Baggage

Those who know me are well aware of my handbag fetish by now. I have several (by that I mean more than a handful, less than a hundred) bags of various shapes and sizes, although it must be said that they usually tend to be rather large. I think is mainly due to the fact that when I was a nanny I liked to think of myself as a Mary Poppins type (although without the singing) and was always prepared with a bag stuffed full of equipment to cope with any eventuality. Bearing in mind that my nanny days are far, far behind me I have considered on several occassions now that maybe it is time to edit the contents slightly of my favourite handbag.

The problem is that I still like to be prepared, and although I no longer need to carry nappies or spare romper suits with me, I think most people would agree that my current handbag contents is a little over the top....

make up bag (not going into the contents of that as well, we shall save it for another time)

mobile, ipod, hairbrush, wet wipes, tissues, sewing kit (hysterical really as I cannot sew a button on) shoe polish wipes (seriously) a spare pair of tights (for work) tape measure (ditto-I spend a lot of time helping clients measure washing machine gaps, it's a serious business) diary, notebook, 6 pens, toothbrush and toothpaste (in a bag of their own!) a novel (changes regularly) keys, sunglasses, plasters ( I never need plasters, but someone else might...) business cards, wallet, coin purse, ink cartridges (for one of the 6 pens) perfume, mints, bottle of water, a peppermint tea bag, a bracelet (wondered where that had gone) sunflower seeds (healthy snack that I always forget when there is a shop selling chocolate nearby) umbrella, spare bag (I kid you not- but is a folding shopping bag type affair, my excuse is that I am helping to save the planet by not using plastic bags, plus it's red and pretty) and 87 pence in 5, 10 and 2p pieces lurking at the bottom.

I try so hard to edit regularly, usually when I am swapping bags over, but the bag pictured above is my favourite (and most expensive) bag, and one I tend to use the most, hence most junk tends to find its way back into the dark suede lined depths eventually. Either that or strewn across my chest of drawers.

I am very good at downsizing the clutter for nights out, although I will never be able to be one of those girls I envy who get away with taking a lipstick out with them and a £20 note. How do they cope? What happens if an emergency arises? (yes, like needing a spare pair of tights....may be useful if you befriended a potential bank robber? I HATE tights, but still...) I can survive with a small (ish) bag, but still need the essentials.

I do suffer with a bad back on occassion and a couple of my nearest and dearest have pointed out that it could be down to the weight of my handbag, but I refuse to agree. It has given me a good excuse to give serious consideration to a new bag though, possibly the nice leather messenger style one I was looking at earlier on today. Apparently it is a very good way of distributing the weight of the contents of your bag evenly, therefore preventing back strain. Well if the doctors recommend it surely it would be rude to ignore such good advice?