DOWNSIZING

Ah the great debate: to clutch or to carry all. Are you the little old lady who lived in her handbag? Or the minimalista - with capabilities beyond my own - who can survive by just her lipstick and credit card alone?

I see those women with their magic powers of minimisation. Those who aren't fibbing when they say that they strictly carry only the essentials (and said essentials can be counted on one hand). I envy that but then I quite enjoy being prepared for the randomness that is life. It's raining? I've got a mac. Shoes are rubbing? I've got plasters, choose which colour. You're feeling peckish? Let me get out my lunchbox. Yes, it's impressive that you can fit your life into what is essentially the same size as a standard envelope - you obviously don't belong to the iPhone 6 plus tribe. However, I can't help but think that Mary Poppins wouldn't quite have had the same wonderment if she'd chosen to accessorise with a teeny tiny clutch. 

Yet with that being said, the constant inability to locate your keys, ever, is quite the annoyance for everyone involved. So I decided to downsize for a time. To see what it was like to squish my life into an 8"x6" clutch bag. Granted it's not the smallest out there but I figured baby steps had to be taken to wean myself off the 'everything, including the kitchen sink' mentality I had come to adopt as the norm. 

(Provocative statement + teddy bear = the complexities of me)

Day 1

So far everything is okay, but considering the criteria for this is just that I woke up minus a cold, that I thought for definite was oncoming, it doesn't say much regarding the de-cluttering of my 'carry-all' lifestyle. I've chosen the bag du jour, a bright blue Zara number, replete with witticism stamped across the front because that's just how I roll... On leaving the house I met my first hurdle: how to close the door. With my bag held tightly under my arm, phone perched precariously between two fingers and the keys dangling lamely in my other hand, the door was eventually closed, but I was too flustered to go on. Missing my bag strap far too much, I stopped for a starbucks and then retreated home - I won't bore you with the difficulties of carrying two coffees and a clutch bag, however, I will say that it was a lesson in dexterity. 

(How can something so beautiful be so evil?)

 Day 2

I opted for a different clutch today, I'm sure you can understand why... Bag number two had a loop strap at the zip, allowing the wearer to handily hook it over their wrist. Jewellery posed a hindrance to this and the incessant jangling led me to go bangle-free - a huge deal if you know me or happen to have read this. Being able to lift up both arms simultaneously felt like a luxury after the antics of the previous day, yet I hadn't quite got control of the free swinging bag and I'm sorry to say that a few people were met with an *accidental* clout. Comparatively speaking, this was a good day. However, getting my bag jammed in the car door was a low point, a very cringey, low point. 

(Small and yet not so mighty)

Day 3

So on the final day of my experiment I chose what is in effect a glasses case. So tiny was this 'bag', that I had to resort to ousting my purse and going it alone with small change and credit card. My phone doesn't even fit which leaves my pocket stuffed - an unsightly side effect to this trial. There was one near fatal incident where bag was put down and... After slight heart stoppage I did retrieve my minute companion. However, it was enough to make me reassess the whole situation altogether. 

Whilst acknowledging the need for material things to a certain extent, it's good every now and again to experience a cleanse of sorts. Knowing that I can survive without stuff is exhilarating, yet I cannot deny the comfort that carting around the necessities (regardless of how necessary they actually are) gives me. And as a side note, it was a marvellous exercise in personal space and personal property awareness. Never take your eyes off the prize kids! So yes, clutch over carry-all can be done, but perhaps the real question is, whether you actually want to do it? 

(All images taken by OJ Creative)