Handbags and purses

Well Snarklings, I have been asked what sort of handbag or purse, etc an elder Goth should tote around.

That depends upon what is its purpose, casual, day work, evening, running errands or just looking drop dead wonderful.

Let’s start with color; you can never go wrong with basic black, as a matter of fact I found at a TJ Max store a beautiful black straw bag with silver fastenings that is just wonderful for the Spring Summer look. The straw is not bulky or thick but smooth and fine and will last for 3 possibly 4 or more seasons, if properly taken care of.

Another color is red, but be careful with the red that you choose, I have several evening purses, one is a black velvet bag with a draw string top with black jet beading, very Victorian, elegant and goth at the same time, the other is a red satin bad, but the red is very deep and dark, not burgundy but nearly enough, the trim is gold simple and understated.

In red I have one daytime bag that I will use for work in a very good red leather, again the red is deep and not cheap looking. It is smaller than my black daytime work purse but it carries my essentials, wallet, phone, keys, aspirin for headaches, lipstick and compact with mirror and powder, business cards, pen and small notebook.

Another color is a deep burgundy purple, this works with black, red, and purple.
But it is hard to find in a good burgundy color in leather. So stay with the Red and Black.

One thing I do avoid is the cheap plastic or patent leather look; nothing looks as cheap as that. And Elder Goths are never cheap looking.

For my work purpose I have one red bag but several black purses, ranging in size, one is a Liz Claiborne that doubles as my briefcase, so I combine two purposes into one bag.

When traveling I prefer a black bag that will cross over the body, makes it harder for a thief to steal and that is another thing you have to be careful about is having your purse stolen, even if you drape it from your chair it is too easy for a thief to remove your wallet. Also by having it cross over your body it leaves your hands free.

And speaking of wallets, a friend of mine bought the Alumina wallet and has found (at least in her case) that it does prevent anyone from scanning her cards. But she also found that she could not carry every card in it. So the Alumina wallet forces you to choose what card you will be carrying, which is good.

Elder Goths know that credit card debit is bad debt, there is no way you can get a tax write off with it. So my friend carries one credit card to cover gas, and emergencies, when she goes shopping for clothes, she keeps herself on a serious budget. The other cards are her I.D., Road side service card, medical card, her bus pass (she doesn’t use her car except on weekends) she does have a debit card, with Wells Fargo but she uses that in credit mode only after she has paid her bills and has put a serious amount aside in her savings and IRA.

But the best thing an Elder Goth can do is look like she doesn’t need a purse.

How does one achieve that look, I have several items of clothing, a jacket, coat, over sweater, that has pockets, I carry only 3 keys, house, ignition and gas key, I use the least amount of cards so a super thin wallet, cell phone, lipstick and a small tin of aspirin, I make sure that my pockets have Velcro tops to close so nothing falls out, and a small coin purse to hold coins and paper money, tightly folded. With my hands free I look like I mean business, no one bothers me.

And that is what an Elder Goth should present to the world.