Thursday, February 4, 2010

What's in yours then?


1950's fashion
Originally uploaded by ΔSabine DavisΔ
I remember coming across a clipping when I was young that my mother had kept from a newspaper. It was an article written about her with a photograph of her standing in the street looking into her handbag. The article described what 'modern' women carry in their handbags. For the modern woman of the late 1950's she carried very similar items that we do today being lipstick, make up, hair brush, plastic explosives etc. But of course there was no technology and the humble vintage purse was not required to carry much more than your pair of matching leather gloves. Which might explain why today's handbags are either not meant to be used as the survival packs that we use them for or they are failing to do the job required. Bags today need to be compartment filled for several communication devices, they must provide for bunches of keys that would sink you to the bottom of the lake should you accidentally fall in and they must be robust enough to stand the bottom scraping of under table bar action that comes with Friday night drinks. The modern bag should be capable of slipping over the shoulder to free the hands for waving and phone talking and light enough to enable the wearer to hang onto the commuter strap on the 5:45 whiplash express ride home. So having worn my current bag into a state that can only be described as designer turned dumpster bag, my weekend will entail the shop for the new bag. Could take me some time.

3 comments:

  1. Must admit, my little leather back pack is looking a little shabby thanks to the rigours of modern life. The bigger the bag, the more junk that seems to accumulate. Good luck with the retail therapy. A good bag is EXPENSIVE.

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  2. I like the one I'm currently using. Unfortunately it was an el cheapo and is falling apart so will have to replace mine as well soon. Darn it.

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  3. Backpacks leave both hands free. I have two. A falling apart junkie cheapo one that goes to work with me and gets crammed into a locker, and a smaller leather one that I use for trips to the city. I gave up on handbags and shoulder bags that made me walk lopsided when the arthritis in my neck became permanently painful, rather than just occasionally painful.

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