How many do I need?

I can't understand the attraction of a handbag, I carry one only because I seem to have lots of 'tut' (phone. tissues. purse, bus pass, glasses etc, etc) to carry around, only criteria in buying a bag is that it's big enough to carry it all and is lightweight to start with, I can't even lift my daughter's bag!

I only ever have one handbag, use it till it looks tatty, use it for a long time while it's tatty then eventually get another one and retire the worn out one. However, I don't throw it away till I'm having a good sort out (every few years) and find all sorts of forgotten treasure in it! I live in jeans and rarely have a reason to dress smartly although I did buy a beautiful skirt from a charity shop last week. It's made from a lovely bronze/gold satin and I bought it to pull apart for the fabric but realised it's so pretty and looks unworn. A gold bag would look good with it...

I've recently gone into handbags having been a shoeaholic all my life ! I also collect them from charity shops for economy. You can buy a special liner thing which has lots of pockets and can be transferred from one bag to another without all the trouble of sorting everything!
Agree wholeheartedly with the weight problem. Why start with a ton weight before you've even put your own kitchen sink in ?!

One handbag only. I can never face the hassle of moving stuff over from one bag to another. Usually I buy one a year - and usually from a charity shop. (Thnaks to you folk who donate these!) When my sister and I were younger we used to tease our Mum about her large handbag - which contained everything but the kitchen sink and was always referred to as "Granny's Disaster Bag". Now I'm the one with the large handbag, whilst Mum, (now 92) has a small one!

You would get on well with my friend June (aged 82) Lupatria. She astounded me one day by pulling out a hammer from the depths of her capacious bag! The handle screws off and it is prettily decorated with blue flowers but it is quite a tool and could easily be classed as an offensive weapon if she were ever to be arrested! I think she bought it in USA where both her sons live and she says it has proved useful lots of times!

My bag has a compartment for my inhaler, indigestion tabs., paracetemol, mints, nail file and clippers,mini-sewing kit, tissues and hand cleanser gel. Another for keys, one for purse and wallet and a final one for phone, pens and notebook and diary. It's a black cross-body, soft leather one from Amazon and cost about £16. When it's done I'll get another and ignore the half dozen previous rejects in the bottom of the wardrobe!

I've never posted before but this thread has spurred me on. I am ADDICTED to bags of all kinds - a BAG ANON would be a wonderful idea. Mine are hidden all over the house - DH will have a fit when they all finally come to light. Some people collect stamps - I collect bags. And I do enjoy them ...

Convinced I only had 2, well 3 at most. Am now up to 6 and ALL the old ones had money in them!

i'm a one bag woman too - can't understand why anyone should need any more than one although i've got two friends who are handbag collectors.
i have everything in my bag apart from the kitchen sink - if there's anything anyone needs i've generally got it - once someone asked me if i had something to measure a room so out came my metal tape!! they were amazed.
i usually wear black sandals [clogs in the winter] so my bags are always black and i only buy a new one when the old one has worn out. can't stand transferring everything from one bag to another and then trying to remember where i put everything.
my current bag has loads of compartments and all close with zips so i'll look for a replacement on amazon when it falls apart.
won't spend a great deal on a bag either - my current one was below £20.

Have 4 or 5 small bags (too small really except for evenings) but can't use them now as I need a larger bag in order to carry an epipen at all times. Good excuse for a couple more, I reckon!

After a recent 'sort out', I sent half a dozen bags to the local charity shop. Despite this, I still have more than 20, mostly unused (by me,anyway) and some almost identical. In my defence, none of them are designer or expensive. The vast majority are what I have gathered on my trawls around the local charity shops. I don't think I've paid more than a fiver for any of them. I use the same black cross-body bag all the time, with a larger burgundy model for occasional use-although I find it a bit of a nuisance when I have to carry it around. I consider myself a fairly rational being, so why then was I tempted to add to my stash yesterday when I spotted a largish patchwork type handbag? I did talk myself out of it. Perhaps in the absence of Handbags Anonymous I will just have to start practising self-restraint.

I have one large Radley that my daughter bought me on my birthday to replace the previous lage Radley bag she'd bought me three years ago. That's it.

Unless you count the leather backpack I bought in Venice to use when I go for walks.

One handbag. I cant cope with more than that at once, everytime I transfer stuff from one bag to another I spend hours rooting through trying to find things! Drives me mad. I suppose the downside is I am only beautifully colour matched once in a blue moon, so there is an upside to all your bags sunseeker.

I haunt TKMAXX for my bags. I really like Paul Costelloe bags and I probably have a dozen: red, pink,pale blue, white, black (several) black and white, mock Croc, this year's favourite, silver reversible to teal (Asos) mustard yellow, orange. I could go once, but I guess you get the picture! And don't start me one cute little clutches ..... another dozen.

Only have one handbag at a time, and change it once or twice a year (old one gets thrown out as it's absolutely done by then!). My whole life is carried in my handbag, everything I might need for almost any imaginable circumstance. I couldn't cope with having to remember whether I have transferred all the things I might need to a different bag each day - would just feel totally lost and unprepared.

I have a cross body Kipling bag that I was given to review on Amazon.
I get offered handbags to review fairly regularly, usually they aren't designer brand names.
My daughter is a happy recipient of most of these.
I walk with two sticks, so I have to wear a cross body bag for practical purposes.
I absolutely love my black fabric Kipling! It's lighter than a leather bag, and lovely and roomy.
My first Kipling bag, the only relatively expensive handbag I have ever bought was stolen in a break-in, I was offered this one for free just after it happened.
Karma.

Can any handbag collectors explain to me why they do it? Isn't it a waste of money to have lots of handbags stashed in a wardrobe/under the bed? I just keep the same (black) one until it falls apart and then replace it. Admittedly, I do have a 'smart' one in the wardrobe for weddings, but that's it! Btw, have never spent more than 40 quid on a handbag. Not smug, just don't understand it!

Only in last few years got into handbags, got 12 now and love them all. Like light bags too, some are brand names most just ones I liked at the time.

Love my Floozie bag my DIL and son bought me at Xmas. Love handbags. And the more charms n girly bits they have on them the better x

Last time I sorted out I took 17 bags to the charity shop and still had 2 drawers full under the bed. Just added to them with two bargains off eBay ( Radley), and there's still bags in there I haven't used..... Hmmm, think I might have a problem!

I've got 1 handbag - and when it falls apart I'll buy another.

Only 18

I have a good look round yesterday and managed to find 5.

1 winter handbag bought circa 2000
1 summer handbag bought 2011
1 evening bag bought 1950s (inherited from my mother)
2 small leather special event bags, 1 bought in 1960s, the other a gift around 2000.

My summer handbag is falling apart so will need replacing sometime soon

No idea about what, if any, brand they are, I do not even know what the top handbag names are.

Grannyknot I agree with you wholeheartedly. Can't abide a heavy bag. And like to be 'hands free' if possible. It's no good trying to manage dgc or look for a bargain at TK Maxx while managing a bag. Cross body or backpack all the way.

My husband found my handbag stash under the bed! He was amazed. I volunteer in a charity shop and recently saw a lovely bag. I said to the other volunteer 'don't let me buy it' and she replied that it is impossible to have too many bags so I bought it, of course.

....well I think I have another one somewhere...