For years I’ve had purses of various sizes, from tiny to those large enough to carry a hardcover book inside. I kept buying purse after purse and could never find the right one for me. So I just chucked it all last January and started carrying around a wallet. Not a woman’s wallet either, a man’s wallet that I can put into my pocket.
And I love it! Carrying too much stuff with me bogs me down. Sometimes I’ll bring my backpack with me places if I have a few items that I’m taking out to the car, but I leave the bag in the car or trunk. There are a few times when I just carry my ID and cash, like if I’m dressing fancy for a special event or I’m at the casinos.
I’ve never been a girly-girl, and I hated the idea of purses. Seemed like the women carried all the burden and the men got a lot more freedom. Sexist, in a way.
Back when me and Mr. K were into the biker thing, I had the niftiest wallet ever. It was a holster style, i.e., under the arm and strapped over the shoulder. I could carry just the bare essentials, but it was certainly liberating! It held lipstick, ID, cash, and a hair-pick, and that’s about it. I still have it, but I haven’t used it in years.
Eh? I carry around a cell phone, keys, wallet and chap stick, and I have to cram it all against my legs. If I bring my little camera out, that has to go in there too. I can’t say that that’s more annoying than carrying a purse, but I’m definately not swinging free.
And every woman I’ve dated has asked me to carry all of her stuff when we go out - she’s wearing an outfit with no pockets, and doesn’t want to keep track of a purse. Any sexism would be in the people who design women’s clothing that want to show the body instead of holding stuff. Not that I’m complaining.
I do have pants that obviously do not intend for me to cram stuff into (tight fitting). I kind of hope the man-purse will take off sometime…
Since about 1984. I took a job delivering pizzas and just got used to operating with only a wallet and keys. For a long time I only wore pants with back pockets, now I put it in a front pocket so any decent pockets will do.
I’ve discovered that salespeople think you’re nuts if pockets are your top priority. Too bad. No pockets, no sale. Little pockets, no sale.
I was just thinking about this when I went out this past weekend. I have gotten down to a pretty small purse that I usually carry with me. If I’m going out I take just my id and cash. I think someone should invent a little pouch that can be strapped around a woman’s waist under their clothes. It’s frustrating to get all dressed up to go out and then have no where to put your id and cash. Just a small strap with a pouch only big enough to carry an id, cash, and maybe some lipgloss. It’d be discreet enough to wear under clothes, and would save us women from having to hand our stuff to the guys every time we go out.
I carried just a wallet most of the time when I was in college, BUT I was also wearing a backpack with my textbooks and supplies in it. I usually had at least a couple of paperback books in the backpack for recreational reading as well as the college essentials. The backpack was somewhat unwieldy to manage at a desk, but I found it easy to walk with, and I did a LOT of walking when I was in college.
These days I carry a softsided briefcase/laptop case, and call it my purse. I have a couple of books, a day planner (which never gets used as a planner, but I do keep some files in it), a supply of sugar tablets, a string bag (in case I buy something, because I hate to take a plastic or paper bag when it’s not necessary), a multi-tool, and, when I go out to eat, a freshly loaded syringe full of insulin in a case.
I’m a wallet carrier. And it has to be the right wallet. Lots of slots for credit cards. No room for much else. I carry it in my front pocket, so it has to be small.
I don’t carry a purse because I grew tired of leaving it behind all the time.
I carry a wallet only too. Its a leather wallet with a spider stitched on it. When I was in highschool (7 years ago) I used to carry purses because I used to carry a lot of crap around. Now I just carry wallet, chapstick, keys and my cell phone. I do have a little spider shaped purse(childs backpack) that I use when I’m carrying stuff that doesn’t fit in my pockets, but thats not often.
Can’t do it – I’m a purse girl. In college, when I worked on a summer janitorial crew, my purse had to be big enough to hold a FRISBEE (for a little lunch break exercise). Now my bare minimum is my wallet (with checkbook), prescription sunglasses, keys, and phone. A book is optional, as is my “necessaire” for comb, eyeglass cleaner, nail clipper, etc.
I do prefer to get a “slingy” purse with a long strap so I can wear it across my body and keep my hands free.
You and me both,Scarlett67. I used to carry just a wallet; then I had kids. Diapers, pens, my sunglasses, my cell, MY IPOD, my keys, my brush, spare…um…female products, a toothbrush & floss, my palm pilot…shall I go on? It seems like EVERY part of my life gets more complicated as I get older.
When I was a college freshman and lived in the dorms, I stopped carrying a purse and just carried my student ID holder, which also had a key ring. I’d slip money or a credit card behind the ID and carry nothing else. That lasted me for years. Then I found a cheap women’s wallet with a key ring attachment and carried it for years until it fell apart. A few years ago I found a good leather one, and it’s still going strong. So, I’ve been purse-free for 12 years now. It’s a little bulky for anything but loose-fitting pants pockets, but I love not being weighted down or worrying that someone will take it off my shoulder. In high school, my purses were heavy, and usually held at minimum one book (sometimes 2), personal hygiene supplies, money, keys, and probably more I simply can no longer remember.
My sister is the same way. Even in high school she was always losing her purse, so she stopped carrying one.
One of the other reasons I quit carrying a purse is because when I do, I end up carrying stuff I don’t need but think I do. At first it would hold a wallet, my cell phone, and my check book. Then I would keep putting needless stuff into it like my digital camera, note pads, combs, brushes, etc. I quit with the purses when I realized that I never used most of the stuff in my purse in public and it was fine to leave the stuff at home.
I don’t use my cell phone either. I usually leave it in the car when I’m out.
Well…that’s not quite true. I hate the concept of the “purse,” where women are supposed to lug around a bunch of junk that men can get away without having to carry. In my pockets (which are in men’s jeans–I tried women’s jeans but they all have tiny pockets) I carry my wallet (with money, various cards and ID) and two sets of keys. My cell phone goes on my belt (it looks geeky but it’s convenient, and anyway I’m a tech-writer geek so I don’t care ).
Problem is, I love bags. Not purse-type bags, but courier bags, backpacks, sling bags…pretty much any kind of bag that’s made out of cordura or leather and isn’t a purse. I have a ton of them. I keep trying to carry them, but it just ends up being inconvenient–either I have to lock it in my desk drawer all day at work or leave it in the car (which isn’t practical anymore since I got an Element and don’t have a trunk anymore). And it just bugs me when people refer to it as my “purse.” I don’t know why, really–I guess I’ve always been a tomboy, and the idea of carrying something as girly as a purse just sounds wrong for me.
Another female wallet-carrier here. I’ve only just started to carry a (man’s) wallet in my pocket, and I love it. It does feel remarkably freeing. I no longer have to worry about keeping track of my purse. It’s great!
Funny you should ask. My SO carries what we refer to as a “European CarryAll”. Other than his has a wrist strap while my “purse” has a shoulder strap, they are identical.
I’m another wallet carrier: I generally only have my wallet, cell phone, and maybe keys with me. The keys are on a chain with a big enough fob that I just stick the fob in my pocket, snugged next to my cell phone holder, and my wallet fits quite comfortably in my front pocket. (I got it from Fossil, if I remember correctly.)
I, like some of the other posters, have found that a purse is just an invitation for trouble. It’s either accidentally getting left behind, getting stuffed full of crap that doesn’t need to be toted around, and/or getting in the way. (If I sling a purse across my body to free up my arms, then I have to put up with the strap between my boobs and that isn’t comfortable.)
I do have two purses, for the times when I know I’ll be wearing something without pockets and need a place to stick my wallet.
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It was a holster style, i.e., under the arm and strapped over the shoulder. I could carry just the bare essentials, but it was certainly liberating! It held lipstick, ID, cash, and a hair-pick, and that’s about it. I still have it, but I haven’t used it in years.