My wife lays down the law

[Xenia]

As I've written recently, I've finally started venturing out into public while all dressed up.

Which prompted my wife to sit me down the other day and tell me that she thought it was HIGHLY inappropriate for me to be gallivanting around town....

...while carrying such a hideous purse. She informed me, as gently as possible, that the one purse I owned was the ugliest thing she'd ever seen.

And of course she was right. I'd bought the thing online several months ago for less than $20 as an impulsive addition to a shoe order. Part of me has always bristled at the idea of dropping $100-200 (or more!) on what's essentially a sack to hold stuff, so "cheap and functional" seemed like a good way to go. But yeah, it was nothing much to look at.

So today she decided she was dragging me--NO EXCUSES!--to the outlet mall to acquire a couple bags that were more fashionable and appropriate for my outings.

And hey, since we were there anyway, and there were so many great bargains, she figured she might as well pick up 4 or 5 new bags for herself. Ha! I knew there had to be an ulterior motive! These outlets can be dangerous places.

A small price to pay for having an in-house fashion consultant. :)

[mbmeen12]

Subject line shouldn't say; My wife lays down the law. It should read; My wife lays down the plastic! lol

[Tracii G]

I don't see a problem here.

[bridget thronton]

You have a great wife - what do your new bags look like?

[rachael.davis]

Neat lady, and congradulations on that level of acceptance.

[Jillian Faith]

Cute story...but I'm with Bridget, what does your new purses look like?

[Jaylyn]

Your own house specialiist on fashion and consultant in your own house, you are too lucky. Count your blessings Xenia and you'll find your wife at the top of the list. Wish we were all so lucky. Were you dressed as you were lucky enough to be dragged to the outlet mall.
In my opinion the only complaint you have is spending too much money which I can agree on. The rest of your post is a dream come true for any cd...

[alwayshave]

Xenia, What a great story. My fiancee has derided some of my clothing choices and we have gone shopping to recite the issues.

[Laura912]

Glad the content of your message was not accurately foretold by the title.

[Lana Mae]

Your story sounds great to me! Let's see those purses! I have 4 so far and will be getting more! Hugs Lana Mae

[Ariana225]

I love that! She's been a GG for her whole life and it's lovely to have that experience in what looks good or not. Sometimes we as CDs just impulse buy things and not realize how fugly it is! I hope you got some really cute purses! Much love! 😘

[DMichele]

Xenia,
Great story, thanks for sharing. Brava to your wife for her acceptance and support.

[Jodi]

I'll bet you went to Woodbury Commons. A lot of great stores to get fashionable purses.

Jodi

[Micki_Finn]

So MY wife wanted to know I was smirking at, so I read her your post. Unfortunately we were in the car and she nearly ran off the road with laughter. When she finally was able to get some semblance of control of herself she gasped "You can't gallavant with an ugly purse!" Good thing she wore the waterproof mascara today. Thanks for the great story.

[kimdl93]

Behind every accepting partner there is the desire to shop!

[Lisa85]

How about a few clues: 1- what do bad bags look like and 2- what makes a bag a good bag?

[Majella St Gerard]

Try thrift/consignment stores, I just picked up 2 nice bags at Goodwill $5 ea.

[Allison2006]

Cute story!

[RADER]

Wow!! This sounds like a great deal. Buy her all the hand Bags she want, and getting some for
yourself is a double Plus deal. Congratulation.
Rader

[IleneD]

Xenia,

You are practicing for your creative writing class.
Baiting us to a sweet story.

[Xenia]

I'll bet you went to Woodbury Commons. A lot of great stores to get fashionable purses.

Jodi

Yes! That place is fantastic. For the task at hand, we hit Coach, Dooney and Bourke, Vera Bradley, Furla, Kate Spade, and probably others I'm forgetting. Even with the huge markdowns, if we bought all the bags we loved we'd have left a couple thousand dollars poorer. They even have an outlet store for Robert Graham, who makes my favorite men's shirts. A highly recommended place to spend a day or two.

I made this trip in drab mode....it was sort of a spur of the moment thing, and the 2+ hours it would have taken for a full transformation would have cut too much into valuable shopping time. Definitely hoping to return en femme at some point though.

Here are the two bags I bought. One Coach, one Kate Spade.....about $150 for both! We both agreed that simple, elegant black bags would be good to start since, of course, they go with everything.

279538
279537

[greeneyes]

Okay I thought that was SOOO funny!!! but I am THAT person....I want to see the FUGLY purse!!!! LOL

thanks for the laugh....Greeneyes!

[bridget thronton]

Simple but classy - good purchases

[ChrisP]

Best thing I heard all day.

[Krisi]

I have often wondered why women will pay so much for a purse. I have one purse to my name. I think it was $16 on sale. It's black with a few compartments. It's not ugly, it's just a purse. I holds whatever I need it to when I go out. And of course, black goes with anything.

[Aemilie]

"purses", "gallivanting in public" whilst "dressed" what manner of witchery is this?, and I thought my wife was one of the more accepting ones.

[BrendaPDX]

Congratulations, thanks for sharing some pictures:) It looks nice, but how do you carry all of your stuff? Brenda

[Dana44]

Nice black peruses, That is great that your wife did that.

[Robyn16]

That’s so funny, thanks for sharing. It’s great that you have wonderful wife like this, nice purses!!

[Tahoegurl]

How awesome that you have such an understanding wife. Especially with a sense of humor. I have the most fun shopping with my wife for clothes and accessories. And the purses look great.

[Brenda456]

This is really cool.

[Lori Kurtz]

Be very very good to this wife!

[Alice Torn]

Do you realize how utterly fortunate you are, just to have a wife, who will allow you to dress at all, let alone go out in public??????????????????????!

[BLUE ORCHID]

Hi Xenia :hugs:, I am still trying to figure out whether you are bragging or complaining ...:daydreaming:...

[Sherrii]

Maybe you could use her old bags? If they look a little used it would only add to your "real" look. But there is nothing wrong with advise from her I wouldn't think. If it makes her accept your CDing more, then even better, follow her "orders" and smile.

[Gennifer in LA]

Lucky guy. Hopefully my wife will become more acceopting and help me select appropriate attractive outfits.

[Krisi]

My wife helps me with fashion advice. I mentioned that I had just one (black) purse to my name but she said I am welcome to use any of hers.

[Mirya]

I have often wondered why women will pay so much for a purse.

The same reason why men pay so much for watches. Or cars. A designer purse makes us feel good, is seen as exclusive, and is a status symbol. Women care a lot about what others think of them, especially what other women think of them.

I own a Louis Vuitton bag and a Coach bag, and they are absolutely worth it. I don't care to spend much on jewelry or clothes, but a designer handbag is an essential part of a woman's wardrobe. Unlike clothing or jewelry, everyone can easily see the logo on your purse and know what brand you're carrying. It matters.

If you're going to splurge on one wardrobe item, make it a designer handbag. You will instantly gain more respect from other cis women by carrying one.

[AngelaYVR]

I think Mirya is sort of correct in that the logo is important - to some. I believe that if something is nice, it's nice! I buy all my clothes from consignment stores and get loads of compliments on them, no brands showing (if they were, I wouldn't buy them). I have a ring that I bought for $5 that women go gaga over. I can put an H&M top with the right skirt and look like I stepped off a private jet. If it was only the logo that women were respecting, then I don't need that respect! I only look at the logo if I like what it is attached to, not the other way round.

But you should make sure your purse looks nice, designer or not.

[T Gram]

Lucky girl Xenia!! I've had to help out my hubby. Some of his choices are not very good but shopping with my new "girlfriend" is fun.

[Sometimes Steffi]

DADT is not very good for a relationship. But, there is one good side effect; She doesn't know what I buy so she can't complain about it too me.

BTW, my favorite bag kind of looks like yours, but it's a Kmart Jaclyn Smith special that I got on sale.

[Tracii G]

Umm hey were are the pics of the ugly bag???? I HAVE to see for myself.

At least you weren't prancing around the house like some here think we do, that would be so wrong.

[ellbee]

As an aside: Out of curiosity I just did a YouTube search for "prancing"...

The first several results? :confused3:


Good stuff! :thumbsup: :roflmao:


But, yeah. I second the nomination for a pic of "Ugly Bag"... :D

[Beverley Sims]

What a fantastic relationship.
Your wife's a gem. :-)

[Krisi]

The same reason why men pay so much for watches. Or cars. A designer purse makes us feel good, is seen as exclusive, and is a status symbol. Women care a lot about what others think of them, especially what other women think of them.
............

Not all men pay a lot for watches or cars. Being a bit frugal all my life is part of what allows me to live the lifestyle I do today as a retired person.

I wouldn't know a $600 purse from a $16 purse and I'm probably not going to get close enough for long enough for a stranger to be able to read the label. I think it's foolish and impresses nobody to spend $600 for a bag to carry your ID and money.

[Angie G]

A few weeks back my wife and I went to the outlet mall spent over $100 on me all female things and got nothing for herself.:hugs:
Angie

[Territx]

I agree with one of the previous posts -- the title of this thread went in a totally different direction than I thought. I am glad that it was a "happy" story for you, as I can only dream about that level of acceptance and help. You are indeed very lucky!

[Rhonda Jean]

I'm way late on this thread, but since purses are a thing for me I thought I'd chime in.

First of all, Xenia, congratulations on having such a cool wife! With both of you having a bit of a penchant for an androgynous look on you I suspect it won't be long before you're getting some use out of your new awesome purses in guy mode as well!

Purses were an afterthought for me for decades. My ex was not into flashy or designer bags, so I suppose that influenced me to think little about them. The first time I experienced the "power" of a statement purse was by accident. I'd picked up a bag I liked, sort of flashy, at a thrift store. A Dooney, or at least that's what the emblem said. The first time I carried it into the salon where I got my hair done (where they knew me well) I got so many compliments and the conversation that followed was all about purses. Where we got them, what we carried in them, what we liked and didn't like. Even after that I didn't quite pick up on the fact that expensive designer purses were such a thing with some (a lot!) women.

I started dating a woman who was one of these women who is way into purses. Not extravagant in any other way really, but she liked really nice purses. Over time and with her encouragement I caught that bug, so much that I started carrying them in male mode. Like with clothes, I developed preferences for what I wanted as to style and functionality of the purses I chose. It was/is no longer that one is as good as another. If there's one thing we'll always gravitate toward when we're shopping it's purses. It's a very cool shared thing.

What I found out after I started carrying nice purses is that it's THE most frequent conversation starter of anything I wear. I wear nail polish in male mode, too, and the conversation may eventually go there, but it almost always starts with a compliment on my purse. It also made me much more observant of the purses other women are carrying, and I'm much more likely to comment on theirs. It's just an easy thing to talk about, I think because it's less personal than complimenting or commenting on other articles of clothing or appearance. Purses are a statement of style, and in our case, commitment. Whether you're in male mode, androgynous, or full fem I think it conveys the idea that this is serious, intentional, and normal thing for you. For me, it's gone from being the least important and least thought about thing I wear to being one of the most.

[Krisi]

"What I found out after I started carrying nice purses is that it's THE most frequent conversation starter of anything I wear."

Yea, if you are a man carrying a purse, it's bound to be a conversation starter. It won't matter if it's a $16 purse or a $600 purse.

[T Gram]

We went on a little vaca last week. I got to spend 3 days (out) with my (girl) it was amazing!! We shopped for lots of things for (her) a girl has (needs) we had the best time!! I really can't wait for more "girl time"

[ellbee]

"What I found out after I started carrying nice purses is that it's THE most frequent conversation starter of anything I wear."

Yea, if you are a man carrying a purse, it's bound to be a conversation starter. It won't matter if it's a $16 purse or a $600 purse.

True... But I also believe it would probably be a somewhat different conversation, at least partly depending on that price tag. ;)

[CherylFlint]

When my wife wants me to dress, she lays out what she wants me to wear, even to the point of choosing the bra and garter belt or girdle.
This happens about 2-3 times a week.
Sometimes she has me dress in the morning and then I know she’ll have one of her friends over for a visit. I’ll serve coffee or tea, usually dressed as a maid.
I pass, thanks to my wife. She does the final touches on the makeup and even buys it for me.
I never borrow any of her makeup or skirts and blouses although she borrows from me.
We go to thrift stores together and have a good time buying tons of stuff for jest a coupe of dollars.
Goodwill has ½ price days and we get there when the doors open.
You’re lucky to have a supportive wife. My wife really likes to dress me up and I like it too.
Have fun and stay safe.