On the weekend I posted the above image to Instagram and Facebook and was inundated with excited, nostalgic responses. Granted, I knew that these little purses were extra special, but it seems that they are actually extra-extra-special and that so many women have a connection to their beady cuteness.
One of the things I found out after I posted these is that Play Purse are making a grown-up girl version of these tiny beaded ones. (I want one, but I do not know which colour to choose. Which would you choose?)
I also found out that a lot of people liked to try to EAT the beads off these purses, just because they looked like tiny lollies/100s and 1000s. Mmm. YUMMY.
What I remember about these purses is that when ONE bead came loose, it triggered a bit of an avalanche and before you knew it, a purse that once looked pristinely pretty was looking stringy and the worse-for-wear. I also remember trying to jam WAY too many silver coins, Milkshakes, Sherbies and pots of lip gloss in mine. They looked less like a sweet purse and more like a bloated bead-y lump. Fancy.
I’m still like that. My bag is so jammed with stuff – so as to cope with ANY emergency – that my shoulder/chest/neck are on high alert nearly all of the time.
Do you know the other purses I used to love? The transparent ones that often came full of chocolate coins. We used to have them in the shop, only we filled them with little badges instead of coins. (I think I ATE the coins first?! Whoops.) There’s something a bit extra-extra-special about those too. You can buy them at David Jones still, I think.
Now that I am a grown up, I have a proper purse. It’s more like a wallet, really. I’ve had it for a couple of years and it still looks good as new, which I LOVE. I like it because it can fit heaps of essentials in it, without looking like it’s bursting at the seams. I also bought my sister one of these – by the same company. It’s got the cutest floral lining and reminds me a lot of childhood purses with a fancier spin! I kind of want one to!
How about you? Did you ever have one of these zip-up play purses? Or maybe a see-through purse filled with chocolate coins? Or perhaps you had something else that you used to shove your treasures into when you were a kid? And what do you put your special treasures/money/credit cards/Nurofen in NOW?!
Maybe you’d like to tell us more?
I remember eating the beads off my purse … Ewwwww!!!
I really, really want a phoebe purse but I can’t decide on which colour!!!
Oh yes those little beaded purses bring back so many memories. That pale pink colour is still a favourite. And hey! I have a status anxiety wallet too! I have the Audrey in blue and don’t think I will ever have a different wallet unless they stop making them before I buy a new one. I also bought one for my mum in a latte type colour and my cousin a different style for her birthday. Just love their stuff!
I had a plasticy pink handbag with spaghetti shoulder straps.
I now have a large handbag bought for 15? euros in Paris when there with a group from my high school a few years back. It’s lasted three years so far! I am constantly switching between my uni backpack and it for things. I have to have a purse (wallet-like, but I call them purses) with *lots* of space for cards. I don’t have many money cards but I have plenty of other ones! 😛
I have lots of ‘cards’ too – mostly loyalty cards for free stuff!
Me and you are purse twins!
Mine’s blue, how about you?
x
Mine is black!!!! SNAPS! xxxx
(PS Welcome Home!)
I had 2 purses that I loved and both had nifty ways to open and close. One was a tan leather square and you squeezed the sides to make it open and it snapped shut when you let go. The other was red leather with gold embossing – I think my older sister got it from Morocco (she always bought cool presents) It was a twisted square that opened when you pulled on a corner and when you let go it collapsed to close. I gave up looking for a purse I liked now and made one instead https://thecraftyyak.wordpress.com/tag/patchwork-wristlet/
I didn’t have a beaded purse although I remember them so someone I knew must have had one. Perhaps my cousins? If my sister and I didn’t have something they were bound to, and vice versa. My sister and I each had super cute purses though. Mine was white with a clear plastic outer shell. Between the two layers was a pretty plastic flower. Just one. It was just about the same size as the purse. It was a pinkish- blueish flower. I thought mine was much prettier than my sister’s.