if i must.

i remember the large white purse my maternal grandmother used to carry.  i think she might have even had a kitchen sink in there.  i was fascinated by it, among other things.  she carried a pen knife - for sharpening pencils!  & a white makeup stick for giving herself a french manicure (from the underside - not nail polish like they do now).  given my childhood fascination, it is perhaps odd that i rather dislike carrying a purse, myself.  i avoid it as much as possible.  because of this, i have lots of purses.

purchased at the Nokomis Shoe Shop in Minneapolis

i have lots of purses because sometimes i do not have pockets.

or, rarely, because i have too much to carry in the pockets i do have.

& i want to carry the smallest.purse.possible.

ergo, i have a selection of carefully graded receptacles for my stuff.

left:  if i only need my phone & essentials; right: chapstick only. really.

i, actually, don't think i've ever bought a new purse.  the one at top (from the Nokomis Shoe Shop), was given to me by my mother.  she has a matching one, though i'm going to claim to have seen them first.  the little black one, above, was my aunt's; and my mother gave me the little red silk purse (my old cellphone used to fit in it, which was pure joy to me).

yard sale purses

i've gone through a couple of stages when i sewed my own purses.  my sewing machine intimidates me, so i sew by hand.  these were made from upholstery remnants someone was throwing away.  they are huge and really could serve as carry-on luggage.

these are from my mother, who volunteers at a 10,000Villages shop.

lucky me!

my first two years of college, i carried this around.  it is my maternal grandmother's old camera bag.  the strap was fraying, as i recall, so i wrapped it in yarn.  looks like i wrapped it in whatever yarn i happened to have around.  i was very fond of it & thought myself quite artsy & all.

this has been my very favorite of favorite purses (okay, so i don't dislike purses.  i dislike carrying them around.  two different things.).  this one, actually, i did purchase.  in guatemala, summer of 1988.  it is the.perfect.size.  & it is worn out.  i rarely use it these days because the strap is splitting. 

the obverse is my favorite side of my very favorite of favorite purses.

my first purse.

for untold treasures.

& it matched my dress.

& i wore them day after day after day.

& i loved carrying this purse.

okay, i bought this one, too.  in morocco, spring of 1990.  &, the moment i bought it and started carrying it around the market, the attempts to sell me other items were relentless.  that was when they realized we were americans.  i carried it the last year of college, and the inside is still black with newspaper ink from the daily tarheel.

actually, it's what i carry now - my work satchel.  & my new cellphone fits perfectly in one of the end pockets.  i put surprisingly few items in this, given its size (or you are not surprised, if you have been paying attention).  but i like it - it's convenient, a habit more than anything else.