The What's In Your Handbag Meme.

[agoodwinsmith]

 Found at derryderrydown.  She has tres cool photos, and, alas, I do not, which is probably just as well.

….we’ve got

(1) a bus pass

(2) a cute little green cell phone

(3) a pocket mirror from the Monet to Dali exhibition

(4) a plastic lenses clearner cloth

(5) pens

(6) a comb

(7) a teeny tiny crochet hook for pulling through snags

(8) a nail file and a nail clipper

(9) wallet with money, plastic, id, membership cards, and collected business cards

(10) a pocket calendar

(11) a pocket notebook with assorted written to do lists etc

(13) two bus timetables

(14) an old mint tin with fake sweetener packets inside

(15) an address book I haven’t added any addresses to yet

(16) dental floss

(17) tide to go

(18) work pic id on a lanyard

(19) house keys

(20) work keys

 

All contained in a black hemp shoulder bag from Paranada (on Commercial Drive), handmade in Nepal.  I really like it, but it collects cat hair.  I don’t mind, but I know that other people do.

Comments

[esmeraldus-neo.livejournal.com]

Matching pen and penknife set.
"I <3 Lesbians" pen given me by sunshinepeachy
origami papers
business cards
mini-tin of Altoids
wallet

(sometimes) a Leatherman multitool

can fit EITHER cellphone OR keys in when necessary.

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

What's it all in? And ... what do you do if you need to take both the cell phone and the keys - you don't use a pocket and destroy the lines of your leather trousers, do you? Sacrilege.

[esmeraldus-neo.livejournal.com]

It's all in a 5x7x1.5 inch black leather Coach purse.

If I have to take the cellphone and the keys, I put the keys in the purse and the cellphone in my pocket--it's less than 1cm thick, so it hardly shows.

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

Oh be serious. You are a tiny woman. I don't say your leather trousers are too tight, cuz they're not, but a palm-sized oblong of hard plastic is gonna show. Unless, of course, you do it for other purposes, such as setting your cell for "tingle".

You are the second person to mention having something that is a "Coach" item - have I missed something? Is this a cool brand to be associated with?

[esmeraldus-neo.livejournal.com]

The phone's hardly even palm-sized. You'd have to inspect me at the sort of distance I start smacking people upside the earhole for.

Coach are makers of very high-end leather goods. Mostly purses, and some items, such as a leather bracelet I have--which resembles a watch except for having no watch on the band--that are an excuse to have the brand name showing so that people know you have the money and taste to afford Coach.

I dislike the ones with the brand logo all over, so mine is very plain, but retains the small leather "Coach" dogtag on the strap. It looks like this: http://www.coach.com/content/product.aspx?product_no=1573&category_id=289

But mine is about half the size and has a flap, not a zipper. it's almost flat.

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

Ah. Looks sharp. I've seen the C pattern on things and just assumed that it was a knock-off for another name brand. Chanel? No, somebody else who does clothes and handbags. They've been around for a while, then, and I just haven't been paying attention. Nice stuff to look at. It reminds me of stuff by Derek Alexander - absolutely gorgeous to look at, and wonderful to touch, but you can't actually put anything in it, or it destroys the lines. I won't even look at a Derek Alexander display anymore because I am always seduced by the leather, but I can't actually use the purchase. You, being more of a minimalist, don't have this problem.

[esmeraldus-neo.livejournal.com]

The minimalism is entirely pragmatic. You have it backward.

I got the small purse because when I have a large one, I will pack it full of Useful Things, to the density of bowling balls, and my 8x6x12 handbag weighs the same as a Toyota.

So, small purse. I can actually put both the keys and phone in at the same time, if I arrange them carefully. But it makes the closure flap flare slightly, where the purse is designed to be sleek and flat.

[agoodwinsmith.livejournal.com]

When I had a car, I could get away with a small bag on my person because Useful Things could be stashed in the car. I have a friend whose ideal is sleek minimalism, and she has tiny slim everything - but she doesn't have a car, so she is always lugging around Toyota-sized knapsacks and manitoba gladstones (paper shopping bags with handles). Usually multiple, in addition to her sleek slim purse with sleek slim wallet/cellphone/address book/blahdeblah. I keep trying to make do with a purse which, stuffed solid, weighs no more than five pounds. I can't do it. I also lose everything if it isn't securely zipped up and slung across my body.