You can never have too many . . .

No matter whether you call them purses, handbags, totes, pocketbooks or whatever, you can never have too many (unless you're a guy, in which case, ignore this post). For some reason, somewhere along the trail to civilization as we know it, it was decided that the woman/mother/family caretaker would be the designated carrier of all things for her family. This caused a quandry, I mean, for heaven's sake, a woman has only got 2 hands. I am no historian, but my guess is that's why pockets were invented. But, then, pockets aren't really large enough for carrying all the essentials. Besides, if you only have one pocket, and it's full of stuff you need/want to have with you, you may look lopsided as you walk. Enter the handbag/purse/tote/whatever you call it, the "extra hand."

Some are carried in your hand (clutch: basically a big pocket), but that defeats the "extra hand" feature and just makes you look stylish (maybe). So, we add a handle to the basic clutch and call it a "wristlet." A little more convenient, and allows your hand to hold something else as you wear the wristlet around your wrist. But with the wristlet hanging from your wrist, you realize it's not exactly stationary. It bangs against your thigh, it bangs against your wrist and everything else because of it's free-swinging design. (Cute if you're the Mary Tyler Moore type bouncing down the street in a carefree manner. Ever tried carrying a hot cup of coffee while having a wristlet attached to your wrist? OUCH!) Don't get me wrong, the clutch and the wristlet both have their uses especially if you only need a few essentials with you, or are a party girl. However, the majority of women "need" more holding power.

Enter the "shoulder bag/tote." Wow! What an invention! Worn either on the shoulder or cross shoulder, it adds a lot of . . . Umphf . . . to your carrying power. Depending on it's size, you can carry just the basic essentials, or a week's worth of clothes or the kitchen sink (not recommended for obvious reasons). They may be constructed with or without extra pockets, inside or out or both (to corral all those absolutely necessary little bits of stuff you don't want to lose in the abyss that is called the "bottom of the bag").

So, you ask, why is she telling me all this? ROFL, I do have a point to all of this, I really do. Making purses/handbags/totes is one of the things I do. I had planned to show you some of them but blogger isn't cooperating this morning and only wants to place them where it wants to, not where I tell it to. So, I will have to devise a way to circumvent the stubbornness of blogger.