The Ultimate Symbol ?

[Teresa]

I wasn't particularly looking for a symbol but when I went for a drive fully dressed, I picked up the usual stuff when going out wallet, phone and glasses and went to put them in my pockets, What pockets ? I haven't got any !
I don't believe it I've got to use a handbag ! OK I had to borrow one of the wife's ! It felt so sexy slipping the leather strap on my shoulder ! Is this the ultimate symbol ? Somehow a lipstick found it's way in too !!

The usual reaction to an effeminate man or CDer in the UK is, " Hello duckie, where's your handbag ? "
A good answer would be, Margaret Thatcher carried one, and she was devastating with it !

[Beverley Sims]

I lovingly treasure my long strapped handbag I bought from Target in Puget sound.
It carries everything even my cameras in male mode.

[NavyM2F_WAM]

I thought it felt odd when I first started using my purse, but I got used to it. When I was about to go out en femme, I automatically grabbed it and put my stuff in it.

[Megan Thomas]

Using a handbag came naturally to me. After years of stuffing pockets with oddments galore it was a relief to have everything in one place. Is it the ultimate symbol? I don't know. I think it vies highly but I also love wearing my very feminine sunglasses and they also vie for a top spot as the ultimate symbol.

[Amanda_P]

I practiced with one for a while but it never felt right. Then I started putting things in it. made it heavier. Now it fits great and doesn't slip off so much.

[Kate Simmons]

I usually have everything in there but the kitchen sink.:)

[Marcelle]

Hi Teresa. Your post made me laugh at the memory of using a purse for the first time. I thought how hard could this be after all I have carried a backpack for years (en boy) but, the nuances of manipulating a purse is very different and I had a steep learning curved . . . thank goodness for GG friends. I remember I was with a friend at the grocery store and had my purse in the cart and just walked away from it . . . she said "Are you going to leave your purse unattended?" :). The other thing was I never understood how my wife's purse can get so loaded down. When I first started using a purse I had my ID, credit cards, keys and perhaps a lipstick. Flash forward 10 months and I have everything I normally carry in my backpack (e- reader, cell phones, and whatnot) . . . my wife picked up my purse one day and said, "So any comments about the weight of my purse now smart a$$" . . . she said it in humour :)

Hugs

Isha

[Teresa]

Isha totally guilty of that one, the times I've said to the wife, " Can you just pop these in your bag !" No it wasn't my lipstick ! After a while you turn round and your wife is on hers knees with the weight, well I can't carry your bag ! Well now I've come out more, I might just be doing that !

I noticed the end of your reply went into italics, some of mine have done that ! Not sure why !

[AKADonna]

Me, too! When I first loaded a little purse for a outing, I simply put in my Drivers license and credit card. But then I remembered my phone, change, keys, lipstick, brush, safety pin, etc, etc, etc and then I had to get a bigger purse!

[bridget thronton]

I have used a shoulder bag for years. Not sure I can get by without it (too much junk in it now including computer tools)

[carhill2mn]

I really enjoy the act of slipping the strap of one of my shoulder bags over my shoulder. I prefer a shoulder bag to a hand bag as it leaves both of my hands free.

Many years ago I purchased a shoulder bag (that did not look like a purse) to use while traveling, especially in foreign countries. This proved to be a very good idea as I always had more things to carry than would fit in my pockets. I quickly became a fan of a shoulder bag although, I did have to get used to remembering that I had it!

[suchacutie]

Well, I'm so glad that this topic is not unique to me! My wife has been my mentor in all things feminine and when I've questioned her judgment I've almost always been wrong, but on the purse issue I've been holding fast: Tina thinks she needs a sleek small shoulder bag, but my wife's vision is a really large bag.

But isn't it interesting that it's such a n important thing!

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Teresa, I find that a purse and a tol box are a lot alike the bigger they are the more things you will find to put in them.

[Sometimes Steffi]

Before I was brave enough to get a real hand bag, I got a "day bag" which is like a small shoulder back, but matches luggage.

I use it every time I go out of towm, and it's stuffed with my most important things: glasses, sun glasses, cell phone cell phone charger, small flash light, portable nav, nav charger, ear plugs, etc. It doesn't surplace my pockets, but is in addition to them. It's a place to put all that stuff in your pockets when you go through security at an airport.

Now my hand bag has all the stuff that would go in my guy pants, plus a small make-up bag, makeup mirror, comb, hair thingies, and other girl stuff.

[daarleane]

I always carry a shoulder bag, don't leave home without one. Best part of it all, no more holes in pockets for things to fall out of. It is not so much of a fashion statement as just being practical, there is just to much stuff to carry even without the fem things.

[Jillian Faith]

I don't know if a purse is the ultimate symbol of femininity but I will say I don't leave home without a stylish shoulder bag filled with all of my feminine accessories and necessities!

[Laura Collette]

For years in male mode I filled my pockets with keys, wallet, change purse, hankie, etc, and overflowed into a tote bag with my book (always reading), my lunch and my little camera. Now I carry most everything in a small shoulder bag but still overflow into a tote when I have a book. So now I have an e-reader and it fits in the purse too. Unladylike rummaging in the purse ensues when I'm looking for something small but I love having everything in one place and not having bulging pockets. I never go out en femme but I do wear a bra, and the cross-body purse strap goes right between my breasts making them look pretty obvious especially in the summer when I'm wearing only an opaque T-shirt. Well I've decided just to brazen that out and so far have received no challenges from anyone. I'm obviously male but I love underdressing and carrying a purse for their feminine connections. Sometimes I get a big friendly smile from a GG and that makes my day.

[Cheryl T]

I would be lost without my purse.
Where would I put everything?
Drab = wallet and keys and cell phone
Fab = wallet, keys, cell phone, makeup, hair accessories, hair brush, perfume and lord knows what else. No way does this fit in the tiny pockets in my jeans or ??? in a dress.

[BillieJoEllen]

Years ago when one could still get arrested for going out dressed I went to JC Penneys en femme. I looked pretty decent that night. I was in the lingerie department and decided to try on a few panty girdles that I was thinking of buying. After I tried them on I took them back out and hung them up. When I turned to leave an older SA asked in a very loud voice if she could help me. I made some silly noise and left the store. When I got to my car I realized I left my purse in the dressing room. It took awhile before I could screw up my courage to go back in and retrieve it. That's all I would have needed is for someone to check out my ID. Made out again without incident.

[sometimes_miss]

I learned why a woman's purse is so full of stuff after I started carrying a backpack to school, and gradually kept finding more and more junk that 'would just come in handy' to have around. Then it got to the point where I was not only taking it to school, but to work too. One day I took a day trip to visit some relatives, and forgot a lot of stuff I really needed because the backpack was at home, not being part of my vacation stuff. Then I realized what I was doing, and streamlined my stuff back to just what went in my pockets and a notepad.
A few years later, after the divorce, I was curious about the whole purse experience, and so bought a camera bag that was about the same size as most women's medium purses; then, removed everything from my pockets and dumped it into the bag. I added an assortment of oddball stuff to mimic the collection that women put in their bags to see what it would be like to have to rummage through it all on a frequent basis to find what I needed. And, it was really a pain in the ass; every time I had to pay for something, into the bag to find my wallet. pen, in the bag. Comb, somewhere buried in the bag. Candy. Gum. LIghter and cigarettes (gum, you can find them online candy stores!), regular gum (women like to have fresh breath), toothbrush, little toothpaste, the amount of junk really adds up. Not to mention of course, like everyone else has found out, having to keep an eye on the damn thing whenever I'd get up and almost walk away without it, and I felt really odd taking it to the bathroom with me as I wouldn't dare leave my wallet and cell phone sitting at the diner table alone. I spent a week with that camera bag; being a girl, and having to deal with no pockets, and carrying a purse everywhere, has to be really annoying, though I guess if you grow up doing it, it does become second nature. But switching to doing that after half a century of having everything I needed in my pockets? Boy was that irritating. It's a nice bag. Fortunately, I have a nice camera that I can keep in it, too. I prefer pockets.

[Megan Thomas]

That's why we have organiser bags. Hey, in the UK you can even buy an organiser insert for our handbags. :)

[sometimes_miss]

That's why we have organiser bags. Hey, in the UK you can even buy an organiser insert for our handbags. :)
The folks I work with are oh, well 90% are women. And I've never seen one of them who had an organized bag. Never. They're all filled with stuff; and the bigger the bag, the more stuff, lots of women are carrying 7 to 10 inch tablets in their purses now, along with that 5 inch display phone with the bulky designer cover (oh yeah, the tablet also has a cover to make it even bulkier and heavier!). The closest any came was one who had a clear plastic one for a while, so she could see what was inside it. That didn't last long, she said she didn't like looking at the mess.

[Eryn]

I used to carry a fabric briefcase but as others have pointed out these can turn into a black hole. I realized that I was carrying around 10 pounds of papers that I didn't even know were there.

I switched to a Timbuk 2 cordura shoulder bag that was designed like a miniature messenger bag. It is just big enough to hold my femme-style wallet and makeup bag, along with an iPad. The smaller bag was the best think I ever did as it forces me to clean it out now and then!

Unfortunately, the model I wear, the "Click" is no longer available. It has been replaced by the "Express" of similar size.

http://www.timbuk2.com/express-womens-shoulder-bag/700.html?dwvar_700_color=5000&dwvar_700_size=7

Timbuk2 bags are of excellent quality and some models can even be custom made with whatever fabrics you wish.

http://www.timbuk2.com/handbags-totes-gym-yoga-womens-bags

My wife and daughter both wear custom Eula bags.

One other advantage to carrying a shoulder bag in male mode is that you become used to handling and wearing one. This helps your presentation en femme. It does, however, lessen the sheer kinesthetic pleasure of wearing a bag, but I replaced that by having a selection of nice femme bags!