My Girly Side Comes Out: A Handbag Story

I love fashion, as much as the next woman. At the top of my list of loves, because let’s face it, we all have a favorite, I love handbags.  But not just any old handbags.  They don’t have to be designer this or that.  It’s more about personality.

As an artistic creative woman, I have to have a purse that speaks to my personality, my girliness, my whimsicalness – is that a word? Now that there is the internet I can look all over the place for something that is going to be individual and unique to me (that hopefully no one else has at least in LA).  And I love color.  Oh, and I love flowers. Cliché, but true of me.

I’ve considered myself a medium sized purse person, after all-- there’s the makeup bag, with at least 3 or 4 lipsticks of different colors, sunscreen, a pencil case, wallet, keys (3 sets), small notebook (never know when I might need to write something down), coin purse, oh….and 4 pairs of sunglasses (never know what color I might need- depends on how bright the sun is).  I found I like oilcloth bags for day.  They can take being laid on the floor, dirt (just wipe it away) and they can be so colorful.

I tried going small.  It just doesn’t work.  I tried doing without pockets. It also doesn’t work.  I have become something I didn’t think I would be, a big purse girl. I need all my stuff.  Heaven forbid, I don’t have all of my accoutrement – what happens if, if, if I didn’t have a selection of lipstick or my notebook or a choice of pencils.

For a while I was doing a rotation of a few purses.  Then I found one I loved more than the others and stayed in it for a year-- a whole year.  It was roomy, had pockets to organize stuff – too much stuff.  What do you do with receipts from the grocery store? So I decided to change out and in the process lost my flash drives both of them.  I am squeezed into a shoulder bag, but it is such a tight fit, it’s embarrassing, like trying to fit into jeans that are too small (but one is determined to wear). 

My favorite handbags and purses are by Cath Kidston.  I just love English stuff:  Molton Brown, Jo Malone, Orla Kiely, English accents, some English writers, the English actor Idris Elba(mmm on that handsome man). 

Cath Kidston’s handbags are like eye candy to me.  The colors just make me feel happy, and well the flowers – I just love flowers. She has me hook lined and sinkered.  It’s my go to when I want to lift my spirits, handbag shopping at Cath Kidston.

For a while I had a wish list on her site, now I am trying to tone it down, visit every once and a while. Well, there are a few French things I like, but mostly I like English stuff -- Like handbags, purses and Idris Elba.

A collection of colors and flowers