The perfect handbag doesn’t always last. I thought I had found mine, and it was a great replacement for my first love, the Ambassador II bag of old, which fell victim to hard times and a buyout and who knows what else. For years I carried a bag by Donna Sharp called the Pauline, which was just right for me. I found it when I saw a coworker carrying one. Between us we managed to buy each new pattern, but only once did we catch ourselves with the same one. I was the one who changed purses that time.
Now it looks like we both have to change.
Donna Sharp has redesigned the bag and renamed it Paula. It’s smaller: 7″ by 4 1/2″ by 12″ to Pauline’s 5.5″ by 8″ by 11.25″. We talked after coming into the office in our new bags. Neither of us could fit the same things into it because the compartments shrank, so we dislike that. I normally fit my cell phone into the center pocket, but on the new model it now also contains an inside pouch, and the phone gets tangled in it. My coworker had to leave out some things she normally carries, and I reshuffled mine into other places and couldn’t remember where they were when I needed them. The strap went from a wide fabric to a thinner material, and it doesn’t stay put on the shoulder.
Which means we’re back where we started years ago. How do you find the same or similar bag? It’s not as if one can input such a question into a search engine and get good results. The lists and photos and dead ends (no longer available) are endless, and prices are ridiculous, because handbags are pricey due to their temporary or seasonal nature. Hunting in department stores is no better, because women descend on the purse table like vultures on the last prey carcass.
I did order a different style bag and am trying it now. It’s bigger, of course, but it has features I need. If it fails I’ll have to search some more for another replacement. It’s the second hardest thing for a woman to find, just behind comfortable control garments.
Hug your handbag tight, ladies: it may be the last one you ever love.
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