My new red bagarrived a few weeks ago, and as I promised Editor (of Up and Down Town, the former Retail Recovery, and the brand new Into Construction) that I’d display the innards once I had the bag in hand, I took it out for a photoshoot on the weekend. As you can see, if you want a purse with pockets and organizers and fancy lining, this is not the bag for you. It has one decent-sized, zippable pocket on one wall, and otherwise the space is unstructured. This works well for me, as I’d just as soon move my own smaller pouches from one bag to another when I need to , but it’s not for everyone. As for the lining, it’s not beautiful, but it’s attractive enough, serviceable, and suggests longevity.
The other aspect of this bag that took a bit of getting used to is that with the metal frame and hardware, and with the sturdy leather, it’s slightly heavier than I was used to, and I worried at first that I might find it uncomfortable. But I’ve taken it for a city test-walk or two, and I’m quite pleased. I like being able to switch between hands as I carry it by this handle, and I love the convenience of the shoulder strap when I need my hands free.
Speaking of things red, perhaps I shouldn’t have been so surprised to be paid an impromptu visit by that hussy, almost immediately after sharing a poem about missing her. Throughout our times together, I’ve always found she was more likely to come ’round when her presence was shared between my daughters and me or my friends or colleagues and me. So it makes sense, in a way, that she’d arrive unannounced after she’d been paid some attention, given some public recognition. At any rate, there she suddenly was, with her moods and her hurting and messy ways, interrupting me in the middle of a class with her demand that I attend to her right away. I haven’t seen her for six months and I’m supposed to be ready to meet her needs! And somehow, I was pleased to spend a bit more time together, not knowing if, or when, I’d ever see her again, whether I’d get to say, “Well girl, goodbye” . . . .
That’s a fabulous bag. I love the simplicity of it, but especially the color!
Le sigh!! I must have more anniversaries if they inspire this kind of beauty. L-l-l-love it!!!!
Enjoy your visit from Auntie Flow; or, as I call my own time of the month, shark week.
That is such a lovely bag. Perhaps you could call it the ‘hussy’ bag and only carry it for a few days every month? Or maybe not.
Enjoy getting to know your new bag, it’s reddilicious!
Enjoy getting to know your new bag, it’s reddilicious!
The bag is lovely a very ‘red’ post in more ways than one! (sorry)
I was very tempted by a red bag in TKMaxx yesterday, By Osprey? It was let down by some fairly gruesome lining, but it was light and big enough for the flotsam and jetsam of my life. However not cheap so I will think on.
Thanks all, especially LBR for the inspiration. And Cybill, great idea, altho’ then my days with this bag would be very numbered — but perhaps you young ‘uns could each have a designated red “hussy” bag.
And should we all encourage (enable!) IndigoAlison? Perhaps you could post pics, my dear, and we’ll all come over and chant, “Buy, buy, buy” — or tell you if the lining’s indeed just too gruesome. . .
Please come by my blog, I am holding the 2008 Ermine Awards and you have been given an award!
oh no, do not limit this bag to an association with a … fleeting companion. if anything, let this bag substitute nicely in the absence of the hussy!
thank you so much for remembering and fulfilling my request!!! this is a really great bag. there’s even a little key – i love that. i have a strong aversion to bags with pockets and built-in organizers, so the big mouth on this is perfect. i also run from easily identifiable (designer) bags, so again, that’s 2 for 2 on this one.
LBR: Thanks so much! You're such an encouraging, community-building fellow blogger.
Editor: I know! I love the key too, altho' I'm not sure I'll ever use it (those dinners, though, where one is several glasses of wine past keeping track of the comings & goings of passers-by and the respective presence of one's bag — I've had friends who have lost their wallets from purses as they sat happily munching directly above . . .)
And you've helped me see why this bag works so well despite what some would see as a lack of organizers — the big mouth! which lets me easily spot the items I'm searching for.
i’m a romantic when it comes to one’s bag. it’s such a personal companion. pawing around my things in search of a chapstick is a pleasure. a bag with internal organizers is anethema to me.
Lovely — or, to use your term, romantic — way to look at it. Efficiency needn’t always be our guiding principle.
indeed not.