and my comb. I’ve been carrying the same purse for almost two years! I’ve had the same wallet for ages. I may never replace it!

Katybeth: I love my wallet.

Stevie: I hate wallets — so big and heavy. This purse allowed me to ditch the wallet.

Teresa: I like a big wallet, with a checkbook compartment. Not that I ever write checks anymore.

Stevie: One of the easy-access compartments in my purse has wallet features. It was a big decision to ditch the wallet but it worked out great for me…much lighter purse now.

Katybeth: My wallet is heavy.

Teresa: So is mine. I’m ready to go light. On second thoughts, the built-in wallet commits you to the purse. Not sure I would make that kind of commitment. I admit it, I’m old school.

Cynthia: Am I the only woman who doesn’t carry a purse? I HATE purses. I have a small credit card holder that I put into my back pocket; a phone goes in the other back pocket. I can run faster and jump higher sans purse. No purses.

Rachel: Cynthia, I think you are the only woman who does not carry a purse, but I would love to give up mine.

Teresa: Me too! I want to be like Cynthia—run fast and jump high. Simplify! Favorite jeans, a few favorite tees, favorite sweatshirt, fave scrubs, shoes, jammies.

Cynthia: Sounds like you could survive on very little!

Teresa: I do need chocolate and wine, coffee…BUT THAT’S IT.  Laugh if you will, but I am SIMPLE. 😛

Katybeth: Are you sure that’s all, Teresa?

Isabel: Hi everyone. Just jumping in here. I carry a convertible leather fanny pack.

Teresa:Hi Isabel! A fanny pack?

Katybeth: Hi Isabel! A fanny pack?

Stevie: A fanny pack?

Teresa: I forgot—I must have Triscuits!

Isabel: What can I say? Works for me. Appealing as it is to travel light, somehow I always need my lip balm and a place to keep my phone, sunglasses and keys. That means I have a place to keep my cash, ID and credit cards, so much the better. The rest—comb and hair band, lipstick, tissues, mints, and a couple of aspirin and whatever else finds its way in there—just makes me feel better. Not to mention it has been the receptacle for many a treasure in its time. So while I totally understand the “no purse” idea, I know that for me it’s “my” bag. :0

Carla: PRADA, Baby.

Katybeth: Hi Carla. You have been dying to say that, haven’t you? Can I borrow it? Just to see if it works for me…it might be my perfect purse. Isabel, it seems like you’ve found your perfect purse

Yvonne: I take the train every day, so I must have something to read. Then the iPod for learning my Dutch, wallet, and lipstick or gloss. My purse is large and lives a vivacious life!

Carla: Your purse is a mess, isn’t it? LOL

Yvonne: Well yes, that too. But in a very good way. 😀

Nancy: My purse is a Kenneth Cole. Made out of fabric, it’s washable! Because I carry so much junk, I’ve stopped wearing leather because my arms hurt all the time. What’s really amusing is, whenever I am with my husband he carries my purse so I don’t have to. That’s true love!

Teresa: Hi Nancy! That is true love! Kenneth Cole has some beautiful purses.

Katybeth: Being able to wash your purse would be a good thing—especially if your kid spills a cup of hot chocolate in it on the way to school. It happens.

Stevie: Let’s post pictures of our purses and contents on your wall. Just dump the contents out and snap the picture!

Katybeth: FUN!! I wonder if anyone else will do it.

Teresa: I’m in! But now I must go to bed. Good night, my favorite chickadees

Katybeth: Sweet dreams…El Nighto.

That night and over the next several days, pictures of purses and their contents began to show up on my Facebook page. They came in all ranges, shapes, sizes, and varying degrees of clutter. Like little kids, we found it fascinating to peer into one other’s purses.

Many of us (but not all) were in the later stages of life, and if we are mothers, our purses no longer do double duty as diaper bags. There was only one purse carrying a pacifier and a diaper. Most of have at least two lip glosses and some sort of moisturizer in our purses. The popular gum was Extra or Eclipse. Lottery tickets showed up frequently. There were strong opinions about the best pen. (If you are wondering, it is a Pilot G2 07.) While most of admit we write very few checks, we still carry checkbooks with us. Everyone agreed a good purse has to have a convenient spot for the phone. Most of us still hang onto our wallets but find them bulky and would consider giving them up. It seems that even among those of us whose purses runneth over, there is a desire to carry less and live a less complicated life without giving up our purses completely. Is it possible to simplify without giving anything up?

Everyone wanted to know what I was going to do with all the valuable purse information we had collected. I knew, of course: I would write a blog post for Odd—but what kind of blog post? I was pretty certain that one way to determine a woman’s character is to take a look at the handbag and the contents of the handbag she carries, but I felt it would be wrong and dangerous for me to offer an analysis of my friends’ purseonalities. So I went a different route: I assembled a panel of expert purse reviewers to analyze the purses posted on Facebook: experts that included the Bag Lady, Idu Lovapurse, Bag Lover, Satchel Risk, Getta Grip, Bag Snatcher, Satchel Queen, and Erin O’Purse, to name only a few. Over the next few days I will be posting purses and reviews in groups of three. No purseonality will go unnoticed.

Do keep in mind that the opinions of the reviewers in no way reflect my opinion. I am smart that way! I like to keep my opinions and my friends separate. I loved all the purses, and every single candy wrapper in them. I did, however, encourage the reviewers to use their own insights, wicked and otherwise senses of humor, and dark sides to review the bags. They did not disappoint me.

Feel free to leave your own comments after each post and play along. This is an introduction to the reviews yet to come…soon. Today. Maybe. Oh, for heavens sake, stop whining and ask Teresa for a piece of gum! I will be back soon…I promise! Odd Loves Company!

♥