Bagged It!

Sorry for the title - certain of my coworkers have been rather excited this week about the start of hunting season in Wisconsin.

Purses. I'm not a purse person. I own them. I don't know how many, but fewer than a dozen. I carry them. I hold them to basic minimum aesthetic, functional and quality standards. I know the size that works for me and how many pockets I need. I get rid of them when they pass their prime, become damaged, or cease to serve my purposes. We keep the relationship purely professional.

I don't match them to every outfit, though I do require them to coordinate adequately. I don't change them every day. I don't have that sort of patience. So I try to keep bags that can coordinate fairly broadly. Note that this is not the same as thinking black leather matches everything.

I do often see bags I admire, but they don't jump off the shelves into my arms.

I don't care what statement my purse makes, so long as it isn't something like, "Steal me," "I'm ugly," or, "I belong to a middle-aged schoolteacher," (nothing wrong with anyone who is, but I'm not one, and I don't want my accessories to be dishonest).

Bag shopping, in my experience, falls out like this:

• Frivolous purses: TJMaxx (Note that "frivolous" in this context can mean either "fun" or "ugly." Or both, if that's how you swing.)
  
• Canvas purses for summer: Target (clearance)
  
• Sensible leather purses: Kohl's (Motto: 40% OFF EVERYTHING ALL THE TIME!!!!!!!)
• Investment purses: Ebay (it's all about the Coach Leather Classics).
• Evening bags: Anywhere - unless you're looking to make a Big Statement, they're all the same.

I do enjoy making them - they're quick, easy, and inexpensive, and can be made from very cool upholstery samples from the dollar bin which would otherwise serve no purpose. The one with the fish up in the corner was on of my first. Forgive the glare, it's an older picture. The shape is a little off for ordinary use, though I do wear it sometimes. It's currently in the top of my closet holding yarn which, ironically, is probably destined to become another purse.

I find signature patterns revolting. And not for any idealogical reasons - I find them visually unattractive. I am curious, though: Have you ever seen anyone carrying a Louis Vuitton logo bag and not automatically assumed it was fake? Because I'm pretty sure I haven't.

I did once truly love a Kate Spade Sam (in linen) that I got for $3, horribly filthy, at a yard sale. It cleaned up just fine and I carried it until it was too frayed to be respectable.

So there you have it. Bags. I'm all set.

p.s. I'm not a shoe person either, mostly because it takes so much time and energy to find options that fit both my exacting conservativism and my oddly shaped, quasi-wide feet, that it's all I can do to keep myself appropriately shod, period.