Girly girls & Their handbags Part II

Charlotte has an absolutely colossal bag! "I saw it in the shop and knew I had to have it." Like Dahlia, she has over 40 handbags and co-ordinates them with what she is wearing. Unlike Dahlia, she does this every single day.

"I want people to know that I take care of my appearance and my handbag helps to say this. If everything goes together, I just feel better about myself."

Again, Charlotte has most of the usual suspects in her bag as well. However, given this bag is so huge, she can afford to bring some non-traditional items with her. She is going out tonight after work so she has bought her hair straighteners with her in case she needs to touch up her hair.

Girly girls and their handbags

Dahlia is 28 and originally from Malaysia but now lives in London. She has over 30 handbags. This one, her father bought her when he was on business in Paris. She changes her handbags according to what she is wearing -- so that typically means 2-3 times per week. (I would have loved to gone to her house and looked at all her bags!)

When she is matching her handbags to her clothes it is important that they co-ordinate rather than strictly match. She doesn't want to look like a fashion victim but wants to look as if she's made an effort. She feels that her bags should be "nice and neat" and make a statement about the kind of girl she is -- someone who loves to look good and takes real pride in her appearance.

Given how many times a week she changes her bag, the inside was quite neat and tidy. She carries the usual suspects in her handbag. She was surprised at how many pens she had, but other than that, she felt all the contents were necessary.

The only slightly unusual item was her hand sanitiser... You don't see a lot of people in England carrying those around.

Another Mummy back in the world of Adults...

This is Vicky. She is 32 years old and a mother of a 2-year old daughter. She is very similar to Mo in that her handbag choice, especially now that she is back at work, needs to be more about her than it is about the fact that she is a mother. Also like Mo, her daughters things can't help but creep into her handbag... (Note the wadded up tissues and sweets/chocolate -- "Just in case")

Vicky bought this bag recently in the sales. It was a bit of an impulse buy, "I actually wanted to look at something else in the shop but someone was in the way so I decided to look at the handbags. I needed something functional -- that I could use for work -- but not too big. I didn't want it to look like a diaper bag. What I liked about this one is that it is deceivingly big... It looks quite small but hold a lot."

Vicky says she needs her bag to be practical because her busy schedule means that she can quite easily become disorganised. So, she needs a bag that helps her keep it together.

Inside her bag you will find:
Loose change -- "It fell out of my purse at some point."
hair brush
opened and half eaten chocolate bar -- "My daughter ate part of this when we were out shopping but didn't want to finish it. I just shoved it back in my bag."
Sanitary towel
Tissues
Oyster Card
Pens (Lots and lots of those!)
lock for her locker at the gym
Lipstick and Lip gloss -- "Because I am trying to hold onto my femininity at all costs. I hardly use it but it makes me feel more human to know it's there."
Wallet
Train ticket

Apologies in Advance...

Hi Ladies...

My trusty photographer has gone to work in Mauritius. Yes, Mauritius. Some people have all the hard luck... Anyway, I have had to conduct the last 4 interviews without him. So, you will notice that the quality of the imagery has suffered somewhat...

For my last 4 interviews, I conducted a combination depth interview/group discussion with each of the girls you see from now on. I spent 30 minutes talking to each of them individually and then we had an hour long group discussion.

Some typologies are definitely emerging from our girls in London... Looking forward to seeing what you make of it!

Kate x

Understated handbag for an Extroverted Girl

This is Helen. She is 26. Originally from Dublin, she has spent the past couple of years living in Spain and has recently settled in London. She is a PA at a big marketing firm.

Helen's bag choosing/decision making is quite interesting. I've spent some time with Helen as I've been working for her agency on a bit project. She is totally the life and soul of the party. She is always the one to arrange the drinks nights out and is the last one to go home. She always has the most positive attitude around the office and is very smiley and accommodating. She is very outgoing and I notice that people from other departments come over to talk to her and joke with her.

So, I was very surprised when she told me that she chooses handbags that are understated and simple. She wants a bag that doesn't draw attention to her or what she is wearing. She says this is why she always wears black too. So, while her personality is very large and loud, her handbag is medium sized and very understated.

She bought this handbag when she was in Spain on a recent trip. Handbags are cheaper in Spain than in the UK. Helen feels that this handbag is "classy" and "versatile". It's big enough to hold a lot but not too big to hurt her shoulder or weigh her down.

Inside her handbag are the usual things:
Tissues -- her nose is always running and she MUST have tissues with her at all time. If she doesn't have tissues she'll take toilet roll!
Gum & Mints -- especially handy after she has a big night out, which is quite frequent. Helen likes to take her lovely personality out with her at night!
Keys
Wallet
Mp3 Player for her commute
Umbrella
Cigarettes
Hair ties
Spare hoop earrings
Face Powder

Of all the things in her handbag, she would die with out the usual things -- wallet, mobile, Mp3 player. She also couldn't do without her umbrella... If it rains it ruins her hair.

"My handbag gives me security. It holds all my junk and I'm prepared for work and play... I'd feel naked if I didn't have it with me."

It's all about someone else...

Although being a yummy mummy, a sexy mother and wife with the perfect family isn't really Jackie's frame of mine like it was with Mo (and Vicky -- watch for future posts), there's something else going on here that is similar... And her utilitarian handbag enforces this point... Jackie's life is full of her taking care of other people -- running the kids to and from school and activities. She is their chauffeur and their bank and their chef. And she is rarely thanked or visibly appreciated for this.

Her handbag has very little in it -- but there are lots of receipts for things for her kids.

Contents of Jackie's Handbag:

2 Wallets -- 1 for credit cards, 1 for everything else
Inhaler -- for her asthma, which can hit her at any time so she must have it with her when she's driving
Mobile phone -- Jackie is deaf in one ear so hates the phone. Her mobile is only in use when she needs to liaise with her kids about when and where to pick them up
Lipgloss
Pens
Chequebook
Receipts for petrol, Louisa's clarinet lessons, Louisa's new school uniform (it was declined twice because they were just back from holiday and had overspent... Jackie wasn't bothered but the man at the store was very embarrassed!), salad from Waitrose (when Jackie was waiting for Ellie to come back from the Reading Festival on the train), groceries, football kit for Freddie

Utilitarian Handbag

This is Jackie. She is 45 years old and has three children: Ellie (16), Freddie (12) and Louisa (9). She lives in Great Missenden, Buckinhamshire with her children, husband Richard, dog Monty, Cats Bonnie and Clyde and several chickens.

Unlike my past two interviews, Jackie's kids are a bit older so she is no longer struggling with the mummy, career, sexy thing that I think women with younger children seem to have to go through. Instead, she seems perfectly comfortable with her role as wife and mother (although she wishes her family would appreciate her a bit more for all the hard work she puts in to making their home/lives so comfortable!)

Jackie's handbag is purely utilitarian. This particular bag was a distress purchase made when the strap of her other (more fashionable -- her words not mine!) handbag broke.

Her criteria for buying this bag? That is be inexpensive (she never spend more than £50 on a handbag) and that it not look offensive. This was the winner.

The real meaning of our handbags...

Hanging out with Pam and her daughter Bailey I was struck by how difficult it must be to hold it all together. Yet Pam is able to do this effortlessly... Her life seems to be just as organised as her handbag.

Bailey is super-well adjusted and a joy to be around. She sits politely at the dinner table and entertains the adult people. She eats her food and admires her mummy's Chloe bag and I am quite sure that Pam is setting a pretty amazing example for her.

So, then I started thinking about the bigger role that handbags play in our lives... Armour, projection of sexiness and femininity, utilitarian carry-all. I'm sure there are more. It's no wonder the shops are full of them and we collect them like we collect bus tickets! They truly are an extension of ourselves.

This makes me feel sorry for men. What do they have that can equal this piece of equipment that I mostly just take for granted.

Uh-oh.

I think I need to go buy another handbag...

Inside the Pam's Bag

"My bag is my life. In it contains every possible thing I might need, wherever I go, whatever I do."

"It's like a mini-suitcase. My job and life at the moment can be so unpredictable. I need to have everything with me when I go to work."

Pam quite frequently changes which handbag she carries so inside the handbag is quite well-organised. It is also quite full. I get the feeling that she doesn't actually use 1/2 of what's inside. It seems to be there to booost her confidence rather than to actually be utilised...

In Pam's handbag there is:

Wallet -- it's small and compact compared to the handbag itself and very well organised. There are no loose receipts or much small change. Everything has it's place.

6 lipsticks -- these are floating free and of different shades of pink and reds

3 tubes of concealer/foundation -- Pam seems to use concealer the same way she uses lipstick, constantly topping up.

Make-Up Bag -- it's interesting that Pam also has a completely separate make-up bag in her handbag. She explains that the free floating lipsticks and concealers are for touch ups. The make-up bag allows her to take it all off and start again. Which she will do frequently if she is not happy with how she looks.

As a side, Pam explains that how she looks (or perceives she looks) is directly related to how confident she is. So, it is very important that her hair and make up all look good -- especially when she is at work.

Sunglasses and Reading Glasses -- Pam collects posh sunglasses like she collects handbags. She is currently into very large sunglasses. She likes the way they go with her new short haircut.

Hairbrush

Nail File

Blackberry

Kleenex

Mints

The Bag Closet

Pam's handbags are very, very important to her. She loves them.

She keeps them at the top of the closet in her daughters room. Most of them are designer, so she keeps them in their nice felt bags to keep them safe and protected. You could see how much each bag meant to her as she pulled them out of the closet... Each one had a story.

Mulberry Bag -- She got two years ago from her then-husband when she came out of having post-natal depression. This is her biggest, most heavy bag and it represents her going back to work after having Bailey. This was a really tough time for Pam and it seems as though the Mulberry was almost a coat of armour to get her back into the swing of her pre-baby life. It is big, heavy and chunky. It really makes a statement.

Fendi Bag -- Her first designer handbag purchase bought when she got her first professional job. Pam's career is clearly very important to her and her handbags almost show a timeline of her rise to success.

Lulu Guinness Bag -- A gift from co-workers. It's her most girly bag. It's pink and frivolous. It is quite obvious that she didn't buy this bag for herself as it really doesn't fit in with the rest. However, she does like this bag and it means a lot to her that others recognized how important handbags are to her and tried to participate in her obsession.

Orla Keiley Bag -- Another more frivoulous bag that she used when Bailey was small as a pseudo-diaper bag. It's is coated in plastic so great for being out and about with her daugther.

Mui Mui Bag -- This bag started the bonus trend. She bought it with her first bonus. She felt it made a statement that should bought a white handbag. That she could spend so much money on a bag and then have it be white. She thought it would not last very long but then she learned a valuable lesson about expensive handbags... when they are expensive they seem to keep their colour and shape longer. She was hooked. She'd never buy a copy again.

It's interesting to me how Pam's handbags are so tied up in her career. She chooses a new bag each year to mark her success. They become the timeline of her life and are almost the springboard for all the stories of her career and adult life in London.

Handbag is my armour

This is Pamela (34), her daughter Bailey (2.5) and her Chloe handbag (brand new). Pam is a single mom living in London with a very successful career in TV. She is a very busy lady, but not too busy to spend time with her daughter and choose the perfect handbag...

"Every year I spend my bonus on a new (expensive) handbag. I spend the year before researching which handbag it's going to be. Last year it was a Mulberry. This year it is the Chloe."

"I don't buy the newest handbag, I buy a classic that has a new twist, like this one has this funky fabric."

"For me, a handbag is a woman's status symbol. It communicates that we are successful and that we have money to spend on something we carry everyday. I always make sure I take my best, most expensive handbag to important meetings. It's like make-up or a great outfit, it makes me feel confident."

(Not going) Back to Black

"My handbags used to always be black. Now that I'm a mother I feel like it's important not to wear black all the time. For her. I think she needs stimulation that comes from colour. So, this handbag is not black."

Even though this is Mo's 'getting back to being sexy' handbag, she still considers her daughter in her choice. In the same way that Bette-Lou's apple juice and tee-shirt migrated into her new, posh handbag, her mind is never far away from her daughter.

Her Daughter's Addiction to Handbags

Mo admits to passing on her addiction to handbags to her daughter. I think Bette-Lou can tell how important mummy's new handbag is to her so she must also always have her handbag with her. Bette-Lou has 5 handbags and she always carries her mobile phone in hers, just like her mummy.

Inside Mo's Bag

Just to give you a bit more about what's inside Mo's bag...

Wallet -- it was actually full to the gunnels with cards, receipts, money and change. I didn't look at the receipts but will do on future interviews. Mo's finances have been a bit of a bone of contention with her husband. She was a bit debt when they got married and he wants her to pay her credit cards off. She's not great about this -- she works in fashion, likes lovely stuff and is a great present-giver. It's hard for her to live within her means and having Bette-Lou has put an added strain on their relationship. She hasn't been working since Bette-Lou has been born and so no money has been coming in.

IR Cheque -- she just recently received this cheque and was looking for a bank to deposit it in when we conducted this interview. She wanted to use it to take a nice holiday. Her husband wanted her to put it towards the credit card.

Favourite Pen -- Mo is a great writer of lovely notes. She likes to write her friends notes and likes to keep in touch. She MUST have a pen in her handbag at all times. She likes the pens that are more like fountain pens.

Bette-Lou's stuff -- as I mentioned, the tee shirt and apple juice is a spill over from the diaper bag. It wouldn't all fit and her Furla is big enough so it could take the extra load. It's not easy for Mo to separate her career life from her mother life.

Mirror -- Mo wants to look good -- as good as she looked before she became a mother and didn't have time for herself. She keeps the mirror in her bag so she can make sure she is keeping it together.

It's my "get my life back handbag"

This is Mo Buck (age 39), her daughter Bette-Lou, her Furla handbag, Bette-Lou's straw handbag (more on this in future posts) and her diaper bag. They live in West London with Kevin, Mo's husband and Bette-Lou's Dad. Mo has works in fashion and is the Head of Production for Coco Ribbon, a small boutique in Notting Hill. Mo had Bette-Lou 15 months ago and has just returned to work 3 days a week.

"I've always loved Furla bags. Always. I used to gravitate towards the smaller, more sexy ones. Now that I have Bette-Lou, though, leaving the house is a military operation that requires more than one bag."

"This is the first handbag I bought since becoming a mother. It's my, 'I want to go out at night again bag'. It's big enough to carry all my stuff, but cute enough for me to take it out on the rare occasion that I get a night off."

"What I really love about it is that it is lovely, soft leather and the straps are shiney metal. And did I mention it's big enough to hold all my stuff?"


Mo is a classic example of a woman who is redefining herself having just had her first child. She is stuck somewhere in the middle of being a mother and being a career woman. Her choice in handbag has to be practical (big), but it also has to make her feel good (feminine, sexy, more than a mother).

Mo first saw this handbag in New York on a weekend trip with her husband before Bette-Lou was born. It was US$720, they were expecting and it just seemed like too much. However, on a recent trip to italy, she saw it again and felt that although it was a lot of money, she now NEEDED the bag for her own sanity. So, she bought it.

Inside the handbag are the following:
Wallet
Tax refund cheque (she's hoping to see a bank today to make a deposit)
mobile phone (of course, always!)
Apple-Juice for Bette-Lou (somehow migrated from the diaper bag)
long-sleeved tee shirt for Bette-Lou (there was no more room in the diaper bag)
Her favourite pen
Mirror

The contents of this particular handbag are quite telling. Mo's role as a mother has migrated into the space that was originally supposed to be just for her. No matter how much she tries to compartmentalise this 'Feminine and sexy Mo space', her role as a mother keeps creeping in...

Big bag, bigger values

Today I am carrying one of my favourite bags. I like that it is very retro looking with the big metal rings. I also like that it fits so much stuff.

At first glance, you would think this bag says a lot about me and my values. It is by a Canandian company called Matt & Nat who only make products that are completely animal-free. When I first saw this bag I thought it was leather. In fact, it almost put me off it when I found it was a vegan bag. Unlike the folks at Matt & Nat, I like good, old fashioned leather products. However, the design of this bag was so perfect, so lovely, I bought it anyway, and I haven't been disappointed.

It's also quite fun when others see the bag and think I must be a vegan. Apparently, Matt & Nat have quite a cult following in the UK. Sometimes I tell them I just love the bag and am a complete carnivore. Other times I let them think I am terribly right on.

So, while I don't necessarily share the values that my bag projects, I still absolutely love the bag. (and so do my kittens, they've been gnawing away at one of the straps). I guess I've been a bit of a fashion victim with this one, but I don't care. It's totally fabulous. (And very big)

My handbag today

This is a very bad picture of my handbag today. It is a very old and worn Manhattan Portage messenger bag bought when I lived in NYC. It's not a very pretty bag, but it is very comfortable. Great for when I walk around London, as I did today.

The contents of my bag are as follows:

Wallet

Ipod

Sunglasses (Ever the optimist, I live in London)

Book (Uncommon Arrangements by Katie Roiphe)

Diary (I still carry a filofax, I can't get rid of my paper diary)

Business Cards

Johnson's "Melt Away Stress" body lotion

Oyster Card (for London Public Transport)

House Keys

Memory Stick

Blackberry

This is my smallest of handbags so what you see in the list above is the bare minimum I carry with me. I could never carry any less than this. The above items are absolutely essential!!!