Purse Party

Resale stores have changed how I shop. For years, even when I was staying home with my kids and money was really tight, I only rarely went to thrift stores and when I did had a hard time finding anything I wanted to buy. Now it seems like many small stores selling second-hand goods have popped up all over town. They carry everything from very affordable mass marketed clothing to expensive designer duds to interesting vintage pieces. The only problem is if you fall in love with something that’s too small you’re out of luck. Purses, however, are one-size-fits-all. A few weeks ago my favorite local consignment store, Ampersand, removed the clothes and shoes from their retail space and replaced them with a sea of purses, creating a kind of handbag heaven. My husband came with me to photograph what I’ve since dubbed “purse porn”.

Not all the tables were filled with purses. One displayed an array of finger foods, and another served chilled, bubbly prosceco. A belly full of sandwiches and wine makes it more fun to shop.

I planned to buy something at the party, but I didn’t just want to go in and pick whatever I liked. I have a lot of purses and tend to grab the same kind of thing over and over unless I’m careful. I went through my collection before the party and noticed that almost all my bags have silver hard wear. I have a lot of gold tones in my closet, and no purse to support them, so I decided to look for something with golden touches. I loved the vintage tapestry bag below.

This little beaded vintage clutch caught my attention too.

But wait, what’s this?

Oh, and then there’s gathered and tasselled gold handbag.

I can’t get both. Which one should I choose?

I’ll show you what I bought in my next post!

Have you ever been to a retail party? Would you like to go to one all about purses? What do you think of the two purses I picked out. Which one would you choose?