Bag lady

If there´s one thing that has always been my downfall, it´s handbags. I´ve spent oodles of time and money in my quest for the perfect bag.
As my needs when it came to bags have, over the course of the years, changed considerably, each new item that came up to carry along meant going on the prowl for a bag that would accomodate that particular item, for example, when I got my first (half-brick sized) cell phone I absolutely had to have a handbag with a pocket for the cell phone.
Add to that the fact that I was brought up quite traditionally, which meant that bags and shoes had absolutely to be of the same color, and you can see easily why my bag collection is by now filling a big six-drawer IKEA chest of drawers plus two compartments of my wardrobe. Inheriting several expensive specimens from a dear aunt just added to the clutter.
The kicker is that I rarely use handbags at all these days. I have a black leather design backpack that houses my netbook paraphernalia, my digicam plus a portable HD that holds my pictures, and also some writing material should I need it. My wallet, keys and cell phone I keep in the interior pockets of my vest.
As I have quit using makeup at all, there´s no lipstick or eyeshadow,and with my super-short buzz cut I don´t need to take along a hairbrush, either.
The only time I need to use a handbag at all is for those rare occasions when wearing a men´s vest would not be appropriate.
So why do I still hang on to all these bags? Part of it is certainly sentimentality. After all, each of them had its time when it would accompany me everywhere I went. Auntie´s bags, too, come in that department, even though it will be a long time before I ever use a faux-croco patterned Kelly bag.
Over time, I have built several criteria that a new handbag would have to fulfill.
It has to be big enough to hold my netbook. I prefer bags that have a compartment that zips close (less risk of being pickpocketed or losing things) and a shoulder strap to keep my hands free. Having zippered side pockets for all those little things to carry is a must.
If I apply these criteria, the number of bags that fit the description is actually a lot smaller than the number total of bags I own.
Another group of eviction candidates consists of bags that were bought to match a pair of shoes in a special color. The shoes have been discarded ages ago, the bag they went with stayed. As the color matches nothing else I have in my shoe closet, the bag in question languishes in the back of my closet indefinitely.
Or the big two-compartment bags I thought I absolutely had to have  when I was on a diet plan that required me to take several containers of salad and yoghourt to work every day.
And last not least the bags that have become too -er- youthful for me to actually use. And those where the shoulder strap turned out to keep slipping off my shoulder, annoying me no end and earning them a place in handbag limbo in the back of my closet, too.
And don´t get me started about the suitcase full of travelling bags under my bed. As reaching it requires a partial dismantling of the bed, they haven´t been out of there for ages.

But one of these days, they will have to come out. As will all of the others. I´ll see how many of these I really still would use. The rest will go on to bless someone else. And the space they occupy will go to a better use.


Julia