Handbags and Hip Bones!

Confidence, Image & Style
10 August 2007
Some time ago, I was speaking at a conference in the Lake District. The topic was 'Confidence, Image & Style!'

During the presentation we covered such areas as my 'Top Ten Tips' to make the right impression every time...
I recall making a kind of through away comment i.e. "Your handbag should always fit inside your pelvic bones!"

And I cannot believe how many delegates picked up on the statement! It gets quoted back to me time and time again.

The reasoning behind this fact is that a small framed person cannot successfully carry a large bag or briefcase...unless you want that item to make the statement and been seen first. Most men and women want to see and be seen as themselves - not as the person who was carrying a huge black bag! (a new context for the bag lady?!)
So larger people - larger bags....smaller people - smaller bags. Simple guideline.

Proof of this was? When brand Beckham landed in America and Victoria was first seen giving her interviews; her handbag was way out of proportion and her over-sized pink bag is all I can really remember of the photograph. Not what she would want me to commit to memory I suspect.
Perhaps her thinking was that the big, statement, oversized, brand named bag added style - Victoria certainly has her own unique personal idea of that. Maybe she thought it made her looked thinner as this appears to be an issue with her. Not so.

For most people a good yardstick is - if the bag or briefcase fits within the pelvic bones then the image created will be one of balance. You want to wear the handbag and be the dominant impression - not vice versa. Who would want the handbag to be wearing them?

From the point of health and wellbeing it is also sensible to have a smaller bag or case - if you carry less you will have less wear and tear on your back.