Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson
During hot weather, wearing anything lightweight is helpful. Lugging a heavy purse just doesn’t pair well with summer. It pulls on my neck and feels clunky against my airy summer wardrobe.
So, I set out to find a cute, lightweight, yet functional purse for some summer getaways like to the beach and pool in South Lake Tahoe and on a girls’ day out shopping in the hilly streets of San Francisco.
I scored a rattan purse that’s lightweight and large enough to hold my essentials (IphoneX, sunglasses, reading glasses, lip gloss, keys, wallet, and hand cream). To be fair, my wallet is compact (and still includes RFID security blocking to protect my credit card and driver’s license data) and my hand cream is in a container the size of a soda-pop lid. Everything fits perfectly and the point is, I’m not weighed down by the purse itself.
My neck is still rejoicing!
But, here’s the tip I wish I’d known…
I ordered my rattan purse from a link on Facebook, thrilled to find a handmade purse from Bali. Eek! The product is lovely and the customer service great, but I had to wait 2-3 weeks for the purse to arrive and I worried along the way if I was being scammed. I wasn’t, but for all the time and effort, it wasn’t a pleasant experience. I missed its delivery the first time because I didn’t know when it would arrive and I wasn’t home to sign for it (required), which meant I had to stay home the next day. It was a bit inconvenient. Still, it’s a lovely purse, well worth the $55.00 including shipping, though returning it would have been a pain for sure.
But check this out…
I like the purse so much, I wanted to buy another one in a different color, so I searched on Amazon and found the same handmade rattan purse for less than $35.00—and FREE two-day shipping with Amazon Prime (and easy return should I desire to do so)!
Same purse, same quality, two-day shipping and about $20 cheaper on Amazon.
Both purses sport real leather and are of excellent quality. And the fabric inside is designed so that when you open the purse, even while wearing it, the contents stay put. It’s important to note that in either case, you can’t choose the fabric that’s inside the purse. That said, I am not so thrilled with the purple/green fabric in the white purse, but I am thrilled with the black and red fabric in the black version. Since the fabric shows through on this model, the color inside has an impact.
In any case…
This is my go-to summer purse!
I use it every day and I hardly know I’m wearing one. I wear it cross-body as well as off the shoulder.
Happy Summer!
My new handmade rattan purse from Bali