Making a statement with a handbag used to involve spending lots of money.
In these straitened times, however, it seems all you must do is carry it
in the right way.
Body language expert Patti Wood has analyzed how women hold their
handbags and suggests there are ten distinctive styles that reveal volumes
about their personalities.
For example, while a woman who holds her handbag tightly under her arm in
the ‘Armpit Vice’ may merely think she is freeing up her arms, the look also
suggests awkwardness, according to American author Patti Wood.
Younger women, she says, tend to go for ‘The Hands-Free’ look, wearing a
bag draped across their body from one shoulder.
But Miss Wood warns: ‘The girl who wears a hands-free bag willingly
covers up her silhouette and outfit. It is useful but it also shows you are
slightly dorky.’
Meanwhile ‘street-smart’ women are likely to adopt the protective
‘Thumb-to-Pit’ style, keeping their thumb firmly hooked around the bag’s handle
in a look often sported by Sarah Jessica Parker’s character Carrie in Sex and
The City.
Few mere mortals, however, are likely to find themselves in the final
category – the ‘I’ve Got a Bag Bitch’ look.
Usually reserved for royalty and, occasionally, Victoria Beckham, it
involves not carrying a handbag at all, because you have an assistant – or
boyfriend – to carry it for you.
‘When people feel the need to look fabulous all the time, they can’t be
encumbered with anything,’ Miss Wood said.
