Women and handbags

RUSSO LUMA
Correspondent | Monday November 22, 2010 00:00

 

Some have described how handbags make them feel complete as they go to work, on a journey or attending some official function. What a valued possession! Making them feel complete clearly underscores how important a handbag is to woman. Handbags come in all sorts of designs and colours, shapes and sizes. We always see them hanging on women's shoulders as they (women) go shopping, attend parties or funerals - literally everywhere.

But what really inspires the choice of a handbag that a woman chooses to buy? 'For me, it's my personality. Being somebody who is always vivacious and so lively when I walk, I need a handbag that goes with that. That is why my handbags are bright in colour. I also choose that looking at the colours of my outfits. The handbag that I choose for the day should match with what I would be wearing. It helps complete my outfit and makes me feel good. A handbag is a fashion statement,' Mareledi Mapini says as she points at her purple handbag.

Do all women choose any handbag regardless of the mood that they are in? Not necessarily though some say their choice for the day is influenced by their mood. Interesting. 'If I'm in a jolly mood I take a handbag that is bright in colour with some fancy design. That, to me, suits the jolly mood. When I'm in a bad mood, I choose a bag that has a dull colour. My friends know this, so they just look at my hand bag to tell whether I'm in a good mood or not,' says 30-year-old Meriane Majaha. She says that a handbag is a part of her and cannot think of a day without one.

The choice of the type of handbag that some women take for an occasion is determined by the event itself. Here, the size and the colour matter. 'When going for dinner, I take a clutch bag.

'When going to a wedding, I take something bigger than that in which I can carry all the stuff I need: make-up kit, washing rag, mirror, change clothes, etc; the colour has to show that I'm going to a happy occasion,' Khumo Johannes also shares her experience with handbags.

But what is in a handbag? 'I put so many things in here: my purse, car and house keys, cell phone, card holder, diary, pen, sanitary pads, toothbrush, toothpaste, clothes, shoes, wet wipers or tissues, chewing gum, you know what, the list is endless. A handbag helps a woman to be organised.

'Once you have bought a handbag organiser, you put each item in its own compartment, so, you do not waste time looking for what you want in your handbag,' Keitumetse Tom says.

Quite a number of other women asked about what they put in handbags agree with her that an assortment of items find their way into a woman's handbag.

What do men think about handbags? Those interviewed concurred on how important it is for women to carry handbags. Some of the things carried in bags help men too. 'Women are so much concerned about the way they look, so a handbag is good for them because they can carry their make-up in there to keep themselves looking good. It would not be good to walk side by side with a woman who has an oily face.

'I sometimes use tissues that my girlfriend carries in her handbag,' says 32-year-old man Galani Moyo.

Thusani Bulayani loves his wife's handbags such that he helps her choose whenever they are in shopping. He sometimes buys her handbags as presents. He says that he cannot imagine her leaving home without a handbag.

'She would not be complete if that happened. I would right away notice that,' he says.

Looking back to the days before handbags came into the picture, 59-year-old Gaisa Manyepedza says that some women used a veil to carry small things that they wanted for a journey.

The veil containing the items would be carried on her head. Manyepedza said, 'I would carry that on my head as I walked behind my husband on a journey.'

For her part, 51-year-old Margaret Sephobe says that her grandmother used to sew mealie meal bags to make handbags. For a purse, she used horse-shoe tobacco bags.

That is where she put her money. She further says that women with rich husbands used tanned leather bags. It is quite interesting how things have changed; from the past to the present.