What's in Your Handbag?

[Etienne]

Hi, Ladies,

I was wondering if anyone would like to reveal the contents of their favorite vintage handbag...? Today's purses seem so much bulkier and bigger--and the bigger they get, the more we lug around in them! What are the essentials you carry with you in your vintage purses? I just bought a fabulous '40's purse today and wondering how to pare down my essentials!

 

[Amber Rose]

hmmm essentials for me are my compact, lipstick, tissues, a pen and mini notebook and wallet - though I must admit by the end of the week there is nearly 3 times that amount of stuff in there!lol

 

[maisie]

Considering some of the 40's handbag are so tiny, most of the time i just carry around a lipstick, compact, tissues and keys! No room for modern technology like mobile phones!!:eusa_clap

 

[AtomicBlonde]

I'm a mess... lipsticks, my compact, my cigarette case, tissues, various receipts, papers I've scribbled on, loose change, the odd hairpin here and there.... even with small vintage purses I have to dig. I'm completely scatterbrained and unorganized, but at least I admit it!

 

[mysterygal]

contents of purse

all I've got in mine is my wallet and a tube of lip gloss..oh yeah, and a pen if I remember to put it back in there

 

[Tin Pan Sally]

Good idea for a thread!

It varies by which small purse or clutch I'm using. I have a tiny 1920s silver metal "chain mail" bag that only holds coinage. I'll have to post pix of it, it's extremely unique and well made.
Usually I carry a compact w/mirror, lipstick, small comb, bobby pins, light-up pen, keys, vintage leather coin purse (it's actually a mans, I'll post pix eventually), and cellphone.

 

[Vanessa]

Well, I carry a teeny tiny purse (if one at all) normally - but when vintaged out:
-compact
-lipstick
-lip gloss (addict!)
-hankie
-hairpins
-snood
-cell phone (when it's not permanently attached to my ear)
-credit cards, id & whatever money I might be blessed with at the time)

Somehow I always end up with a thousand hairpins at the bottom of my purse.

 

[Lauren]

I posted these a while back, but I think they're applicable here as well!

 

[Lauren]

When I go out vintage I carry in mine:

*Compact with lipstick,
*cash or card and id
*car key
*cell phone
*camera
*contact case with backup glasses
*I second vanessa on hairpins and safety pins
*Usually by the end of the night my earrings have found their way in there too

I carry a big purse, or I have stragegic placement

 

[Vanessa]

I carry a big purse

Are we talking about your everyday purse now? 'Cause I think it counts as a weekender. :whistling

 

[pantopon rose]

Personally, a good 80% of my purses are large, so I carry the "bare essentials" like make-up, cash and a camera. I always have a compact on me no matter what. As you might have guessed, by the end of the day, I have to root around for about 5 minutes to find something. My advice for a small purse should be lipstick, compact and cash.

 

[Dis]

The purse I carry is medium sized I think. I couldn't carry a little one because my wallet is big enough to knock someone out!

No makeup in mine. I don't like the way the stuff feels on my face so I never wear it except on very special occasions.

The aforementioned wallet,
a wee little Bible,
another little book, from my miniature classics collection,
pen,
pencil,
brush,
elastics for hair,
hairclip (My hair is four and a half feet long.)

 

[Lauren]

What a lovely idea to carry a bible or a book! I should do that. But then again, I've already got a mammoth purse

 

[Irena]

When I carry my small purses:
Wallet (it's actually a tiny business-card holder)
Tiny comb
Chapstick
Pen
Extra hair ties and hair pins
Keys
Cell phone
I'm good at packing, so all of this fits nicely!

When I carry my big purses(they actually aren't so big, they just are to me):
All of the above
Bible
Book
Water

 

[mysterygal]

I like small to medium purses....large ones just don't feel right

 

[LizzieMaine]

Cleaned out my bag today, and knew there had to be a thread about it! --

Aside from my wallet and checkbook, I found --

My compact, in its little cloth carrying bag

Three lipsticks in various stages of use -- Revlon Certainly Red (my current fave), L'Oreal Drumbeat Red (love the color, hate the smell), and Revlon Bed of Roses

Comb and small hairbrush

Prescription meds

Extra-Strength Tylenol

Emery board

Tweezers

Little screwdriver in case the lens falls out of my glasses again

YMCA membership card

A valet parking ticket from a concert I went to last spring

About a dozen lottery tickets I've yet to check

Last week's pay stub from the movie theatre

A reminder card for a doctor's appointment I had in April

A tangled hairnet

Seven bobby pins

$14 in Canadian money

$10 in Bahamian money (from a trip I took in 1998)

Four Subway Sub Club stamps I never got around to sticking to the little card.

A 1923 silver dollar my grandmother gave me when I was nine

An NYC MetroCard with two rides left on it

My Girl Scout membership card, expired May 1973. (carried in case I can use it to get a discount on cookies -- never works, but I keep trying.)

A scrap of paper with someone's phone number on it -- can't remember whose.

A 10 percent off coupon from Borders, which my mother gave me because I'm "always readin' books and stuff."

(And there's even more stuff in my wallet, but I don't dare to look!)

 

[Rosie]

:eusa_clap Well done Lizzie, I'd love to see the size of that bag though.

Once, I looked in my bag and my television remote was in there, how'd it get in there, I don't know.

Normally, I carry my wallet, my phone book, cell phone, pen, hankie, small pack of disposable tissues, keys, hair pins, rubber bands, pencil, small makeup bag which contains my compact, two or three lipsticks, eyebrow pencil, rice paper tissues, small pot of cocoa butter, purell, lotion and I think that's it.

 

[magneto]

Cleaned out my bag today, and knew there had to be a thread about it! --

Ha! I read your list and was positive you borrowed my handbag!

-The same compact I showed a pic of, filled with Coty powder
-A slightly-dinged '30s enamel cigaret case, used as a wallet.
-Two cheap Penatia fountain pens (write like a champ!) and some clipped-together index cards in various colors per category. A mechanical pencil I just found on a bus bench.
-A Swiss army knife, and a fork and spoon in case I have to eat anywhere impromptu. Also receipt from lunch at a new-to-me diner (not very good)
-YMCA card and free Legion of Honor Museum pass.
-USB thumb drive.
-One good luck rubber frog (I lost the rubber lobster).
-And some "fun" calling cards I just designed in TeX.
-Oh, and the $1 Wet'n'Wild surprisingly-OK red lipstick.

 

[artdecodame]

Mine always seem to be total messes as well, regardless of the size! I collect beaded bags (vintage or reproduction), but usually they are too small to carry very much. Other than the obvious lipstick and powder, I've been known to keep receipts forever. Really, I'm sure I still have some from last year when I was in Europe!!

 

[PrettySquareGal]

Tissues (and now a lace hankie, too)
Wallet
Cell phone
Small make-up bag w/lipstick, Chapstick, & Papier Poudre
Eyeglasses
Eyeglass cleaner
Wet Wipes
Fountain Pen