A well rounded collection of hand bags gives you a

A well rounded collection of hand bags gives you a wardrobe wizard in the closet!

Most of us women have far more clothing than we really need. When it comes to clothes, most of us can plead guilty to impulse buying. Shoes, too. But there comes a time when all good things must end, and right now, a lot of us are being slowly 'cured' of this irresponsible sort of purchasing, purely out of necessity. Clothes take a big bite out of the budget and, frankly, the bills have to take precedence. If you're a fashionista whose wallet has slimmed down, don't despair. There is a way around this financial dilemma. How's your stock of hand bags?

We all have favorite colors, which tend to make up the bulk of our clothing choices. You probably have several hand bags, in more or less neutral shades that go well with lots of wardrobe items. This is where it's easy to fall into a rut. The black bag goes with almost everything. The navy covers blues and gray and can also work with white, depending on the season. A beige or taupe bag ... well, you know what I'm saying. It takes just a few bags to cover the spectrum. Besides, if your everyday hand bag is stuffed to the gills with every possible item you might need in the next week, as mine is, you're probably not eager to transfer the contents to another bag every time you turn around.

Here's how I handle the problem. If I'm just going to the grocery, my leather navy bag with everything in it is the bag of choice. (You never can tell when you might need that eyeglass repair kit!) On the other hand, if I'm going to visit a friend, I browse my sumptuous collection of cute, but inexpensive, hand bags to see which goes perfectly with what I'm wearing and suits the mood of the occasion. Aha! It's hot today, and this white straw bag with a blue silk dahlia as the clasp looks nice with the lightweight blue summer dress. White sandals. Get my wallet, checkbook and glasses out of the old stand-by and into this airy little purse.

I'll admit it. I'm a hand bag freak. The accumulated collection would perhaps put Ismelda Marcos to shame, for all of her shoes. However, there's no fortune spent on this hand bag collection. The white straw was all of $7, if I recall correctly. When you start assembling a collection, you know they're not going to see much wear, so the bag doesn't have to be made of fine Italian leather, or of a designer label. Such bags don't even have to be particularly well-constructed, with triple stitching and perfect zippers. It just has to be cute, chic or trendy, take your pick.

Try putting together your own hand bag collection and get a lot of zip in your wardrobe, on the cheap!