A handbag is more than a sac of supplies to get you through the day. This accessory is an opportunity heighten your style factor by acting as the finishing touch to any outfit.

Carrying a great purse can declare your fashion sense and emphasize the mood of an ensemble: fun, racy, flirty, chic, sophisticated, casual, bohemian... You name it: handbags are a smart way to infuse personality into any look.

Since they're usually compact, you can make a bold design statement with shape, color, fabric, other embellishments.

While the exterior of your handbag is limited only by your imagination, the inside of a woman's handbag is serious business. The contents of your purse function as a style and organizational survival tool kit, in which superfluous items are sacrificed and cast aside in order to make room for those implements you would rather not live without.

Whether dainty or gigantic, the handbag acts as a portable magic-bag of tricks, in which we stash cash, cards, cell phones, tampons, Blackberries, keys, and last but certainly not least, a plethora of essential tools necessary for on-the-go beauty & style maintenance.

Most women vow that each and every article in their handbag is indispensable and accounted for. However, in reality the deep recesses of a woman's purse are treacherous places, virtual black holes where forgotten odds and ends converge and mutate with lint, crumbs, hairpins, dog-eared business cards and loose change. It is a proven law of physics: the greater the volume of your satchel, the more items you seem to need - if we're not careful, we find ourselves weighed down by ten-pounds of junk we think we need but in reality never actually use.