The purse essentials for paring down your bag (you know, without freaking out).

Are you like me? Every year, it seems I choose a bigger and bigger handbag. At this point, I am carrying around an overnight bag as a purse, and that’s clearly just too big.

The problem: I take the motto “always be prepared” to heart and my bag contains items for every possible scenario from getting a headache to surviving the zombie apocalypse. Clearly I have some wiggle room for downsizing my purse essentials (and a smaller bag is easier to tote on the run from zombies, no?) After suffering through a year of neck issues, visiting both the chiropractor and going to physical therapy to solve the problem, I think I might have finally caught on–I’m carrying around too much stuff in my giant bag.

With the trend on decluttering, downsizing, and choosing to live a more streamlined and less consumerist existence, why are so many of us still carrying around such big purses and bags?The purse may be the last great frontier for downsizing, but it’s possible to get down to just the essentials in your purse. If I can do it, you can do it. Here’s a list of what I consider to be the purse essentials necessary for everyday life. My bag might not function as a “go bag” for the zombie apocalypse anymore, but I think that’s okay.

What Are the Purse Essentials?

1. Wallet

A wallet is a necessity to hold your cash, cards, checks, receipts, and more. Ideally, choose one with multiple sections and compartments to keep you organized and more portable. I use a wallet that doubles a clutch and has a compartment for my phone that allows me the flexibility of not schlepping around my whole bag.

2. Makeup Bag

Those who wear makeup often find that they are carrying around too much makeup. Trim down to one make-up bag to just the bare necessities, like a powder compact, lip gloss, and mascara. I use the bags from Blue Q as makeup bags. They are fun and functional.

3. Self-Care, Toiletries, and Mending Bag

Keep another small bag for hair-ties, travel bottles of hand lotion, bobby pins, a nail file, band-aids, your pain reliever of choice, mints, a contact case, packet of tissues, a mending kit, and tampons, pads, or menstrual cup case if needed.

4. Glasses/Sunglasses

You must have sunnies. And a case to protect them is a must too. If you wear contacts or glasses, keep a backup case and travel-sized contact solutions in your bag too. You must be able to see. That is essential!

5. Phone/Case/Earbuds

Keep your phone in handy in a side pocket in your bag in a protective case. Also, keep earbuds handy for when you want to tune people out while at the grocery store or at the gym.

6. Keys

Of course, you must carry your keys in your bag, but do you really need all those keys? Pare them down to the absolute essential keys. Get rid of all those keys you have no idea what they belong to–if you haven’t needed them in 4 years, then it’s safe to say you never will.

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Image: Burgundy Bag via Shutterstock

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Every purse lover knows the fashionable weight the Hermès Birkin Bag carries: it’s a name, fashion status, and mark of good taste, all rolled into one. Well, that is if you consider animal cruelty to be in good taste.

Vegans and animal lovers everywhere have never been able to enjoy the high-end lux bag because it’s made of (gag) alligator skin. Really. From alligators. But now there’s a new bag on the block that has everything the Birkin has, except that it’s cruelty-free–as in no more tortured alligators.

Freedom of Animals and animal rights group PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) recently announced the launch of the “Virkin” bag, a vegan mock-croc purse that has all the class — and none of the cruelty — of the original, much drooled over Hermès Birkin bag.

This creation is a huge deal because: 1)Freedom of Animals is known as the “Céline of vegan fashion” because of its minimalist, high-end designs, and because 2) Hermès was recently outed for animal abuse, thanks to a PETA investigation. According to PETA, the organization recently discovered that Hermès alligator and crocodile supplier farms were treating the animals terribly. PETA reported that the “animals were packed into dark sheds and barren concrete pits,” and that “workers crudely hacked into the necks of some alligators and tried to scramble their brains with metal rods… and some of the animals were still conscious and flailing their legs minutes after workers cut into them.”

And all for the name of fashion…We’d really like a gator or two to get a hold of some of those bags and have their way with them!

While celebrities, such as Olivia Wilde, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Olivia Culpo, are already fans of many of Freedom of Animals creations, PETA and Freedom of Animals are trying to get every big fashion-forward celebrity aware of its new product. Just last week, PETA sent one of the custom bags to Victoria Beckham, a well-known Birkin bag lover. The groups sent the Virkin to help the fashion designer make the cruelty-free switch away from alligator skin products.

The current Virkin bag is part of a limited edition line. A portion of the bag’s proceeds will support PETA. The bags are available at FreedomofAnimals.com and are listed on the PETA Catalog.

Related on EcoSalon

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Image of bag via PETA

The post The Hermès Birkin Bag Has Nothing on the ‘Virkin’ Bag (Except Unnecessary Cruelty) appeared first on EcoSalon.

This week’s theme may have something to do with me being on vacation in the Canary Islands. But, no matter where in the world you’re in and how cold the outside temperature happens to be, these tropical-themed pieces will liven up any wintry ensemble and make you feel like sunny days are still here.

Manimal Scrap Earrings
If you have to wear a knit hat you can still make your style shine through. These attention-grabbing earrings are made from repurposed scraps from the making of Manimal´s cute moccasins.
$40 for one, Manimal

Cheek.ie Floral Bracelet
This gorgeous cuff is hand made in Brooklyn, NY, from six layers of knotted vintage fabrics.
$48, Kaight

Embroidered Hemp Coin Purse
This cute little coin purse is made from hemp and lined with silky bamboo. It´s 100% vegan and will make you happy to reach for that spare change at the bottom of your bag.
$21.95, apple & bee

Amazon Necklace by The Andean Collection
This bright and cheerful statement necklace is made using a combination of açaí, jaboncillo and tagua discs in bright colors, that all come together with a twist.
$125, The Andean Collection

Strappy Floral Sandals
These sultry heels from H&M´s latest Conscious Collection will work well with your favorite LBD and thick black stockings through the winter.
$69.99, H&M

Lalesso Maradufu Dress
Wear this summery print dress with black tights or skinny jeans and a blazer to instantly brighten up a gray day.
$44, Lalesso

The post On Trend: Tropico appeared first on EcoSalon.

ColumnIn this new weekly column, we’ll take you inside the closets of some of our favorite people, asking them to choose one piece that defines them in some way and also, to tell the story behind it. To us, style is not about being a follower of trends, coveting this or that season must-have, it’s about carefully selecting pieces that deserve to be in your closet because they represent you. Personal style is something that lasts through years and fads — just like that favorite piece in your closet.

This Louis Vuitton purse is not the bag I wear the most and not even my favorite, but it is significant to me because it’s the first vintage piece I ever bought. It was 1997 and I was still living back in my native Sweden, a teenage fashion-lover who would read Vogue, ELLE and all those glossies, dreaming about a day when I could dress like that. Louis Vuitton bags had just started coming back into fashion and as I was standing in the second hand shop I recognized the signature pattern on the purse hanging next to me on the rack from a small picture I had seen in one of my fashion magazines. It cost 45 Swedish Kronor, which at today’s exchange rate is about $6.80, so I bought it, not really knowing when I’d have a chance to use such a grown-up purse (this was back in the day when small neoprene backpacks were considered appropriate for wearing to parties).

Nobody shopped in vintage stores back then and all my friends thought I was weird for doing so, asking things like “You buy old clothes?” To me, there was just something magical about it, methodically going through racks and racks of stuff until you find that one piece that just speaks to you. This joy of the hunt is what it’s all about for me. Shopping at department stores, where everything has already been sorted for you, distracts me. I get caught up in the image they’ve created and tend to forget what’s really me. At vintage stores, I never lose track of my own style and sensibility.

I have since found many occasions to wear my LV purse and I love it even more because it’s not one of their more common styles. One time, I had to have the clasp fixed after it came off during a long night of dancing, but otherwise it’s just gotten more beautiful with age. It was the first of many vintage finds that have found their way into my closet and for that it will always have a special place in there.

The post Closet Stories: My Vintage Louis Vuitton Purse appeared first on EcoSalon.

White hot and in your hand.

Ever notice how men function so well without purses? (Excepting the murse-toting denizens of Brooklyn, Silverlake and other hipster hangouts). It’s an enviable mystery. Sunglasses, wallet, iPhone, keys – where do these things go? How do they do it? I don’t know, but I do know I’m tired of the obligatory lady tote. White is always perfect for spring – and a liberating little clutch feels just right, right now. Bax by The Sway is one hot ticket.

$235. Available at Kaight.

Look for Lustables daily at EcoSalon. 100% gorgeous green finds, and never sponsored. Submit your favorite to tips@ecosalon.com.

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You’ve got a black and brown bag but how about green? Bet you don’t.

You might want to ask yourself why as you navigate your fashionably sustainable world openly disguised as a greenie.

This $79 little clutch is not only fair trade and handwoven raffia, for you vegans it’s something cool that’s not simulating leather.

The post Apple Metallic’s Summer-Ready Green Clutch appeared first on EcoSalon.