Handbags Have A Place Next To A Woman's Heart

BABOKI KAYAWE
Staff Writer | Friday June 4, 2010 00:00

The contemporary woman has a great sense of fashion, and gone are the days when clothes were the only fashion statement, as other accessories like jewellery, manicures and handbags are also essentials. 

In an interview with The Monitor, Percia Boingotlo, who is as close to her ballooned handbag as she is to her heart says this item is important for her daily life as it accommodates everything she will need for a productive day.

It has her diary, lip gloss, purse and old receipts. As an accountant, it is also home to invoices and at times, her notebook. She says it is very important to her because it does not just compliment what she is putting on. Without it, she forgets a number of important things.

'Without it I feel like half of my life is left at home,' she says.

In other words, it has to be big to accommodate all of her life. Today's woman is busy. She has to be with her notebook everywhere. As a result, these big handbags rescue fashionable women from killing their fashion sense with non-trendy laptop bags. Asked whether she does not fear being a predator for criminals who have found a niche in laptop thieving, she says she does not put it inside the belly bag everyday. I might spend a night - as that is what nka nna ka lala loosely translates to - can tempt her to sleep over, Boingotlo says though she is someone who has not made it a habit to spend nights elsewhere, two weeks ago she stayed away from home because the bag had what she needed for the next day. 'But I didn't plan for it,' she says. Amogelang Segajane is one woman who feels she would be incomplete without this big bag. Come what may, she never leaves home without it on her shoulder.

'Every morning I make sure that everything is packed in it. I never forget it,' She says.

Despite the size, it is all convenience inside. Segajane says she puts everything in this bag from toiletry bag, purse, clothes, shoes, clutch bag and her work files and diary. She says the old small handbag does not do it for today's woman. Carrying it alongside a plastic bag looks untidy.

'Imagine carrying a small handbag and a plastic bag, it looks out of place with the smart suit and high heeled shoes,' she says. It completes ones' essence of being a woman. Segajane says as much as it houses her day's convenience as many a times she is not certain whether she will finish her tasks at work in time in order to commute to Kopong, the big handbag always comes to her rescue as she would have packed extra clothes and toiletry, and she can sleep at her boyfriend's place in Gaborone.

Asked why she carries the clutch bag as well, she says it helps during the day when she has to attend an event where the big bag does not belong.

 Likewise she said the other shoes-often flat help when she feels tired of the heeled shoes. Depending on the style and shape plus the content she says the bag can be heavy, but for comfort she says she just puts in enough for her to be in a position to carry it.

'The only problem with it is that at times I take long to locate my purse when I have to make payments. Keys also get buried under other things,' she says. 

Though it is the trendiest thing coupled with convenience for woman at times it is a little offish when a tiny woman is buried in such a big handbag, whose shape overpowers her makeup. Seagajane affirms that it doesn't look good when women choose convenience and being part of the latest trends against their structures.

'Whoever gave it the name nka nna ka lala, is very right,' she adds.

Like the other two ladies, Sharon Tshipa, says these bags are spacious and accommodate a number of things as hers always contains tissues, sanitary towels, make-=up and flat shoes whenever she has high heeled shoes on.

She says the big handbag is one of her best fashion items as it is funky and convenient at the same time. During winter, with frequent changes in temperatures it is a woman's useful companion as one can easily take off her coat when it is hot. 'And I can also put my warm jersey in it in case it gets very cold during the day,' she says.

That way a woman's style does not die off, she says today, unlike when she was young she cannot wrap a jersey around her waist as it could tamper with her image. As for the bag being influential in sleeping over, Tshipa says she does not believe it is, unless one had planned for it before leaving home.

'It only helps somebody to retain their comfort and look good even if they are not at home, as it has all a woman needs but I don't think it can make people sleep away,' she says.

The big bag is such a valuable fashion item as it gives the contemporary woman  a home away from home and she refreshes her make up when it wears out, she has her flat shoes at her disposal to rescue her from the tiresome yet chic high heeled shoes on busy days. Most importantly, it is convenience poised with fashion