I always love reading these kinds of posts as I am very much a handbag girl. My handbag is my office, my armour, my pantry, my womb. So it needs to carry everything I need in a day. Here is a list of everything I am carrying with me today.
Bag - large black bag by Pierre Balmain from TK Maxx
Umbrella – I am out and about all day so one thing I always carry is an umbrella. I usually carry a Totes Lite Mini umbrella. The one I am using at the moment though is a Mini Fulton. The most important thing for me is weight rather than the strength of the framework. So I get the smallest and lightest I can find. Doesn’t work in gail-force winds but that doesn’t happen often.
Stimorol gum – these I like to chew after meals, to wake me up and freshen my whole head when the day is long and I feel fuzzy
Tissues – my nose runs when it is cold and windy so I always carry tissues with me in a small plastic holder I bought in South Africa. It is about ten years old.
Phone – at the moment an old iPhone 4s (not shown)
Earphones – I use Sennheiser
iPad – I use either a mini for private or a full size one for work. The full size one has a Logitech keyboard (which means it is more functional for long days with no computer access) – not shown
Snack – usually an energy bar
Glasses – I use varifocals but if I have a lot of translation to do I use reading glasses. I wear Vasuma frames.
Sunglasses – in South Africa year round but in Sweden only in summer. I wear Oakley or Rayban
Pedometer – I usually walk between 15 000 and 25 000 steps a day. I can use this as a clock as well
Torch – for finding things in my bag if it has a black lining
ID card for Parliament
Filofax – this contains my travel card, mirror, pens, and works as my wallet and my planner. This one is a dark blue Cavendish with 30mm rings.
Makeup Bag – I only wear eyeliner, mascara and lipstick so in my makeup bag are wetwipes, aspirin, safety pins, plaster emery board, glasses cleaner, cotton buds and lip balm. I am famous among my students for having everything they need in an emergency. No one every has to leave my classes unless they want to! This small one is from Harrods.
Gloves – in winter. I have very slim hands and I wear my gloves very tight so I can do things on extremely cold days without taking them off. Usually black leather with fine wool lining. I always buy the same model so that if I lose one I can make another pair from other ones which have lost their mates.
Scarf – year round. I have about 20 pashminas in every colour under the rainbow so I can always co-ordinate
Keys – on Cath Kidston keyring
Midori full size notebook holding all the extra papers I need on a daily basis.
Plastic sleeves with A4 papers for classes (not shown)
Below is a photo that shows other things I sometimes carry with me which I am not carrying today:
- deoderant
- business card holder by Ramos as is the pen holder
- swiss army-type knife for women (contains everything the normal one does plus a perfume bottle, sewing kit, mirror and cuticle remover)
- travel card
- energy bar
- Palm Pilot (shows how old this photo is!)
These two bags are my Mulberry Roxanne and Bayswater, the makeup bag is Mulberry, as is the wallet. The small purple pouch is by Balenciaga. Glasses by Rayban
