What Does Your Purse Say About You?

January 25, 2006

The contents of a woman's purse can certainly reveal a lot about her personality -- is she organized and always prepared for the unexpected, or is she a disorganized free spirit?

According to Allyson Waterman, Lucky magazine special projects editor, a purse can say a great deal about a person. She put "Good Morning America's" studio audience to the test to see whether they could determine which of the four purses belonged to anchor Diane Sawyer.

Below is a description of the bags that were presented to the audience:

Straw bag that stands by itself

This bag is very structured with lots of compartments. It is easy to peer inside. The purse contains:

Wallet

Stamps

Treo

Compartmentalized makeup case

Purell

Photo album

Peppermint gum

Photo iPod

Toilet-seat covers

Wet Ones

Face blotter

Pat & go lipstick OR Gloss on a key ring

Brush-ups

Pill case

Waterman: This bag owner is organized and detail-oriented, with a place and purpose for everything. This over-organized person has probably updated to the technology age, which helps cut down on the clutter and allows your bag to be more streamlined. Consider it a timesaver -- you never need to spend a night digging through a month's worth of bills and candy wrappers to make sure that your bag has only what you need.

The hobo bag

This bag has no structure; it falls flat when placed on the ground or a table. It is a bottomless pit because it has no pockets, and everything is swimming inside. The purse contains:

Overstuffed Filofax

Papers and bills (more than a month's worth of receipts)

Overstuffed wallet

Gum wrappers

Fruit gum

Makeup scattered all over -- lipsticks, compacts

Pens

Post-it notes

Nail file

Palm Pilot

Cell phone

iPod with loose earphones

Loose photos

Sunglasses

Rabbit's foot

Lottery tickets

Kleenex

Train schedule

Toothpaste and toothbrush

Catalogs

Waterman: An oversize, pocketless bag can easily turn into a bottomless pit with an unsuspecting owner not even knowing what lurks in its depths. To an outsider, this bag is a disaster area. To the owner, it is probably organized chaos. The person who carries this bag perhaps has a hippie-vagabond self-image. She may think she's rebelling against conformity. But is carrying the "in" bag of the moment perhaps trying too hard?

Anybody who chews a fruit gum is a great friend and eager to please.

Lucky charms and a profusion of lottery tickets indicate a feeling that luck needs a helping hand. Men hardly ever have these things because many of them believe that they make their own.

She's a woman who wants to do it all. She's working on a system of organization but hasn't quite mastered it. But you can't judge a book by its cover. Disorganization can be a sign of creativity. I would never recommend redoing someone's purse -- it's far too personal -- but a few binder clips, rubber bands and Ziploc bags could open up a whole new world to someone whose handbag is in such a state.