Many women have a love-hate relationship with their purses.
They know the massive ones can be unwieldy and even the somewhat smaller ones can be weighty.
LED Street Light LU04-112WBut ...
"I love large bags," confesses Karen Lampart of Clarence, who was shopping for a dress in Macy's and toting a sizable Prada-style bag with stylish oversize metal zipper pulls.
"I like having everything with me. When I use a small bag, the things I need are always home."
And this year, handbags are big. Very big.
Store shelves are crammed with supersized bags in every style, from the doctor's bag to the satchel, from the bucket bag to the hobo. Forget a delicate Chihuahua -- these bags are roomy enough to comfortably hold a couple of chubby pugs.
At Off 5th, the Saks Fifth Avenue outlet in Niagara Falls Prime Outlets, this season's soft and shiny leather bags bristle with bling, including studs, extra straps, chains, charms and even the occasional rabbit's foot.
"These are definitely all the rage," says Sue Mantell, who manages the shoes and accessories departments at the store. And prices that may seem sky-high to some shoppers aren't deterring those who must have this season's bag. One Prada satchel, a whopping 21 inches wide and 13 inches deep, is priced at $739.99.
Mantell shows off the only remaining color, a winter white. "We sold out of the red and the black in this, and there's only one white one left," she says.
Celebrity culture is adding to women's passion for the purse. Fashion experts say "It Bags" are to women what sports cars are to men, a competitive status symbol that knows no rational limits. Magazines pay close attention to what Fendi or Prada bags the Kate Mosses and Lindsay Lohans have on their shoulders.
There are even online chat forums and blogs -- Purseblog.com and Handbag.com -- on who's toting what bag.
And while a voluminous bag doesn't have to be heavy, buying one is like moving into a house with an extra bedroom -- you have a tendency to fill it up.
"With such a large capacity to store, you're going to fill up that storage space," says T. Patrick O'Neill, who operates O'Neill Chiropractic and Wellness on Potomac Avenue near Bidwell in Elmwood Village. So, he says, despite the dictates of fashion: "Step away from the big bag."
"The best solution of all would be to avoid the temptation; don't have such an enormous pack that you carry around on your shoulder," O'Neill says. "If you want to have it for fashionably appropriate purposes, don't give in to the temptation to carry so much with you."
Stainless Steel Brooch It isn't just her own things she'll be toting -- any woman carrying a sizable bag is just asking for contributions from unencumbered family members.
"My husband asks me to carry his glasses and things like that," says Lampart, who rifles through her bag to locate her wallet, a makeup bag the size of a small clutch, checkbook, tissues, phone, sunscreen and three pairs of eyeglasses. In anticipation of her trip to the mall, she's already ditched some envelopes of photos and her ever-present sheaf of coupons, she says.
>A heavy load
Mimi Thomas of Orchard Park admits, "I carry my whole house in there" before bravely plunking her woven l
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