There are women who covet accessories. They spend oodles of money on handbags and other gear. They coordinate said accessories with outfits. They ooh and aah over Chanel and Louis Vuitton. Heck, some of them even buy matching collars for their annoying little rat dogs. If they can afford the big names they will buy them. If they cannot, they buy the knockoffs.
And then there are women like me. Women who view a purse as a practical, utilitarian item; something to throw a wallet, cellphone, lipstick or in my case Blistex, and various little bits of paper that for some reason must be on your person at all times. Women who own only one or two handbags; one for everyday and maybe one inexpensive bag for dressy occasions. I envy men. They somehow manage to stuff everything into their pockets. A purse is the last thing on earth I want to think about. I want to just throw my stuff in my bag and head out the door. I want to carry as little as possible in my bag. I don't like the thought of spending a large sum of money on a handbag either. On the other hand I reached my wits end and was getting rather fed up with having to waste my precious time and energy shopping for and spending my money on a new handbag once a year. The thought of shopping for a handbag gives me a headache. It's a nasty chore. Please, hand me a toothbrush and I'll scrub the shower instead, thank you very much.
So about 7 years ago-before I even thought about having a child-I decided to buy an investment piece. I felt it was worth it to spend more money if I could find a purse that was well made with top notch materials and would last an incredibly long time. The longer I can avoid thinking about purses, the better. I wanted something that featured clean, simple lines that would not go out of style. I also didn't want a bag that would have the designer or manufacturer's name all over it. I despise Louis Vuitton and Dooney and Bourke. I figure if I'm going to advertise for anyone they should be paying me, not the other way around.
The answer to my dilemma? I bought a Coach bag in simple black leather. (I removed the hangtag though, which I find tacky.) Coach has since retired my bag. They've gone the route of LV and now plaster the letter "C" all over the majority of their bags these days. Ick. (I can hardly wait until they eventually switch back to classic Coach design.) The leather on my bag is a bit softer than it was when I bought it, but it's worn well, the patina looks great and the bag serves me well. That was money very well spent.
I like simple wallets too. For about 5 years I've been using a men's wallet. It's a money clip attached to a leather sleeve which holds, in a neat little stack, all of my various bank cards and other important pieces of plastic (like my library card and the Starbucks card one of my clients tipped me with a while back). But a few weeks ago disaster struck. I'm distraught! My money clip broke. I've been on a quest for a new wallet ever since. I'm not having much luck either.
Wallet shopping is far worse than handbag shopping. 7 years ago I walked into Macy's and marched over to the the Coach counter. I saw my bag and knew it was the one for me. It was that simple. Yet I've looked at a gazillion wallets. I've looked at men's and women's wallets.
Why do women's wallets need to be large enough to fit the entire state of California? Who on earth needs to carry around their checkbook when check cards exist?! Why is it that all the women's wallets that would comfortably hold all of my little pieces of paper and plastic are almost as big as a full fledged briefcase? (Particularly, no especially, when my last wallet could easily hold all of my stuff and fit into my pocket!)
Why is it that men's wallets are designed by morons? Is there a reason that each card needs it's own sleeve? HELLO, if there is a layer of leather dividing each card it adds significant bulk to the wallet. If the cards are touching each other they won't melt! Nor will the magnetic strip demagnetize.
Grrrrr. I'm confident though. Eventually I will find a kick ass wallet....and when I do I will purchase 3 of them.
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