Handbags, purses, whatever you call them, come in all shapes, sizes, colors and styles. Which one you use is a personal preference, but most will admit: The larger the bag, the more stuff you'll put in it.
So how do you find that lip balm when you need it? You keep it organized, of course.
"When I'm busy, I need a bag large enough to put everything in for the day … shoes, lunch, computer, iPad, Kindle, along with personal items, and my knitting," says Sharron Nelson of Willow Street. "My ideal bag is one with compartments, so that everything has a place."
It's a carryover from earlier days, says the former Manheim Township School District superintendent. "In college I carried a knapsack," she recalls, and that evolved to a briefcase during her working years. Now that she's officially retired, she continues to take everything with her as she combines work and play.
Nelson also uses only one bag at a time … no changing of handbags to match an outfit. "That way you don't have to remember where everything is. It's always in the bag you are using."
The former director for the bureau of teacher preparation and certification at the Pennsylvania Department of Education, organization is second nature to her.
"When I was working in Harrisburg (and living in Lancaster), I took the train every day. I had to have everything with me when I left in the morning."
Nelson and her husband, Don, recently moved, and she used her new favorite bag to carry things she didn't want to misplace, including four knitting projects, a scarf, scissors and "a great pattern of an elephant" that she wants to reproduce on a hooked rug. The bag has several interior pockets where she tucks smaller items, such as her cellphone, and pockets with zippers. It would be the perfect bag, she says, if it had an outside pocket.
Gayle Roper of Honey Brook relies on a handbag organizer insert to keep items in their place. An author and speaker, Roper makes sure there are numerous pens, pencils and a notebook along with the rest of the necessary bits and pieces of a woman on the go including her Paperwhite Kindle, in her bag. When she opens the top of her bag, she can see almost everything immediately, grab it, and keep moving. Roper bought her insert online, but inserts can be found just about anywhere you can buy a handbag.
Tahnee Mundorff of Bowmansville likes Thirty One and Vera Bradley bags, saying "they are easier to organize."
"I do like to have everything I need with me," she says with a laugh, admitting that it's "probably some sort of psychological thing." Even when she was carrying a smaller bag, "I jammed everything I could in it." That has made her the go-to person whenever anyone needs a safety pin or a Band-Aid. Mundorff always has it — and, more importantly, she can find it.
Mundorff is super-organized, making sure her bag has a place for sunglasses, cosmetics, iPod, gum and smaller bags to facilitate the ease in finding things. For example, one zipped bag holds items that are "grouped by commonality: meds, dental floss, Band-Aids." A duct tape wallet made by daughter Elyse holds her coupons. She has a small wristlet inside the large bag so that she can leave the larger bag in the car when she attends daughter Olivia's volleyball games or other child-related activities.
"My kids call my bag 'the black hole,' but it's not," she emphasizes.
Mary Ellen Davis of Lancaster agrees with the small-bag-in-the-large-bag philosophy.
"When you just need to run into a store for a quick purchase, rather than taking the entire bag, it's easier to have a small wallet you can grab to take with you."
If you like a larger bag but can't fit one into your budget, check Goodwill. A Blue Ball woman recently found a like-new leather Vera Wang bag for $8. Handbags frequently go on sale in area department stores, and outlet stores often offer the latest styles at a more affordable price. But sometimes, when it's love at first sight, price doesn't matter.
Or, look to the younger generation. Some area teens subscribe to the less is more style … many carry only a wristlet, large enough for a little money, their cards and, of course, their cellphone.
A LITTLE HISTORY:
In the 1790s, fashion dictated the demise of the pocket. Ladies took to carrying a reticule, a small drawstring bag that could barely hold a hankie, a coin or two and, perhaps, smelling salts. But in the early 19th century, women rebelled and brought back the pocket.They[1] needed somewhere to carry their mirror, scent bottle, keys, sewing case, spectacles, comb, perhaps a biscuit and, for some, a snuffbox.
By the mid-1800s, the use of handbags was on the rise. For an interesting history, visit randomhistory.com[2] and search "purse." Many of today's top brands started out as luggage makers when train travel increased.
Today, many women cram all of the above (well, probably not the snuffbox and smelling salts) and more into their handbags, then they grab their coffee and are off.
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