Handbags

I now cram my life into a very small bag. It's amazing how little I need. Pen notebook(paper sort) cards small purse keys tissues and phone (switched off)I have the same bag in black blue purple and brown(Osprey)covers all contingencies

Hate handbags. A squishy, slouchy back-pack thingy is much better. I do own a handbag - a long strapped leather one - but it's useless for holding most things that I'd want to take for a day out.

I'm like you, kitty. I like to stick with one bag for months at a time, and when I see a bargain I'll buy the next one. I do have two purses - one for foreign money and relevant cards and the other for everyday use. I often see very expensive bags knocked down to a few pounds in TK Maxx, so I head there first, then EBay - got a lovely new Radley bag for a fraction of the price on there.

I only have one bag at a time on the go - I am the same -Kitty if I start swapping - only do that for special occasions or I have some necessary thing missing - I have in my bag - wallet, keys, phone, sun specs, and a notebook a lipstick and tape measure!
My current one is red and has a lovely long strap so I can wear it across my body when shopping etc - leather and bought in Costco - the Sak - great.

I buy my bags at charity shops. Current one has a nice long strap to wear cross-wise, four roomy zip pockets and is a soft leather. Cost £4. Bargain.

Years ago I had a bag to match every outfit and wouldn't dream of not changing the bag to match whatever I was wearing (matching shoes as well).
Now I have a comfy squashy bag for every day use and a couple of 'best' bags. I too used to find that when I kept swapping them all the time I would invariably forget to put something in the new one that I needed.

I'm with finnochio. Same small backpack for the last 20 years! I do have a very small wallet handbag type thing which goes in the rucksack so I can go to the counter, buffet etc without the bigger bag.

Seeing an interview yesterday about a shoe designer - when did it become universally accepted that women are obsessed with shoes and handbags? And will pay or have aspirations to pay huge amounts for them?

Oh dear! I admit to be a bagaholic! Can't resist handbags and shoes. I daren't count how many I have. I do change bags to go with whatever I'm wearing.

Oh dear, I change my handbag to match my outfit when we go 'out' out and then keep using that one until the next time we go out. I do like my outfit to be all coordinated. Am I the only one? I am feeling like the odd one out

I am always impressed by a friend of mine not carrying a handbag when we go out for a meal with our DHs. I said to her what about keys, phone, purse, lipstick, tissues, hair brush etc? Also my DH always asks me to put his car keys in my bag and the sat nav in case it gets stolen. No, she said I don't need any of that, DH has money, keys and phone and we don't have a sat nav. I need my stuff with me

Ah!! Her DH has the money, keys etc. So he is her handbag. Without DH, car and Satnav she might found she could not operate just on one tissue tucked up her knickerleg.

Does/did she have any children? I always found it impossible to go anywhere with mine without a large handbag filled with the life-support system. Somehow I still need it forty years later. It is not exactly a fashion item though.

One small bag, always with a long strap so I can hang it round my neck if I want. Cannot imagine in a million years wanting to swap handbags every day

I feel lost without a handbag. I've got to have somewhere to put purse, phone and keys. Why don't they make more ladies clothes with pockets !!! I stick to one bag at a time, and only replace it when worn out. I always buy a long strap across the body type. I prefer these especially in supermarkets as I can walk away from the trolly and know my bag is safe. I have a small clutch bag for evenings out.
I also have a selection of various coloured bags bought to match outfits on special occasions. They will probably never see the light of day again

Elegran. Yes she does have children but I didn't get to know her until they were grown up and as you say her DH is her handbag. A very confident lady.
I need my handbag, not as a fashion accessory as you say, but as a little support system. This may sound sad, but I regularly have dreams that I am out at night and I lose my handbag. Sometimes when I wake up I can still feel the panic. Oh dear !

I think Coats do a pattern for a handbag liner. Useful for the days when I used to carry everything around. Now the small bag is fine and my shoulder has stopped aching

Oh dear KatyK - when SisIL lost her handbag (left on the tube) a psychotherapist friend started going on about "womb complexes" and equating handbags with wombs/motherhood/loss. It all got very deep and I would hate to suggest that you might be suffering from "empty nest syndrome"
Speaking of which does anybody else ever dream they are pregnant or have a baby? Regular one of mine, the baby is about the size of a baby panda (and often disappears altogether) and the pregnancy version recognises that I am in my 60's but somehow nobody seems worried. Oh dear.

I prefer to not carry a handbag at all and generally stick my purse, phone and keys in my pockets... if I need to take more such as glasses then I have a very old shoulder bag with loads of pockets and I use that, I do have a couple of other bags if I am going to be 'posh' but generally a pocket surfices.. can't be doing with bags as I walk about a lot on my own I think not carrying a bag makes me less of a target if I'm honest.

Gracesmum. I think it's very likely that I am suffering from empty nest syndrome, although my DD (my only child) left home about 20 years ago! We have had a difficult relationship the last few years and I feel a bit lost about it all. Never had the pregnancy dream. I have 2 recurring dreams, one is the handbag one and another is that I am out at night and can't get home and try to phone my DH to come and get me. Every time I find a phone box it is out of order and when I use my mobile,
it won't work. Lost bag, lost me - I can see a pattern here. Perhaps we should start an In The Psychiatrist's Chair thread !

I just don't do handbags. Not since my American aunt gave me one at 16, and I lost it by leaving it in a cafe.
I just do pockets.
But why do women's clothes have so few?!!!

For the last ten years or more, all my handbags have come from charity shops, apart from one little bag I got for my Grandson's wedding last year. They have all been black and had a shoulder strap. Now, I usually use a little soft backpack which doubles up for shopping and walking
I have no interest in fashion, bags or shoes. I must have a female gene missing - I don't care much for chocolate either!

Alie, presumably because most women carry handbags!

Pockets can spoil the line of certain garments, as well. I don't like side pockets in trousers, if you put anything bulky in them it gives you an odd shape.

KatyK I loved In the Psychiatrist's Chair. I have heard some strange analyses of people over the years, particularly from professionals who should have known better, so I'm sure a few Gransnetters are capable of being as perceptive as them, if not better!

Mine have mostly come from Ebay. I look for a good make and if I like the look of it I bid, not always successfully. I like to coordinate or contrast. Never clash if I can help it. Last winter's was (still is) a lovely red leather Tula bag but I do have black, navy and brown too. Cream for summer.