The main difference between my cash-strapped friends and me is that I set my sights on more affordable fashion obsessions and spend wisely. Simply swapping one belt for another can change the entire attitude and personality of a given outfit. In addition to focusing on accessories, I am always on the lookout for discount designer handbags, shoes and clothing.

That’s why everyone with minimal upper body strength can rejoice in the rolling duffle bag, which are standard duffle bags outfitted with wheels, so you can easily roll the bag wherever it needs to go without any significant effort. It’s still a good rule of thumb, however, that you shouldn’t pack more than you can carry on your own. After all, struggling through the airport with more bags than you can carry is never fun and should be avoided if at all possible.

Did you know that there are ways of taking care of your purses or handbags with simple things you have around the house. Here I will give you inexpensive ways to take care of your handbags by cleaning and storing properly to expand the life of your leather and cloth purse? With these helpful hints you can keep them looking new and fresh for years. We all know about the great products on the market to help us preserve and clean our leather handbags, but in a pinch these little hints are great.

When you change your purse stuff it with tissue paper to help keep its shape. If you are putting away your winter handbags for the spring simply stuff them with your winter gloves and folded scarves. This way you won’t need to search or find a place to store these garments as everything will be together for next winter. Also store them in a breathable bag. (Never use plastic bags to store your leather purse or handbags as leather needs to breath and mold and mildew love to form and grow on things where the air can’t reach thus ruining your handbags). When you need to shine your leather purse some people use the inside of a banana peel; “It really works”. Start by lightly rubbing your purse with the inside of a banana peel to clean then just gently buff with a soft cloth. For a stain on your black or brown purse get the right color of marker to match the color of your article then rub in a few drops of olive oil. This method is great on leather. Has your leather become hard and brittle? Try using olive oil to soften it by rubbing some into the leather with a soft dry clean cloth then tissue off the excess surplus.

Now ladies even our cloth purses need maintenance. We need to wipe them down inside and out on a regular basis as bacteria and mold will find their way onto, and into them. This mold will then get on everything you have inside your handbag. These fabric purses should be stored away in a plastic bag (plastic bags are to be used only for fabric handbags to prevent moths from eating the material.) They too need to be stuffed with tissue paper to help keep their shape.

Since carrying a person isn’t a viable option for me, everything that I want to bring has to fit into my pockets. On an average day this will include: keys, phone, wallet, chapstick, gum and a variety of other miscellaneous items. This may not seem like a problem, but constantly having your pockets bulging can be quite uncomfortable. Although I will probably never make the leap, I have often considered checking my ego at the door and picking up a “man bag.”

Accessories are the icing on mom’s outfit. They may be a stunning pair of earrings or a killer pair of heels. A Hobo bags would be a perfect complement to your mother’s wardrobe, too. And she would love to receive this thoughtful gift of quality and taste. We have chosen the Hobo International bag as a best gift for Mother’s Day 2010.

What gets a gift onto our list of the best gifts for Mother’s Day? It must be unusual or have lasting value. It must be sentimental or traditional. It must be high quality or exceptional. It must make mom’s life easier or more enjoyable. Those are the main qualities of the gifts on our list. We have put Hobo International bags on it because of their quality construction, exquisite design and quirky, but functional style.

Hobo International was found in Annapolis, Maryland, in 1991 by Toni Ray. The history goes that Ray had spent nearly thirty years as a senior designer and buyer with Georgetown Leather Design, a well-known chain of luxury accessory boutiques before she left in 1989 to work as a freelance designer and retail consultant. Ray’s design philosophy evolved into a perspective that women’s accessories should be both stylish and practical. She believed that fashionable handbags with everyday functionality filled an unmet need in the marketplace and she applied her vision to a new line with own label. Hobo International was born.

Hobo handbags are pure quality. They combine the class and durability of leather with functional form and features. But the most appealing aspect of Hobo handbags is that they are fun. Their shapes and colors are lively and unusual. That makes Hobo handbags an indulgence that mom probably wouldn’t buy for herself. And that makes them all the more special.

The bag we have chosen is the Paulina Florence leather shoulder bag. It comes in 9 trendy, sometimes frivolous colors. Step mom out of her comfort zone and choose a handbag in a color she would love, but her practical self would probably never let her buy. Every time she slips that magenta bag over her shoulder,she will smile and thank you for indulging her crazy side while giving her something she will use for years to come.

Not every woman is interested in owning a top name designer purse. There are plenty of women who are perfectly content carrying purses and handbags from “lesser” brand names that still look great. Some women however, would like to carry a top brand name designer bag, but just have never been able to fit it into their budget. Resourceful ladies realize that there is more than one way to get the designer bag look they desire.

With the purse market being so very competitive, almost any company wishing to sell their product has to do their very best to put out the best product that they can. This has led to many “designer inspired” purses hitting the market which often look quite a bit like the much higher priced big name alternatives. The trade off is often in the quality of the materials used to manufacture the product, but a lot of people are willing to live with that trade in order to keep their money. Ladies choosing to follow this path can expect to have a great looking bag for a while, but should probably not expect it to hold up as well as a much more expensive designer bag. These bags are not cheap or illegal copies sold on street corners. Rather, they are bags produced by legitimate companies who use the top designer styles as an inspiration for their purse and handbag designs.

There are also people who still want to carry only authentic designer purses. When their budgets tighten up, they sometimes discover another market that they never previously considered. There is a significant market for gently used designer purses. These are bags, that for one reason or another, are being sold on sites like eBay by their original owners. Sometimes sellers are motivated by needing money more than they need their purse collection, and sometimes they just want to change up the accessories they are carrying. Whatever the reason, they provide a wonderful opportunity for second hand shoppers to score great deals on beautiful, high quality designer bags that often have been treated with extreme care by the original owner.

There has been a lot of talk over the past couple of years about how tough the economy has become. Some people have chosen to do what they have to in order to get by. Ladies who love to carry great bags are finding ways to get what they want without going broke.

A black leather shoulder bag comes complete with a nice sturdy strap so you can spread the weight of what is in your bag over your shoulders. This means that you can carry a lot more than just your normal small items, you can carry a laptop or files and even a lot of food shopping. When you are looking to buy a leather shoulder bag, there are several things that you should look out for. Leather is a very widely used material, and this is because it is such a great material for so many applications. The material is not only very durable, but it gets better with age to look at and feel.

Leather is a classy and sophisticated item to have, and a lot of companies even try and make leather look aged to give it more appeal. Make sure that when you are buying a leather good you go for the best that your budget will allow. Make sure that the leather is good quality, but also make sure that the bag is well put together. You should look for a good design with strong stitching, especially around the load bearing areas such as where the zips and straps are. A good quality bag should last you a long time.

Make sure, when you are looking for a comfortable to carry bag, which is just that. The strap should be padded and enable you to carry heavy loads with ease. While a leather shoulder bag will be a functional item, it doesn’t mean it should be boring. Look for a design that you like and you’ll be pleased to use your bag all of the time. There are lots of designer brands out there. These are great if you can afford them, but you can still get a great looking, well made bag if you opt for own or cheaper brands. Just look for a style and design that suits you and you will have a great bag that you will use again and again.

The appeal to own the hobo-bag continues to be one that never ends. The Bohemian or Hobo-Chic look has been around since as far back as the sixties. Many a die-hard hippie is still drawn to a frumpy curved bag when they see them. Currently, they are quite detailed with rivets, straps, buckles and other embellishments. However, the curves and frump hold true to their intent, which was a casual look, but could hold a ton and compliment most outfits.

Many of the Hobo Bags of the sixties and seventies were made of cloth. leather, or hemp. Patchwork was one of the favorites for some time and wore well with the peasant style blouses and bell-bottom jeans that had fabrics sewn in a side seam or applique patch. Then the hemp bags appeared and very quickly out-shined patchwork bags. They came in all sizes and worked with all outfits. The light straw brown was the most popular for many. You could really show off a lot of the peace sign pins and other hippie time emblems by attaching them to the strap or the bag. They held a ton of personal items, but if you got the right size, it doubled as a book bag.

Leather hobo-bags were more popular with those who were into the hippie clothing from head to toe. A leather vest with fringe, a peasant style blouse and a pair of wide bell-bottoms was topped off with a dark brown leather bag that hung with long fringe. They did come in various sizes, but the elongated rectangle was readily available.

As designers reinvented the bag each year, it evolved from the plain brown leather, patchwork, or hemp, to spectacular frumpy classy fun. Hemp is still popular, but now the leathers are bright colored and the embellishments outlandish. The Hobo Skull bags being one of the more popular for teens and bikers now come with buckles, applique, rivets and the skull and bones. The bigger bags the starlets love are spacious, frumpy bags that will hold a days worth of shopping, diapering and tons of other goodies.

The hobo bag will continue to be reinvented year after year to provide its end user the casual frump they have come to love, but in sizes and style befitting all ages. Sizes, materials and embellishments may change, but the hobo bag is here to stay.

Handbag Styles

A handbag is a handbag right? Wrong! There are many different styles out there. Here’s a quick look at the most popular styles right now.

The Shoulder Bags

With the exception of clutches and handheld bags (bags with handles too small or short to be worn over the shoulder), most handbags fit into this category. Every woman should have at least one shoulder bag in her wardrobe. They’re practical (but that doesn’t mean that can’t be stylish!) and come in handy on shopping trips, out running errands or for the office. They free up your hands to carry other items.

Here are examples of shoulder bags:

Hobo bags: A crescent-shaped, usually unstructured bag. But that’s not always the case. Modern variations include more structured hobo bags, drawstring hobos, skinny styles, even square hobos and bucket hobos.

Totes: Totes are roomy bags, usually rectangular with single or double straps. Totes are available in structured and unstructured styles.

Satchels: Satchel bags are typically small to medium-sized zip-top bags that usually wider than long. They can be structured or unstructured and have shoulder straps or be hand-held. Hand-held satchels are often referred to as bowler bags, like the and the

Barrel Bag: Like the name implies, a barrel bag is cylindrical and resembles a barrel turned on its side, often with a long, thin shoulder strap.

Flap-enclosure bags: Flap style shoulder bags have a flap enclosure that folds over, typically about midway down the front of the bag, with a clasp, turn-key, snap, or other fastener. Check out the Flatiron long shoulder bag.

Cinched and Drawstring bags: The cinched or drawstring bag is a fun variation of the shoulder bag. They gather at the top in place of a flap or zip top. The Bulga Brown leather ‘Krystal’ cinched bag and the Christian Dior black lambskin ‘Cannage’ quilted large tote are examples.

Quilted bags: Quilted leather bags are a popular leather handbag style that incorporates the quilted texture into fine leather, like the Balenciaga (pictured below) ivory quilted goatskin “Matelasse” small bag.

It can be mind boggling while shopping for a handbag. I hope this shoulder bag guide is helpful. Happy shopping!

Having not visited the zoo in over a decade, I was as enamored with many of the animals as the children were. However, I was ill prepared for a daylong excursion and found I neglected to bring several items. When we went to the park the next day, I traded in my tiny purse for a couple of shoulder bags to ensure I didn’t leave anything behind.