Frugal Fashionistas

When you shop for a handbag, do you have a particular style or feature that is a must? Do you want separate compartments for things like cell phone, keys, etc? Does the bag have to be large or small; clutch style, backpack or shoulder straps?

Size isn't always an issue for me; i have big bags and small; it just depends on where I'm going and what I really want or need to carry around with me.  The one thing I absolutely have to have is a shoulder strap; I'm just more comfortable with that style cause I can sling it on and move freely. I never could get use to the backpack style though; something about having it behind me instead of at my side freaks me out. ;-)

I like small-medium sized bags with a big central pocket and a couple of smaller ones for things like lip balm, pens and my camera.  This is my current handbag, which I found on sale a couple of months ago.

It used to be the bigger the better and the best had tones of zippered compartments and pockets. And definitely a shoulder strap!

BUT... having one of these bags stolen from inside my house (with my entire life inside it), a constantly sore neck from lugging along all that weight, and living in Beijing for 2 years (where crowded markets = someone slitting your bag to get to your wallet), I converted to fanny packs/bum bags/waist bags!

But while on home leave from Saudi Arabia one year, the stap on my Eddie Bauer waist bag broke and I couldn't find a store locally that sold anything even vaguely similar. SO I ended up with a small sholder bag, expandable, no zippers (sigh!) but roughly the same size as my prized Eddie Bauer bag (they don't make them any more, either, it appears). This is my everyday bag; the big bag comes out only when I travel...