What makes a good Purse?

As a woman I have carried a hand bag most of my life. I've loved this tradition since I'm a little girl. From that first little purse my mother gave me with my own wallet and $Money$ I was in love. Shoes and Handbags are one of my favorite things to shop for.

There is so much involved with a purchase of a handbag, price, size, color, texture, weight, purpose and on and on. A wrong purse as far as a fashion accessory can make or break an outfit. On the other hand you can have almost anything on as far as clothing is concerned but have AbFab expensive shoes and AbFab expensive handbag and the whole outfit is uplifted to a different category.

Sometimes handbags have those little initials and $$$ magic women clammer for more, save their money and purchase a ridiculously expensive say Gucci or Louis Vuitton actually plastic handbag. Go figure, oh but how that expensive purse makes that lady feel, like a queen.

When I was traveling in Venice Italy, there were street vendors selling "designer knock offs" on blankets laying on the streets. How they can get away with this I don't know but they were all over Venice. One of the more amusing sites was on one of the more fashionable streets of Venice right next to the Gucci store selling the very same knock off handbag at a mere fraction of the price. You really had to be careful because if you showed any interest even a fleeting glance the vendors would come running after you trying to bargain a good price. They would start out with 100 Euros and end up with selling it to you for 20 Euros.











Just the other day I came across this picture it is the opening of the Louis Vuitton store in Budapest! With the prices for those bags I am amazed, they are lining up!





Oh my the quirks of human nature, we must show off to our fellow humans, look at me I can afford to buy a $500 dollar purse! Although the very same good knock off was only $50 dollars. Those Koreans, they know how to knock those initials off..... it has really become a cat and mouse game.

Me personally I like a well made functional purse, there are many requirements that I have. They can't be too big because then I just load them up with stuff and then I end up dragging this heavy bag and get a back or shoulder ache. They need to have a good bright lining so I can see inside! This purse designers always forget about, if the lining of the purse is dark like black it's like a black hole I can't find anything. I've even had to resort to a tiny flash light in some cases.

Of course if the purse looks AbFab and I love it I will put up with some inconveniences like the dark lining. I like purses to have a wide opening that can be zipped so I can open the purse get what I want and zip it up so nothing falls out. The zipper is important these days because of OMG pick pockets. How well does it fit? How it feels? and most of all how nice it looks. Because the bottom line is for show. Oh I meant to say function. ;-)

Here are some of my favorites:



This bag is designed by my friend Jo Ann Page and is one of my favorites for function , esthetics and all around comfy a "good bag". The leather is soft as can be the linings are bright it does have some zippered compartments inside but it has a magnetic closure. Cleverly designed so when you yank on the straps it automatically closes.

If you get one of these purses be sure to tell Jo Ann hello. She sells at shows and fairs and I think she has a studio in Los Angeles but she does sell online.

Jo Ann Page Leather

Furla
I have some Furla bags that I just love however they have gotten far too expensive in the last few year. Nicely made stylish bags.

An all time favorite:
LeSportSac
I own several of these bags, although I like the older designs better than the new ones. But for all around light weight and practical. A lot of old ladies like these and I don't blame them. I guess that's why they are trying to design lots of colors and design for the younger market. Fun and fairly reasonable.

Another one of my favorites is Piero Guidi
Italian really nice bags. They seemed to be very popular when I was traveling in Italy. When I was up in Northern Italy in the Dolomites ski resorts they were all over, funny how fads go. It seems Italian women who ski wear Piero Guidi purses.
Heads up with the web site, it's one of those "let me dazzle you with my design" rather than the product.