how her personal aesthetic sometimes involves some odd fashion choices.
From the article:
“Let me give you an idea of my personal aesthetic: Until last year, I
had no purse. I carried a wine bag. I’m not joking. That is my
accessory of choice: one of those $2 shiny paper gift bags you buy at
the grocery store to stick a bottle of wine in….you
don’t have to worry about whether it matches your outfit because people
assume, you know, it’s a wine bag. A smiling woman walking down the
street swinging a wine bag creates a festive atmosphere. People walking
by think you’re going to a party, and they
smile at you. It’s pleasant for everyone….”Now somehow my first image was of a paper bag with the neck of an open beer bottle sticking out of it. Not what Ms. Flynn has in mind. (She sounds like a real person, doesn't she? Someone I might even like if I could get over my jealousy.)
Her comment also got me thinking about handbags. Was there ever a time when I didn't carry one? I have photos of me at 6 wearing a patent leather shoulder bag. My granddaughter at one and a half runs around the house with an old handbag looped around her neck.
In my 20s I carried around a purse made of crocheted squares -- they were a supposed to be a bedspread but I lost interest and turned them into a purse. You could do that in the 60s.
For a while (shh, don't tell anyone), I wore a fanny pack. And back when I wore pantsuits I also carried a briefcase and dispensed altogether with a purse. A particularly bleak period.
But I think Gillian Flynn is onto something. Truly the handbag you wear is a window to your soul. Yes, your personal aesthetic. Or at the very least a tip-off to your age.
Right now I favor Baggallinis. Small, light, washable, practical. Zippers!Lucy's got them, too. Our friend Pat has a formidable collection of them, too, but ever since her granddaughter proclaimed one of them "tragic" we have both felt unsure of them as a fashion choice. But when I go to the store to find something less tragic to replace it, I'm stumped.
I'm sorry, I do not get why anyone needs to wear a big honking handbag? Like this bag, which I love (red leather!) but it's
gi-normous, undoubtedly weighs a ton, and costs $600. Which, in the realm of handbags, these days isn't all that much. And who needs to carry around a file cabinet?What does your handbag (the one you're carrying RIGHT NOW (or just put down)) say about you?) What's the weirdest thing you've ever used to carry around your stuff? And what is the male analogue of a handbag??
